At ten o'clock in the evening, Zhang Yuanqing turned his head and looked towards the bedside table, the digital clock displaying 21:15.
"I understand," Zhang Yuanqing replied succinctly.
Because his aunt was nearby, he didn't say much. After hanging up the phone, he said to Jiang Yuer:
"Tonight's game ends here."
His aunt glanced at him and pouted, saying:
"Is that big-breasted fox spirit looking for you?"
"Go, go, go!" Zhang Yuanqing spat on the ground, saying, "I'm going to sleep now, you should go back to your room and rest."
His aunt didn't leave, raising her eyebrows, "You haven't been home for days. It's not easy for you to come back. You have to play with me until twelve o'clock tonight. I haven't had enough fun. Even if you have a girlfriend, you can't forget your mom."
"You're just my aunt, not my mom," Zhang Yuanqing corrected.
Seeing that being tough didn't work, his aunt tried a softer approach, twisting her body and acting coquettish, "Just one more round."
Who could refuse a coquettish aunt? Unfortunately, Zhang Yuanqing had important matters to attend to. Without wasting words, he strode over, slipped his arms under his aunt's legs, scooped her up, and walked straight out of the room.
"Hey, put me down, you have no respect for your elders," Jiang Yuer struggled, her long legs kicking wildly, angrily trying to claw at her nephew's face.
The little silly beanie on her head hurriedly punched her head with its small fists.
In the living room, Grandpa and Grandma were wearing their reading glasses and watching TV. Grandma frowned when she saw her daughter being carried out by her grandson.
"Mom, Yuanzi is bullying me."
Jiang Yuer made a false accusation, taking the opportunity to struggle a few times.
But her nephew's iron arms tightly gripped her small waist and long legs, preventing her from jumping down.
"Put your aunt down."
Grandma, after all, sided with her daughter.
Zhang Yuanqing had no choice but to put his aunt down, changing his story, "Grandma, I'm going out for a bit. Guan Ya's cousin is treating me to barbecue."
"Are you coming back to sleep tonight?" Grandma asked, unhappy to hear that he was going out again.
"We'll see."
While speaking, Zhang Yuanqing received a few kicks from his aunt. With Grandpa and Grandma watching, he didn't dare to pin the old couple's daughter to the ground and bully her, so he could only endure it.
At ten o'clock at night, a gust of wind swept through Fu's Family Bay. The plants and trees in the courtyard "rustled" as leaves and dust flew.
In the gale, a figure descended by the fountain pool, then transformed into a dreamy starlight and disappeared.
Outside the study door, Zhang Yuanqing took off the Wind Walker gloves as he knocked on the door...
"Knock knock~"
Soon, the brown solid wood double doors automatically opened, and Fu Qingyang, dressed in white like snow, sat upright behind his desk, his gaze deep as he looked over.
Zhang Yuanqing went straight inside, looking around, saying:
He didn't see the figure of the demigod president.
Fu Qingyang picked up something from the desk and flicked it over.
Zhang Yuanqing caught it steadily. Upon closer inspection, it was a black jade talisman, with a smooth, oily texture. The front was carved with a void passage resembling a wormhole, and the back was engraved with incomprehensible spirit patterns.
"Crush it," Fu Qingyang said.
The president isn't here, huh. Well, even if we're both orderly organizations, we can't be completely trusting. Basic precautions are necessary. The pattern on the back of this jade talisman is similar to my teleportation jade talisman, but more complex. The quality should be higher.
Zhang Yuanqing didn't hesitate, exerting force with his fingertips. With a crisp crack, he crushed the oily black jade.
Next, he saw Fu Qingyang's figure quickly dissipate, and the scenery of the study rapidly faded. After a ripple-like wave, he appeared in a spacious and bright nightclub luxury private room!
The large screen was playing a scene of ancient beauties dancing. The marble table was filled with wine, drinks, fruits, and snacks. There was even a pool table in the lounge.
The patterned marble floor tiles reflected the lights, shining brightly.
Facing the large screen was a U-shaped sofa. A man wearing a burgundy suit and a half-face silver mask leaned lazily on the sofa.
This man, who looked somewhat flamboyant, should be the president. He had two shoulder-bearing beauties in his arms, enjoying the wine and snacks they were feeding him.
On the sofas on either side were beauties in tank tops and mini-skirts.
They sat with their legs together and their hands crossed in front of their stomachs, in elegant and dignified poses.
What's this all about? Zhang Yuanqing stood there, bewildered for a long time, tentatively saying, "You are, President?"
"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you."
The President pushed away the beauties on either side and greeted him enthusiastically, wrapping his arm around Zhang Yuanqing's shoulder in a very familiar manner, "The atmosphere's good, right? This is where men talk business. Aren't you going to greet people?"
The beauties by the sofa stood up in a row, cooing sweetly, "Greetings, Celestial Venerable Lord~"
Zhang Yuanqing considered himself to be socially savvy, but this scene left him completely at a loss for words.
The meeting he envisioned was in a treasure trove piled high with wealth and props. The president of the Merchant Guild stood on top of the treasure mountain, coldly overlooking him.
He would praise him for his return of the props and then bestow upon him rewards that dreamers of The Way of the Extraordinary coveted.
At the very least, shouldn't the Merchant Guild, since it was a Western organization, be in a pointed church under the moonlight? The president would sit high on the papal throne, coldly overlooking the pilgrims.
Then, in the name of God, he would grant him rewards.
In short, this meeting should have been full of class and majesty, which would have been befitting of a demigod's status.
How did it become a nightclub private room?
If you didn't know any better, you'd think the demigod president brought Yuan Shi to patronize prostitutes. "Don't you like it?"
Seeing Yuan Shi dumbfounded, the President stroked his chin and pondered, saying, "Should I change the batch?"
Ah, no, no need," Zhang Yuanqing waved his hands repeatedly.
In front of a demigod, he was still a little restrained. It would be arrogant for an ant not to be in awe of an elephant.
He cautiously offered his opinion: "President, shouldn't we just get down to business?"
The President, wearing a silver mask, thought for a moment and sighed:
"I understand. It's that the girls I invited weren't beautiful enough. Next time, I'll spend money to invite girls from the Beauty Association to accompany you."
Ah, well, is that a deal? Zhang Yuanqing imagined Annie's beauty and felt that he couldn't refuse the girls from the Beauty Association.
"Snap!"
The President snapped his fingers:
"Banish!"
In the crisp echo, the girls in the private room disappeared abruptly, as if they had never been there.
The President, wearing a burgundy suit, returned to the sofa and leaned back lazily, laughing:
"Thank you very much for helping me find the fragments of the Luminous Compass."
Zhang Yuanqing understood and consciously took out the Golden Compass, offering it with both hands. The President reached out, took it, rubbed it a few times, and sighed:
"Compass fragments are meaningless unless they are reunited, but possessing them gives you bargaining chips."
With a flip of his hand, the compass went into the inventory. When he opened it again, he had a stamp in his hand.
To be precise, it was something in the form of a stamp.
Zhang Yuanqing looked intently. On the front of the stamp, the words "Ten Thousand Realms Merchant House" were written in dark blue ink, not in Chinese, but in an unknown font.
But Zhang Yuanqing could understand it.
The edge of the stamp was also painted with exquisite patterns in dark blue ink. "It's yours now," the President handed it over.
Zhang Yuanqing took the stamp with anticipation. After a few seconds of silence, item information appeared:
[Name: Ten Thousand Realms Merchant House Exchange Ticket (Class A)]
[Type: Certificate]
[Function: Exchange]
[Introduction: Class A exchange ticket, can only be exchanged for power.]
[Note: It decides what to trade with.]
How brief. Unprecedentedly brief... Zhang Yuanqing quickly finished reading the item information. The last one that was so brief was the Fallen Holy Grail.
Item information with long and elaborate descriptions might not necessarily be precious, but item information with just a few words must be very precious.
"This exchange ticket is a treasure I've cherished for many years. I can only get one every ten years," the President picked up a glass and tasted the light yellow whiskey, saying:
"It can only be exchanged for power. For example, you can trade it with an excellent material or item from the Saint stage, and it will give you power of the same level.
"When you have a lot of useless items and materials, its usefulness will become apparent. There's no upper limit to the exchange. You can sacrifice Dominator-level items, or even Demigod-level items, and it will still give you the corresponding level of power.
"But remember three things. One: a Saint cannot withstand Dominator power, and a Dominator cannot withstand Demigod power. The consequence of exchanging beyond your level is to return to The Way of the Extraordinary.
"Two: The exchanger can only be the ticket holder. I heard that Bill sold that causal item to you? What I want to tell you is that you cannot let an Yin corpse wear human skin to use the exchange ticket."
"Three: The exchange ticket has its own ideas. It will choose what it wants from you, not what you specify. You can agree or refuse."
Can't let an Yin corpse use it instead? What can restrain causal items must be causal items of a higher level. Zhang Yuanqing rubbed the paper exchange ticket, vaguely guessing the level of the Ten Thousand Realms Merchant House.
Using items and materials to exchange for power is indeed very suitable for the Merchant profession. Well, it's also suitable for a big spender like Fu Qingyang.
But for ordinary travelers of The Way of the Extraordinary without savings, this exchange ticket is not very valuable. But I do have a lot of Dominator-level materials, and a materials quota worth several z's. At a critical moment, exchanging Saint-stage materials for power is a good way to save my life.
Not to mention the distant future, if I prepare a few level 5 and 6 items and exchange them with the Ten Thousand Realms Merchant House, I will obtain the corresponding power. Even if I face a God General of the Soldiers of the Church, I won't be afraid.
If a Dominator wants to kill me, I also have the means to die together.
Zhang Yuanqing realized the value of the exchange ticket. This is a treasure that can make people unleash their small universe. These days, apart from the main characters chosen by fate, most ordinary people can only feel impotent rage, not even having the right to fight desperately.
But in the world of The Way of the Extraordinary, the difference in level can perhaps be made up for by external forces, but the difference in stage is difficult to overcome.
Don't look at Yuan Shi being full of treasures. If he really encountered a Dominator, he would be crushed to death with a finger.
At best, he would get the evaluation of "What a thorny bug." But this exchange ticket can raise the evaluation to "Be a threat," or even "One-for-one at the limit."
And its greatest value is that in the future, when he advances to Dominator, he can rely on topping up to wrestle with peak Dominators, even if only once.
If he advances to Demigod, he can fight three!
The higher the level, the greater the value of the exchange ticket.
Zhang Yuanqing thought happily. Then, he inquired about the second purpose of this meeting:
"I heard from Elder Fu that you relied on this exchange ticket to fight against three Demigods back then?"
The smile on the President's face disappeared immediately, and he sighed, saying:
"Don't mention this. Most of my life's savings were wiped out because of this. Since then, I've lived a poor life of eating corn buns with scallions. It took me many years to become rich again."
"Elder Fu asked me to ask you something," Zhang Yuanqing said without changing his expression:
"He recently investigated the Luminous Compass incident and noticed an organization calling itself 'Xiaoyao'. Um, do you know this organization? Any clues?"
After asking, he muttered to himself in his heart: "Boss, you take the blame for this."
If Yuan Shi asked about the Xiaoyao organization, many problems would be exposed. But if Fu Qingyang, an ambitious prodigy of the Five Elements Alliance, asked, it would seem reasonable.
"Xiaoyao Organization..." The President stroked his chin, recalling for a long time, saying, "Oh, is it the four shrimp soldiers and crab generals who call themselves the Twin Suns and the Twin Shadows?"
That's too much! Zhang Yuanqing nodded:
"Yes, it's those four shrimp soldiers and crab generals. Do you know anything about them?"
"I haven't had much contact with them." The President fell into memory again: "The Twin Suns are a Musician and a Night Wanderer, both peak Dominators. The Twin Shadows, one is a Night Wanderer, the other is not very clear. There were too many Demigods and Dominators participating in the competition at the time, so I didn't pay much attention.
"Did they snatch the compass fragment?" Zhang Yuanqing asked busily.
"Yes! And it was the most important fragment," the President said, "I remember now, they acted with the old marshal of the White Tiger Soldier Crowd. Because of that core fragment, the old marshal became the target of public criticism and died in battle. That core fragment was taken away by the Xiaoyao organization."
There's a lot of information. Let me sort it out properly. Zhang Yuanqing didn't speak again, thinking in silence.
There is a Night Wanderer in the Twin Shadows, which is in line with their name. Being able to participate in the competition for the compass, their level won't be low. These kinds of people are actually easy to investigate.
But the other one isn't even clear to the Demigod President?
The President certainly wouldn't pay too much attention to "shrimp soldiers and crab generals," but it also shows that the one in the Twin Shadows has special concealment methods.
And according to Zhang Yuanqing's understanding, among the local professions, the one who is good at concealment and appears and disappears unpredictably is the Illusionist.
That's not right. The Xiaoyao organization is tasked with protecting the world. How could it have anything to do with evil professions?
Because he was asking on behalf of Fu Qingyang, he didn't dare to ponder for too long, which would expose his familiarity with the Xiaoyao organization. So he suppressed the surging thoughts and pulled the topic back to the exchange ticket.
President, how to exchange it? It doesn't seem interested in the things on me."
The President smiled:
"That's because it doesn't belong to you yet."
Zhang Yuanqing understood. He put the "stamp" into the inventory and then took it out, pinching it between his fingers.
The next second, he saw a dialog box pop up on the stamp:
[Exchange item: Fragment of the Taiyin Source.]
[Do you agree?]
Zhang Yunqing stared blankly at the pop-up dialog box, with only one word left in his mind,
He was scared by this exchange ticket.
It was as if you met a beggar on the road, and he pulled you and said: "I know you. Your dad is Zhang Zizhen, The Way of the Extraordinary ID Zhang Tianshi, one of the Twin Suns of the Xiaoyao organization. Your The Way of the Extraordinary ID is Yuan Shi, on the surface a member of the Five Elements Alliance, but secretly the successor of the Devil Lord."
Yes, that's the kind of horror.
ps: Wrong words will be corrected later.