Qulin City.
The young man had taken his seat early at the previously agreed meeting spot with Chu Xingchen.
When business came knocking, endless stalling would only delay the inevitable.
Besides, finding out what the Dark Crow Cult Master was really up to was equally important to them.
After some thought, the young man decisively chose—he wanted it all!
He split the mission into two parts. He'd handle tracking down intelligence on the Dark Crow Cult Master, while Yumi would be dispatched to support Donggua.
How many people they could requisition was entirely up to him anyway. Just round up a few worthless scrubs for appearances, and send all the rest to reinforce Donggua.
If the other side was fake, and their real target was him...
The young man was equally decisive—then this life was theirs to take. It was the same principle as always: every endeavor carried risk.
What mattered most was whether the reward far outweighed the risk.
The young man suddenly shifted his gaze toward the stairs.
He saw the Evil Spirit Cult member who had previously impersonated a young Daoist leading a young man he'd never seen before.
With a single glance, the young man could see the dense Dao Rhyme flowing around the newcomer's body.
It seemed the Dark Crow Cult Master didn't have many usable people at his disposal right now. If he got involved, he'd likely have access to the core. If they only needed him for menial tasks, they wouldn't send a cultivator of this caliber to make contact.
Chu Xingchen led Xie Lingyu toward the young man without a word, tossing a crudely carved black crow token onto the table—like a child's handicraft, yet not quite.
Before the young man could react, Chu Xingchen swept his gaze around and asked.
"Where are your men?"
The young man didn't answer that question first. Instead, he reached for the Black Crow Direct Order on the table.
The moment it touched his hand, he could sense a dark, vaguely repulsive spiritual energy slowly emanating from it.
The young man picked up the Black Crow Direct Order and held it up against the bright sun, then slowly channeled spiritual energy into it, applying a slight bend as agreed. In moments, he could clearly see the ultimate anti-counterfeiting mark hidden within—a half-dead crow concealed inside the token.
The repulsiveness of the spiritual energy checked out. The anti-counterfeiting mark checked out too.
The young man narrowed his eyes, first examining the surface craftsmanship, then comparing it with the half-dead crow in the anti-counterfeiting mark.
The craftsmanship seemed... better than the ones he'd seen before? And the crow in the anti-counterfeiting mark—its shape hadn't changed much, but somehow it looked more pleasing, as if someone had actually applied aesthetics to it.
And the material seemed upgraded too... why did it look so much more refined?
The young man frowned slightly, studying this Black Crow Direct Order that looked more authentic than the real thing.
This thing gave him a strange feeling—so real it seemed fake.
How could the Dark Crow Cult Master, someone who made him feel filthy and disgusted, produce something that looked vaguely... attractive?
But the spiritual energy and the anti-counterfeiting mark couldn't be faked.
"See enough?" Chu Xingchen frowned, speaking directly to interrupt the young man's continued inspection.
He had to cut him off. The longer this kid looked, the more carefully he examined, the stranger his expression became. Had the Great Dao Sect's forgery been seen through?
Was the Great Dao Sect even up to the task? When they handed it over, they'd guaranteed that even the Dark Crow Cult Master himself wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Yet here was a low-ranking subordinate nearly seeing through it.
The young man stopped examining and placed the Black Crow Direct Order back on the table.
Never mind. Perhaps the previous Black Crow Direct Orders had been rush jobs by the Dark Crow Cult Master, and this time, with the urgency of the matter, he'd brought out one he'd been refining for a while.
After all, that repulsive aura was unmistakable. And the Black Crow Direct Order wasn't easy to replicate—there shouldn't have been any leaks, making forgery extremely difficult.
It wasn't like the Eighteen Immortal Sects would forge these for fun, would they?
Besides, real or not, he'd meet the Dark Crow Cult Master first and find out. Tokens could be faked, but a person—real or fake—he could always tell.
And if the person was fake, then it was the same as before—this life was theirs to take.
A warm smile appeared on the young man's face.
"I've seen enough. My apologies—these are troubled times, and I've been cautious. Please don't take offense."
Chu Xingchen didn't respond to the pleasantries. He asked directly, "Your men?"
The young man replied, "They're already waiting outside. Would the Envoy like to meet them?"
"Lead the way." Chu Xingchen stood up, not even glancing at the Black Crow Direct Order left on the table, and turned to walk out.
This was a test. Fortunately, Chu Xingchen had crammed his knowledge of the Evil Spirit Cult before coming.
The Black Crow Direct Order was both a command and a reward for the cult followers who accepted missions.
The token would remain with the cult follower who took the mission—it wouldn't be returned. Only when they needed something or required help in the future would the Black Crow Direct Order be returned to the Dark Crow Cult Master.
The Dark Crow Cult Master was also known throughout both the demonic and righteous paths for his "never helping for free, I'll shoulder all the blame" attitude. Naturally, the prerequisite was being fast enough to flee—absolutely never getting caught by one's enemies.
The young man watched the two figures descending the stairs, then slowly rose and picked up the Black Crow Direct Order from the table.
Other than the token being so real it seemed fake, he couldn't find any major flaws.
The young man quickly went downstairs and led Chu Xingchen toward the city gates, his pace unhurried.
Chu Xingchen didn't rush him. Instead, he followed calmly behind the young man, his gaze fixed ahead as he transmitted his voice to Xie Lingyu at his side.
"How's that? My acting is impeccable, wouldn't you say?"
Xie Lingyu was momentarily startled by the voice transmission. For high-level cultivators, they could always detect the subtle spiritual energy fluctuations caused by voice transmissions. Eavesdropping, however, required being several major realms above the speaker.
Transmitting voice right now... wasn't that a bit too brazen? They'd just recruited this person, and already they were whispering behind his back.
Xie Lingyu hesitated for a moment before asking.
"Is it really okay to use voice transmission like this? Won't he become suspicious?"
Chu Xingchen's tone was nonchalant.
"He'll be suspicious whether we transmit or not. Acting bold and at ease only makes it feel more genuine."
Xie Lingyu understood instantly, her gaze shifting to Chu Xingchen as she transmitted back.
"So all those times before, when you had that stern face, you were just feeding me nonsense?"
Chu Xingchen sensed her look and put on a serious expression.
"Don't slander me. When have I ever spoken nonsense? Whether there's truth to it or not, don't you know in your own heart?"
Xie Lingyu was a poor disciple. As her Master, he'd only wanted to teach her a thing or two, and before they'd walked more than a few steps, she'd already turned every trick right back on him.
"I knew you were spouting nonsense even back then!" Xie Lingyu's brow furrowed.
"Lingyu, you actually think I'm that kind of person?"
"You..."
The young man walked at the very front, the warm smile on his face gradually fading.
What were those two behind him discussing? It was bad enough they didn't bother to hide their voice transmissions from him.
But such frequent spiritual energy fluctuations from voice transmission—sounded like they were bickering.
What could possibly make them argue so incessantly right now?
What was the Dark Crow Cult Master really up to?
The situation was likely far stranger than he could imagine.
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