Chapter 1 Looks Like You've Found Quite a Bit in the Last Few Days

“Looks like you've found quite a bit in the last few days.” Catherine smiled. Tongtian Jiaozhu's precise grasp of the Hunter Guild's schemes made her increasingly admire him.

Zhang Yuanqing pulled a chair over and sat down, scanning the spacious and luxurious private room. He noticed surveillance cameras installed in the four corners of the ceiling.

He withdrew his gaze and looked at Catherine's snow-white and graceful back, saying calmly, "I originally thought the Hunter Guild was just doing things for money, but the tone of your phone call and your current mood tell me that your goal is to assassinate Julian and provoke internal strife within Tianfa. Does the Hunter Guild belong to the evil faction?"

“Want to know?” Catherine turned her head, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Take off your clothes and come down!”

Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the surveillance cameras in the four corners of the ceiling and said coldly, "I don't have a hobby of being naked in front of others."

Catherine's eyes were charming. She followed his gaze and looked around at the surveillance cameras, smiling. "The people behind the monitoring are the president of the Hunter Guild and two vice presidents. We are very strict with the review of new members. Tonight is the last level of your membership in the Hunter Guild. They are responsible for the audit."

One president and three vice presidents... Zhang Yuanqing was somewhat resistant, but Tongtian Jiaozhu was an eccentric illusionist. How could he be intimidated by such a small scene? So he expressionlessly took off his white short sleeves and black casual jacket, then stripped off his briefs and threw them aside. Under Catherine's bright gaze, he walked to the edge of the bathtub and stepped into the water.

As soon as his body was immersed in the warm water, Zhang Yuanqing felt a tremor in his heart. The various emotions in his mind quickly dissipated, leaving behind serious and upright thoughts, as if he had become the selfless Bao Qingtian.

"This is..." Zhang Yuanqing looked down at the pool.

Catherine smiled and said, "This is called the Holy Pool, one of the three holy relics of the Holy See, a prop for the Knight profession, managed by the Knights of the Holy See in the beginning. Its function is to wash away evil thoughts and戾qi (violent tendencies) in the heart. Whenever the Knights returned to the Holy See after cleansing heretics, they had to soak in the Holy Pool for an hour."

"Good stuff. If I have the opportunity, I'll snatch it and send it back to China. Let those corrupt officials soak in it for an hour every day, and the world will become a better place."

Zhang Yuanqing's first reaction was: The Demon Eye must like this prop very much. At the same time, he understood the reason why Catherine invited him to a romantic bath. This was the last test.

As thoughts flashed through his mind, he saw the item attributes while immersed in the Holy Pool.

[Name: Holy Knight's Bath Pool]

[Type: Bathtub]

[Function: Cleansing Pact]

[Introduction: One of the three holy relics of the Holy See. In the chaotic Middle Ages, witches' curses and vampire pollution were the greatest threats to the clergy of the Holy See. In order to save the fallen knights and prevent the knights from being contaminated, the third generation of holy knights created this holy artifact.]

[Note: A real man should meet each other frankly.]

Contracts and oaths are conventional skills of the knight profession. However, "cleansing" made Zhang Yuanqing a little curious, guessing that it was a skill attached to the prop and contained the characteristics of a knight.

The skills of high-level props do not 100% replicate the Lingjing (Mystic Realm) professions, but rather evolve into brand new skills by integrating professional abilities according to their own characteristics.

For example, the abilities of the Rogue Disc do not belong to any profession.

Unfortunately, he couldn't put this item into his item bar, so Zhang Yuanqing couldn't figure out the specific effects of cleansing. If it was just to eliminate "impurities" in emotions, he felt that the intensity was too low to match the title of "Three Holy Relics."

Catherine gently stirred the water, her fair and delicate melon-seed face stained with water droplets. Seeing Tongtian Jiaozhu's gaze deep and calm, she pouted and said resentfully, "Am I not beautiful?"

Zhang Yuanqing smiled dryly. "I think Donna is more beautiful than you."

Catherine's pretty face sank, and she put away her charming attitude, saying coldly, "Tongtian Jiaozhu, I represent the Hunter Guild to conduct the last round of assessment on you. Now, please swear an oath to answer my questions honestly."

After saying that, she raised her snow-white arms and swept across the surface of the water. Pure and bright golden light lit up from the bottom of the pool, turning the pool of spring water into golden soup.

Catherine's fair and jade-like body became even more beautiful and alluring, like a fairy bathing in Yaochi.

Is she angry? It seems she has a strong jealousy towards Donna. This is a clue.

Zhang Yuanqing's expression remained unchanged as he took an oath and said, "Ask your questions; ten seconds aren’t necessary.”

“26 years old, born in Songhai, China, Lingjing ID Tongtian Jiaozhu, profession: Illusionist!” Zhang Yuanqing replied frankly.

In the bedroom of the New Covenant County Bank headquarters, the Yin corpse, whose appearance was exactly the same as the real "Tongtian Jiaozhu", suddenly had a sword mark splitting open on its forehead. The sword mark expanded and quickly moved along the body. With a *pu*, the entire body tore in half.

The skin on the surface of the corpse melted, and the venom-like liquid gathered into a human skin as thin as a cicada's wing. Zhang Yuanqing's doppelganger played with the Yata Mirror in one hand and picked up the human skin with the other. Mission complete!

"I hope the original body passes the test smoothly."

The sound of a man and woman's excessive pleasure and unconscious swearing came from the computer's speakers: "Oh! Oh..."

Catherine scrutinized him. Seeing that Tongtian Jiaozhu was safe and sound, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. She continued to ask, "We have investigated you. You are very low-key in the Second District. The Five Elements Alliance has no more than three criminal records about you, and the people you killed were all officials."

"I have killed many people: the powerful, the greedy, the lustful, and the wealthy second generation who rely on their ancestors' power to do evil. There are too many," Zhang Yuanqing said calmly. "How could those fools in the officialdom find out that an illusionist killed someone?"

Catherine nodded slightly. "You seem to have a strong hatred for these groups!"

"My home was forcibly demolished, and my parents died as a result."

"Why come to the Free Federation?"

"I want to participate in the year-end killing instance, come to the Free Federation to hunt the Daoists of the First District, and increase my chances of being promoted to Ruler."

"What is your evaluation of the Five Elements Alliance?"

"Garbage."

"What about Tianfa?"

"Garbage among garbage."

“What about the Hunter Guild?”

“Still garbage.”

Catherine had seen all kinds of men, but she had never met one so arrogant and conceited.

She put aside her distracting thoughts and continued, "If you find someone in the Hunter Guild who violates your taboo, what will you do?"

"I have no companions. No one in this world is unkillable, including myself."

Catherine smiled. This was the norm for an evil profession with deep obsessions, wishing to destroy the world, including themselves. In the eyes of evil professions, there are no companions. The so-called companions are just like-minded people who temporarily conform to their interests and can be betrayed and abandoned at any time, even within an evil organization.

At this moment, her phone placed by the pool "dinged."

"Of course, this is temporary. There is no skill in the world that can eliminate evil professions. The soul of an evil profession is a source of evil pollution. Cleansing at most eliminates thoughts, and the dissipated filth will gradually breed and return to its original state over time."

Zhang Yuanqing did not respond.

Zhang Yuanqing frowned.

"Skills can be disguised by props. As long as you are prepared enough, you can disguise yourself as any profession. But evil professions have one thing in common: the higher the level, the stronger the evil."

"Of course, if your soul is full of evil thoughts, we will gladly accept even an orderly profession."

During her speech, Zhang Yuanqing was brainstorming the whole time. He understood the function of "cleansing." This was how the Hunter Guild confirmed evil professions. The Free Federation was indeed very careful. Even recruiting a Saint-level member who was not even a core management member was so cautious.

No wonder major orderly organizations have been unable to find enemies lurking within for a century.

Evil thoughts… I shouldn't lack that stuff. Although Zhang Yuanqing was unwilling to admit it, after experiencing Master Wuhen's lectures, he deeply understood the problems inside his Linggui (Spirit Official).

Hidden in this body is a soul that even evil professions pity and marvel at.

Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the surveillance camera above his head and said, "How to cleanse?"

"The water in the pool will dilute the evil thoughts in your soul. Imagine yourself as a团(measure word for something amorphous) ink. The deeper the evil thoughts, the blacker the pool will become."

Catherine smiled and said, "In the Saint Realm, the evilest profession that I have seen turned the water into a latte color."

She put away her smile and stared deeply at Tongtian Jiaozhu.

The next second, a dazzling golden light erupted from the bottom of the pool, and then the golden light converged, condensing into a streamer, entering the body along Zhang Yuanqing's ankle, drilling into the calf, thigh, waist, abdomen, chest, and finally converging at the center of his brow.

Zhang Yuanqing raised his head, revealing a twisted expression intertwined with pain and joy.

Then a scene that made Catherine pale appeared. A layer of pitch black quickly dyed around Tongtian Jiaozhu, and spread rapidly. In the blink of an eye, almost half of the pool had been polluted.

Catherine's face changed drastically, and she jumped out of the pool, as if it were something terrible.

"This..." She stood naked by the pool, her beautiful eyes filled with astonishment. A Saint Realm peak illusionist actually had such terrible and deep evil thoughts.

According to the law that the higher the level, the deeper the evil thoughts, with such terrifying evil thoughts, Tongtian Jiaozhu's level could not possibly be Saint, at least Ruler.

She had been carefree before because she claimed to be a Ruler and was not afraid of mere pollution, but Tongtian Jiaozhu's evil thoughts were no less than that of an evil profession's Ruler. If she were contaminated by these filth, as an orderly profession, she might go insane.

*Ding ding!!*

The phone by the bathtub rang. The caller was the president of the Hunter Guild. Catherine calmed her mind, answered the phone, listened for a few seconds, then put down the phone and looked at Zhang Yuanqing with a complicated expression.

"You passed the assessment. The president asked me to warn you to come here every ten months to cleanse your evil thoughts. What we need are rational and effective companions."

Even evil professions are afraid of me going insane... The corner of Zhang Yuanqing's mouth twitched.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Yuanqing, wearing a bathrobe, sat cross-legged by the coffee table, with a cup of coffee in front of him. Opposite him was Catherine, also wearing a bathrobe, revealing her snow-white cleavage.

"Congratulations on joining the Hunter Guild. From today on, you are our internal member. Let me first tell you about the benefits."

Catherine took a sip of coffee and said, "A monthly salary of 500,000 Federal Coins. One free bounty opportunity per month. From now on, all the rewards for the missions you do will belong to you. The guild will no longer take a cut. The guild will regularly arrange tasks for you, which you cannot refuse. After completing the tasks, there will be rewards such as bonus, materials, dungeon guides, and props, depending on the difficulty of the task."

Zhang Yuanqing listened silently and said, "No problem."

He also took a sip of coffee and then asked, "I want to know the real background of the Hunter Guild and information related to the Holy See and the Pope's relics."

Zhang Yuanqing shook his head.

"The oldest Lingjing Xingzhe organization in the world is the Holy See and the Free Federation. The Free Federation is composed of free professions belonging to the Free camp and a group of orderly professions who yearn for freedom. The demise of the Holy See is due to the merits of our predecessors."

"I see, to put it in the words of the Orderly camp, you are a Fallen in the Orderly profession."

"Fallen?" Catherine chuckled and said, "I am not a Fallen. I have just seen through the ultimate order of the essence of the universe. Without order, the ultimate chaos is destruction, and destruction is the only unchanging order. This is God's revelation!"

"God's revelation!" Zhang Yuanqing raised his eyebrows.

"You said God?"