As soon as these words were spoken, the three looked at each other, each showing signs of caution.
“It’s not just this rat demon, but also the legacies of previous reincarnators, even divine titles and decrees…”
Wu Ming suddenly said with a light laugh.
“What do you mean, Brother Wu?”
Shan Lan’s expression immediately changed. She stepped back a few paces, subtly aligning herself with Ling Guhong, her eyes filled with alertness.
“To be honest with you, I gained a lot from this mission, but I also incurred serious consequences by killing people from the Shaxue Alliance!”
Wu Ming said calmly, “What do the two of you have to say?”
“Mr. Wu, you’re joking…” Shan Lan inwardly groaned.
She and Ling Guhong had truly exhausted all their hidden abilities and were severely weakened. At this moment, even an ordinary person could kill the two of them.
Wu Ming, on the other hand, seemed only to have lost the use of his left hand, still retaining a portion of his combat strength.
If things turned violent, their situation would be life-threatening.
“We can swear, absolutely no one will hear of the secrets of this mission from us!”
Ling Guhong suddenly said.
“Oaths are not reliable!”
Wu Ming shook his head, while the healing talisman inside his robe began to emit a faint glow.
“But oaths sworn in the Temple of the Main God are absolutely reliable!”
Sensing danger, Shan Lan immediately said, “We can make a contract, with the Temple of the Main God as the witness, swearing never to reveal even the slightest detail of this mission!”
“Hmm? That might work! But can we do it right now?” Wu Ming asked.
“Of course!” Shan Lan responded promptly, “Even within a mission world, we Reincarnators can utilize special items and expend merits to have the Main God’s Temple witness a contract. This would be guaranteed by the Temple itself, and no Reincarnator would dare to violate it!”
Wu Ming nodded, “Then let’s do it right now, otherwise I can never fully trust the two of you!”
As a Temple Envoy, he was confident that his authority surpassed that of these two Reincarnators. If there were any deceitful schemes, he would undoubtedly uncover them.
After all, when it came to ambiguous authority boundaries, the Temple of the Main God would inevitably lean slightly in his favor.
“The Blood Oath Contract!”
Shan Lan reluctantly took out a red scroll, wrote the terms in blood, added a drop of her own blood, and then handed it to Ling Guhong. Ling grunted coldly but did the same, before handing it to Wu Ming.
[Heavenly Oath: Sworn by Cycle Number Xinyou 33 and Cycle Number Renhai 4, neither shall, in any form, reveal the specific details of this reincarnation mission. Violators will be eliminated! This agreement is supervised and enforced by the Temple of the Main God. Do you accept?]
“Fascinating!”
Wu Ming nodded. While other things could be faked, the Temple of the Main God could not be.
He made a few modifications to make the terms stricter, then had Shan Lan and Ling Guhong confirm them. After they finally nodded in agreement, the contract instantly turned into a streak of blood light and vanished into the bodies of the two opposite them.
“How did you get this contract?”
Wu Ming asked, his eyes gleaming with interest, instantly recognizing the value of this oath.
“It’s very rare… you can only obtain it in certain specific story worlds after completing a particular task!”
Shan Lan looked pained, “If it weren’t for the threat to my life… I would never take this out…”
“I apologize for the earlier rudeness, please don’t take offense!”
Seeing that the agreement had been reached and the two had shown good judgment, Wu Ming immediately changed to a friendly expression, bowing apologetically, “You two can have this rat demon’s body, I won’t take a single coin from it!”
“You really…”
Shan Lan’s expression softened. She had originally thought she had suffered a huge loss, and just surviving would be good enough, without daring to hope for any spoils. Unexpectedly, in the end, she still got the corpse of a hundred-year-old demon.
Now, she realized she was becoming less and less able to understand this person named Wu Ming.
“After this mission, we may go our separate ways, but may we meet again if fate allows!”
Wu Ming, ignoring everything else, waved and left gracefully, his voice lingering in the air, “Just a piece of advice, don’t get involved in the murky waters of this world’s conflicts again, or the consequences may be dire!”
In reality, the reincarnation missions were ever-changing, and he wasn’t too worried about running into people from the Shaxue Alliance.
Besides, wouldn’t using these two magical artifacts expose the secret?
Therefore, even if the two couldn’t give him a definite assurance, there was still a 30% chance Wu Ming wouldn’t kill them. But now, this outcome was the best.
He would have to kill his comrades who had just fought alongside him to monopolize the spoils, which he really couldn’t bring himself to do.
Not to mention, the rat demon’s fur and skin were useless to him, who already had a magical robe. Even the demon core couldn’t compare to the value of the two magical artifacts.
And more importantly, the divine decree, was beyond measure.
“Temple of the Main God, I want to return!”
Wu Ming said after walking a distance away.
[Detected Cycle Number Gengshen 69, the Temple Envoy’s main mission is complete. Initiating retrieval!]
In an instant, the world spun, and he was back in the Temple Space.
“Activate healing!”
Wu Ming shouted loudly. As a beam of light enveloped him, he watched his left arm gradually regenerate, muscles and bones growing back to their original state, a faint smile forming on his lips.
Although the world of gods and ghosts seemed to have much more value, even many treasures yet to be uncovered, Wu Ming dared not stay a moment longer.
After all, their final actions had greatly offended the Heitai County and Lord Heishan. If they had stayed any longer, the consequences would have been dire. The advice he had given to Shan Lan and Ling Guhong before leaving had truly been sincere.
[Mission complete! Beginning settlement!]
Wu Ming stretched his arm, watching the virtual image of the mission scene appear before him.
Moments later, a series of seal script characters appeared in front of Wu Ming:
[Main Mission: Uprooting the Strong to Help the Weak—Completed! Reward: 500 minor merits!]
[Defeating the Black Wind General, Reward: 1000 minor merits!]
[Eliminating vengeful ghosts, malignant ghosts, rat spirits… Total Reward: 400 minor merits!]
[Total Merits Gained: 1900 minor merits!]
“A rat spirit… could it be from the land god’s temple?”
Wu Ming shook his head, “Good thing I set it on fire, otherwise it would have been a bit of a problem…”
Then, a delighted expression appeared on his face as he exhaled deeply. In the mission world, he had to tread carefully, like walking on thin ice. Now, finally, he could relax.
“1900 minor merits… plus all these spoils, this mission was a goldmine!”
Wu Ming’s face lit up with excitement, “Close to 2000 minor merits, almost enough to exchange for some basic Taoist techniques… Hesitation leads to trouble! I should write a letter to Sister Wu Qing. If I still can’t get into the Taoist Academy, I’ll start self-training immediately. With the Temple of the Main God as my backing, I can still make it!”
At this moment, he took out the spoils from the battle, filled with anticipation, and said, “Temple of the Main God, identify everything!”
A beam of light descended from the Temple of the Main God, first illuminating the talisman Zhen Qian had been holding when he died: [Lesser Heaven Thunder Talisman: Mid-level Thunder Talisman, used to fight enemies with thunder, can be activated by ordinary people!]
“Sure enough, he was a rich guy. We really hit the jackpot!”
Wu Ming found the description of the Tianxin Thunder Talisman and discovered that although the Lesser Heaven Thunder Talisman was slightly lower in grade, it was rare for its fewer restrictions, even allowing activation with true energy. Therefore, its price was not low, costing fifty major merits, almost comparable to the Tianxin Thunder Talisman.
Next were the two magical artifacts:
[Item Name: Yin Gathering Banner]
[Materials: Centennial Chinese Scholar Tree Wood, Five Yin Threads, Heavenly Brocade]
[Grade: Low-level Magical Artifact]
[Effect: Using the scholar tree wood as the pole and the yin threads and brocade as the banner face, it can create a yin place, raising ghostly entities. Ordinary wandering souls residing here have a very small chance of becoming malignant ghosts! (Note: This banner must be placed in a graveyard every three months to be nourished by yin energy!)]
…
[Item Name: Dustless Robe]
[Materials: Heavenly Silkworm Thread, Fire Rat Fur, Ghost Girl Hair]
[Grade: Mid-level Magical Artifact]
[Effect: Its defensive power is comparable to that of an ordinary iron armor. It grants one daily avoidance spell and the Clean Garment Spell, keeping the wearer spotless.]
“A low-level magical artifact and a mid-level robe?”
Wu Ming immediately decided that while the Yin Gathering Banner could wait, it would be better to wear the Dustless Robe sooner rather than later.
“What a pity… What a pity… I couldn’t find any Taoist techniques on Zhen Qian…”
Wu Ming’s face was full of regret as his gaze fell on the last item.
A beam of light fell, and the grayish-white stone talisman trembled slightly, as if unwilling.
“A divine decree…”
Wu Ming’s eyes flickered as a line of light appeared before him:
[Item Name: Blackwater Village Land God Decree]
[Quality: 9th Rank White Decree]
[Effect: A credential granting authority over a local land. If assimilated into the body, there is a small chance of ascending to the rank of a true deity!]
[Restriction: Spirit and Ghost World, Heitai County, Blackwater Village!]
“Cursed… it’s really a useless item…”
Wu Ming frowned. Even if he returned to Heitai County to become a land god, he wouldn’t dare.
Besides, that place was extremely dangerous, and he might become a pawn of Lord Heishan and the Heitai Magistrate. A wise person would avoid it.
[This item can be returned for 300 major merits. Do you wish to submit it to the Temple of the Main God?]
However, the following description made Wu Ming’s eyes light up.
This marked the first instance where the Temple of the Main God had proactively offered to repurchase an item, and at a substantial price—equivalent to 3,000 minor merits! For ordinary Reincarnators, it even amounted to 3,300 minor merits!
“Are there any other options?”
He patiently looked further down.
Sure enough, at the end of the description, there was an additional option:
[Exclusive Option for Temple Envoys: Pay 50 major merits to transform this divine decree into a minor official’s decree! Its rank will decrease, but its usage range will expand! (Note: During the transformation process, the divine decree may fail and disappear!)]
“A minor official? That means no official rank…”
Wu Ming had a black line on his forehead, “But being usable in the Great Zhou Dynasty is good enough… as for the merits, well, I’ll keep it for now!”
He immediately chose neither to return nor to transform it, leaving it stored in his space.
After all, in Wu Ming’s opinion, he was far from the point of needing to use the divine decree urgently. Leaving it in the Temple of the Main God ensured it wouldn’t disappear.
“With this, plus the magical artifacts, my gains from this mission are definitely over 5000…”
Wu Ming laughed heartily. However, he almost cried out in pain as he chose to return, “Fine, taking back the Dustless Robe and Yin Gathering Banner is understandable, but even taking the Wu Jin Ring back costs me? Temple of the Main God, why don’t you just rob me?”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage