Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 588 - 20 Idle Soil of Mangshan

"But there were at least seventy to eighty lapel flowers at the scene, snatched away from other Proxy Travelers. This number is higher than what I anticipated."

Setting aside the trouble-making Su Ling, Zhu Jiuyin continued.

Zhan Yuejin said, "Principally speaking, this doesn’t necessarily prove anything. It’s easy to dodge a blatant attack, but a hidden one is much harder to avoid."

"How can you even say such a thing? Is this a matter of blatant attacks and hidden threats? Did problems like these occur at the Yan Zhao Club two years ago?"

"Shanjiu, no one can go back to two years ago."

"...So I shouldn’t have come back either?"

Zhan Yuejin was at a loss for words.

Zhao Jianzhong glared at Zhu Jiuyin: "Out of your demands for returning this time, I’ve agreed to most of them. Do you really have to say these things in front of An’s spirit?"

Zhu Jiuyin shook his head: "I don’t mean to argue. The things I told you earlier are just what I can’t stand. If you like them, change them; if not, then forget it. But I must have an explanation for An’s death."

Everyone fell silent and turned to look at a jar on the table filled with a golden solution.

Inside the jar was half a skull, with the pink brain tissue clearly visible, and a streak of white hair coiled at the bottom of the jar like a dead snake. Half of an old, frenzied face was sinisterly smiling amidst churning bubbles, eyes firmly fixed on the group.

Hate Parting.

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The green shade of the barren mounds, the yellow soil paths crisscrossing the continuous mountain range, with paper money swirling down from the mountains’ peaks towards the earth. Watching the coffin being buried and the tombstone being erected with soil piled on top, a large silent procession of hundreds of people watched on.

Zhu Jiuyin finally poured several bottles full of English-labeled foreign liquor in front of the grave before silently rejoining the line, alongside Zhao, Su, and Zhan. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"I know many of you have never seen the Lou Master, let alone grieve. But there are some rituals that must be observed, and we have no choice in the matter," Zhao Jianzhong said.

"Many have heard rumors that the Yan Zhao Club is about to reform, and indeed, that’s not false. Starting from today, the club will no longer be based in Beijing. The future entrance to the club will be right here."

No sooner had Zhao Jianzhong finished speaking than everything around them faded to grayscale, as if they were in a black and white photograph, stripped of all colors.

Li Li.

A stylishly dressed man with an earring emerged, squatting down and plunging his hand into the earth. Beneath the surface, the forest and hillocks undulated tumultuously, with birds startled into flight, and insects and animals scurrying away. The landscape underwent a drastic upheaval. A winding pebble-strewn path, piercing through the somber mountains, appeared, and they could still see the old district of Luoyang in the distance, albeit still in muted colors.

The voice of Earth Endurance reached everyone’s ears.

"You have discovered a public pathway: Idle Soil. Founder: Zhao Jianzhong. Namer: Zhao Jianzhong."

Idle Soil: A public pathway leading to a gigantic conference hall within the roots of Yan Fu, accessible to all Proxy Travelers of Yan Fu. Whenever Idle Soil is opened, it will unpredictably breach through a remote, small Yan Fu Fruit devoid of any signs of life, resulting in the random appearance of a Proxy Traveler somewhere within the stratosphere, at a location of not significantly different density.

Zhao Jianzhong spoke up, "The Yan Zhao Club has a total of five hundred and one seats. When half are filled, I will formally commence the meeting. All seats being filled, I will close Idle Soil. The meeting will include twelve resolutions for a public vote; if over two-thirds of those present vote in favor, the resolutions will be adopted. Is there anything unclear about this?"

Although he said this, Zhao Jianzhong clearly didn’t allow anyone the chance to ask questions, but instead took the lead down the pebble path and disappeared from view.

The rest followed suit and vanished into the pebble-strewn path one by one.

Li Yan frowned deeply, not hurrying to enter. The rules were completely different from what he had imagined. This process was indiscriminate, putting everyone present together for selection, whether they were Eight Extremes Walkers who had yet to become Proxy Travelers or established strong players of the Six Ministries. The more dangerous part was that, within the Yan Fu Fruit, personal grievances between Walkers were not restricted in any way.

Li Yan was clearly not the only one with such worries; the reactions of many were much more intense than his. Yet, those top-ranked Proxy Travelers of the Seven Palaces or even the Six Ministries, who typically occupied three seats or more in the Yan Zhao Club, stood expressionless as if they had already received some hints beforehand.

The Proxy Traveler named Zhao He approached Cha Xiaodao, "My offer still stands, think it over."

After speaking, he too walked down the pebble path and vanished from sight.

Cha Xiaodao faced Li Yan, "What should we do?"

"What can we do? Go home and have dinner?"

Li Yan appeared deeply worried, but what concerned him even more was the evident hostility toward Lady Dan from the members of the Yan Zhao Club.

He had initially believed that with the rank of the Six Ministries, Lady Dan, who was originally a strong candidate for the Yan Zhao Club, even if subjected to scrutiny, would face relatively gentle questioning, void of physical confrontation. However, it seemed that this was not the case at all. This kind of situation was too easily escalated into opposition between small groups.

The scarcity of the second seat made it easier for Lady Dan, already isolated, to become a target.

Li Yan, in a flash, began to seriously doubt Zhao Jianzhong’s intentions.

But what he didn’t know was that the decision to use this method to recreate the list for the Yan Zhao Club was a result of the power struggle and mutual compromises among the Ten Masters. As for the innocents who got hurt, they were just collateral damage.

Suddenly, a soft and warm palm squeezed Li Yan’s hand.

Lady Dan whispered in his ear, "Find a way into the venue as soon as possible, don’t get distracted for me, I can handle this, trust me."

Just as Li Yan was about to respond, Lady Dan turned and disappeared down the cobblestone path.

Almost at the same time, several figures stepped onto the cobblestone path.

Li Yan’s eyebrows twitched fiercely, and without another word, he moved forward.

Cha Xiaodao hurried forward, but a graceful figure stepped onto the cobblestones ahead of him.

The person noticed Cha Xiaodao’s gaze and nodded and smiled at him. Just as Cha Xiaodao was about to respond, the figure had vanished.

The moment Li Yan stepped on the cobblestones, his vision blurred. Then, his perspective inverted, his eyes filled with thick vapors, and an intense coldness rushed at him as he plummeted rapidly!

He had been transported to an altitude of several thousand meters!

Damn it!

Li Yan cursed angrily as he dissipated into the sky, appearing moments later from a white cloud hundreds of meters high.

Yun Zhongjun’s first peak breakthrough skill.

Driving the Nine States: Where the clouds reach, the sovereign arrives. Unlimited, ultra long-distance transportation ability.

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Lady Dan looked as far as her eyes could see, finding herself standing atop a steel spire, teetering precariously above a once prosperous but now fallen steel city.

She turned around, and a Tianjiu Domino was floating silently behind her, followed by a man in a blue checked shirt who sped toward her on another Tianjiu Domino.

Thirty dominoes expanded in the wind, enclosing Lady Dan within as they became the size of door panels.

"Not even a word of courtesy?"

Lady Dan revealed her white teeth with a smile.

"What is there to say?" The man in the checked shirt shrugged. "We don’t want a Mountain Spirit in the Yan Zhao Club? Or maybe, blame it on your bad luck? Being a villain is one thing, but it’s better to spare the unpleasant talk."

"First off, I have no ill intentions toward you, and it was you who invited me here."

The man in the checked shirt shook his head, remaining silent.

Lady Dan looked up to see an intricately designed, austere-looking artificial satellite targeting the spire from an altitude imperceptible to the naked eye, its antenna-like protrusions sparking with blue-purple electricity.

"And one more thing."

Lady Dan’s hair danced in the wind as cerulean flames churned in the sky like mournful rosy clouds.

Half the sky was consumed by the cerulean fire, with the remnants of the dominoes falling toward the earth within the flames.

The man in the checked shirt couldn’t help but be moved for a moment.

Lady Dan spoke up, "You’re very impolite."