Chapter Six: A Startling Turn of Events

Zhang Xiao and Li Fei sat in the teahouse, engrossed in conversation for three hours until night had fallen. Only then did they bid each other farewell. After Li Fei had left, Zhang Xiao remained seated inside the teahouse, his heart still reeling from the might of the Hongmen Society.

It turned out that Hongmen’s story was nothing short of legendary. Throughout history, they had produced generations of formidable figures, contributing greatly to China’s resistance during the war against Japan. After victory was secured, their strength retreated into the shadows, yet their influence spread across the world. Following the great upheaval, their scale not only remained undiminished but grew even vaster. Many Chinese who found themselves stranded abroad eagerly joined Hongmen and gained access to cultivation techniques.

However, the sheer reach of Hongmen made the major professional guilds uneasy, provoking their suppression. Forced into secrecy, Hongmen’s experts became elusive, seldom seen by outsiders. Tales of their deeds, though, circulated widely, and every overseas Chinese longed to join, though few could find a way in.

When Zhang Xiao displayed his strength rescuing Li Fei, Li Fei immediately assumed he was a Hongmen master, which was why he had pleaded so desperately to be introduced into the society.

Zhang Xiao himself was deeply curious about Hongmen’s existence. Were it not for his present troubles, he might have sought them out, hoping to befriend their experts.

He found a hotel at random, rented a room, and sat cross-legged to meditate. After all, if Carosius truly found the Imperial Seal, he would have to accept Carosius’s assignment. With that old monster’s strength, tales of moving mountains and filling seas hardly seemed an exaggeration—his power was unfathomable. Whatever task he had in mind was bound to be extraordinary, so Zhang Xiao resolved to spend the next two days adjusting his condition.

Time slipped by like water. Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Zhang Xiao arrived early at the original restaurant to wait, and waited the whole day, from morning till nightfall.

He remained seated, puzzled by Carosius’s delay, but patiently waited—after all, midnight had not yet come, and the day was not over.

Sure enough, at nine in the evening, Zhang Xiao suddenly sensed a faint ripple behind him. Looking up, he saw Carosius, whose magical robes were now tattered and whose beard was singed in patches. Zhang Xiao was astonished. How could the president of the Mage’s Guild, a man whose strength was comparable to an ancient monster undergoing tribulation, appear so battered? But before Zhang Xiao could speak, Carosius sat before him, glaring fiercely and snapped, “You brat, are you toying with me on purpose?”

The abrupt accusation left Zhang Xiao baffled. “Senior, why do you say so? My strength may not be weak, but I wouldn’t dare play tricks before you. You only just arrived—did you fail to find the Imperial Seal?”

Carosius sneered, “Hmph! Boy, take this and see if it’s what you wanted.” With that, he tossed a golden box to Zhang Xiao. Zhang Xiao was stunned—he hadn’t truly believed Carosius would find the Imperial Seal, yet here it was. His heart pounded, though his face remained calm; his legs trembled as he opened the box. Inside lay an ordinary jade seal, the square base and dragon handle much like the legendary descriptions.

Yet Zhang Xiao remained skeptical. How could a national treasure be so plain? He even suspected Carosius, unable to find the real seal, had given him a fake.

Before Zhang Xiao could voice his doubts, the old monster snapped impatiently, “That wretched thing of yours nearly cost me my life! Damn it, why couldn’t you have asked for something else? Do you know where this thing was hidden?”

Seeing Carosius’s agitated expression, Zhang Xiao was not surprised. If he was only pretending, Zhang Xiao couldn’t tell; if he was genuine, then since this was a Heaven-mandated punishment, obtaining the seal could not have been easy. Still, Zhang Xiao feigned astonishment, “Was it hidden somewhere dangerous?”

Carosius snorted, “Not dangerous—secure! So secure that even I nearly got injured stealing it. The thing was right in the Mage’s Guild headquarters vault. I can’t imagine what’s so special about this stupid rock that it required four tenth-level mages to guard it in shifts. If not for my space magic, even the Thieves’ Guild leader would have had to run for his life!”

At these words, Zhang Xiao’s face changed, and he drew a sharp breath. If Carosius was telling the truth, this assignment was tantamount to a death sentence. Four ancient monsters of Carosius’s caliber—no matter how far he cultivated, it would still be suicide. He stared at the great seal in the golden box, his hands trembling as he held it. Beneath the dragon handle, the jade seal bore the eight bold characters: “Mandated by Heaven, may the nation endure in prosperity.”

“Ding!” Just then, the attribute panel on Zhang Xiao’s wrist emitted a prompt. Without checking, he immediately returned the jade seal to the golden box and stored it in his bone ring. Since the system acknowledged the seal, it surely wasn’t a fake. Carosius had noticed Zhang Xiao’s keen interest in the seal, and given how much risk he had taken to obtain it, he suspected the seal held secrets unknown even to himself. But he didn’t care to find out.

Seeing Zhang Xiao put away the seal, Carosius’s face brightened, smoothing out his wrinkles as he smiled. “Since you’ve accepted the item, you have accepted my task, yes?”

Zhang Xiao nodded, “Very well, since you’ve entrusted it to me, I won’t go back on my word. What is your task…” Carosius was about to answer when both their faces abruptly changed. A suffocating wave of force was hurtling toward them. Carosius paled; a rift in space opened before him, and he grabbed Zhang Xiao, pulling him through.

Within the spatial rift, Zhang Xiao felt an immense pressure, as if he were about to be crushed to dust. Fortunately, Carosius quickly cast an energy shield over him, allowing Zhang Xiao to recover.

“Ding! Ding! Ding!” The attribute panel on his wrist issued a string of prompts. Startled, Zhang Xiao glanced at Carosius to make sure he wasn’t paying attention, then stealthily checked the notifications:

“Ding: You have obtained the Imperial Jade Seal. The first stage of the Founding Quest is complete. Would you like to start the second stage? Note: Once you begin the second stage, you will be immediately transported elsewhere, and any other ongoing quests will fail.”

Reading this, Zhang Xiao’s excitement was instantly quenched as if doused with cold water, and he cursed inwardly:

“A second stage? Damn it, a second stage? As if this cursed quest wasn’t insane enough already!”

He could only mentally curse the Dao of Heaven and all its female kin.

“Ding: You have accepted Carosius’s quest. If you fail, you will be hunted by Carosius. Ding: Carosius is now considered a traitor by the Mage’s Guild for stealing the Imperial Jade Seal, and will be hunted. Note: While being hunted, Carosius is not bound by the rules.”

Reading these, even Zhang Xiao, with all his composure, was shocked. The rest didn’t matter, but the last notification was clearly aimed at him. In other words, while Carosius was being pursued, he could kill Zhang Xiao at will without consequence. This realization chilled Zhang Xiao.

Luckily, as soon as he began the second stage of the Founding Quest, he would be transported away, which was a small blessing. Since he could leave at any moment, he decided to find out why Carosius was willing to pay such a price for his task.

With this in mind, Zhang Xiao obediently followed Carosius. They traversed the spatial rift for a long time before a blinding light appeared ahead. Forced to close his eyes against the glare, Zhang Xiao opened them again to find himself in a forest.

Carosius shoved him to the ground, eyes bloodshot with rage. “You damned brat, now I’m wanted by the guild because of you!” He hurled a bolt of silver light, sending Zhang Xiao flying. The power was immense—even though Zhang Xiao’s physical body had reached perfection and could withstand attacks from magical weapons, his organs were still violently displaced. Had he been any weaker, he would have been a corpse.

Carosius soon calmed down and, somewhat regretful, hurried over to check Zhang Xiao’s injuries. To his surprise, Zhang Xiao had only suffered some internal wounds, not even serious ones—an outcome Carosius did not expect. Seeing Zhang Xiao unharmed, Carosius’s face darkened. He tossed over a vial of potion and snapped, “Hurry up and heal. If I didn’t still have use for your life, I’d have skinned you alive.”

Zhang Xiao’s expression changed as he thought, “So, the old monster really is unrestrained now and can kill me whenever he wants.” He picked up the potion and pretended to take it, but secretly poured it into his bone ring. He dared not risk Carosius having tampered with it—however slim the chance, he could not afford to gamble with his life. Instead, he took out a medicinal pill and quietly swallowed it to begin healing his injuries.