"Before, I was a bit too cautious," Ye Ling said, tossing the phone back to Ye Qingyan. "I was always thinking of finding Hongchen Pavilion, but those guys are like rats, hiding in some corner of the world. Searching for them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"But conversely, if we can make them come looking for us, it'll be much more convenient."
Ye Qingyan's forehead was covered in dark lines as she stared at Ye Ling with a resentful expression. "So, you're not the bait, are you?"
Ye Ling smiled and comforted her, "Don't worry. With your current strength, Hongchen Pavilion can't threaten you. Didn't they deceive you for so long, leaving you full of pent-up anger?"
"Now that you've finally achieved this cultivation, it's the perfect time to unleash your fury on those scumbags."
"You scoundrel..." Ye Qingyan muttered. Before she could continue her complaint, her phone began to vibrate.
"Please confirm, user Ye Qingyan, has the mission been completed?"
Hearing the familiar female voice, Ye Qingyan's forehead couldn't help but show fine beads of sweat. She looked towards Ye Ling. If everything had been a joke just moments ago, then by tapping that button now, everything would become very real.
Seeing Ye Ling nod seriously, Ye Qingyan took a deep breath, made up her mind, and said to the phone screen, "Mission confirmed complete. Awaiting employer confirmation." Although she had been complaining about Ye Ling, she had never doubted his strength.
The pleasant female voice from the phone said again, "Okay, please wait."
Ye Ling transmitted his voice to Tian Zhu, "Tian Zhu, use the identity of Su Chen to confirm the order with Hongchen Pavilion."
"Understood."
Not long after Ye Ling finished instructing Tian Zhu, Ye Qingyan's phone emitted a crisp "ding-dong" sound, and the pleasant female voice from the phone spoke again, "Congratulations, user Ye Qingyan, for completing the mission. After deducting a 10% platform commission, seven billion US dollars will be transferred to your account. You can purchase any cultivation resources from the platform store."
"Mission ended. Detecting user Ye Qingyan is in a soul-out-of-body state. Initiating return program. Please do not resist, user Ye Qingyan."
"..."
"System error detected. Restarting return. User Ye Qingyan, please wait."
"Unknown error discovered! Requesting host assistance. Please..."
The voice from the phone gradually lost its emotion, becoming mechanical and cold, and finally, even a bit ferocious! Ye Qingyan's phone began to heat up rapidly, and then... with a bang! The phone exploded, leaving Ye Qingyan with only a lump of scrap metal in her hand.
"This..." Ye Qingyan looked at Ye Ling with an innocent expression. She had never encountered such a situation and didn't know what to do next.
"It's likely that Hongchen Pavilion realized something was wrong with you," Ye Ling said, standing up from the stone platform and walking over to Ye Qingyan. He took the exploded phone. "Just now, I could feel a magnetic field attempting to pinpoint your location, trying to pull your soul back to a certain space."
"However, you are not in a spiritual body state now, and your soul strength is incomparable to what it was. Hongchen Pavilion's current methods cannot take you away."
"They forcibly destroyed this phone, probably fearing we'd find their headquarters through it?" As he spoke, a hint of a smile flashed in Ye Ling's eyes. A dark flame ignited, burning the defunct phone in his hand to ashes.
No matter how powerful Hongchen Pavilion was rumored to be, their current actions demonstrated how weak they were. Truly powerful individuals and forces disdained hiding in the shadows. Hongchen Pavilion's behavior had confirmed that they were merely rats who couldn't see the light.
Seeing that there was no turning back, Ye Qingyan asked Ye Ling, "What should we do now?"
"Do nothing... Although they are just rats who can't see the light, it must be admitted that Hongchen Pavilion, in terms of both strength and technological level, far surpasses the overt forces and nations of this world."
"They've likely pinpointed your location and will be here soon." Ye Ling brushed the ashes from his hands and smiled at Ye Qingyan, "To avoid alerting them, I'll step aside first and wait for them to arrive."
"If you can handle it, deal with it. If you can't, run. If you can't run, I'll step in." Ye Ling said nonchalantly. Without waiting for Ye Qingyan's reply, he concealed his figure and vanished from the spot.
"Wait..." Ye Qingyan wanted to call out to Ye Ling, but she found that she could no longer sense his presence. She didn't even know if Ye Ling was still nearby.
"This irresponsible man!" Ye Qingyan muttered under her breath. She glanced at the darkening sky outside and realized she had nowhere else to go, so she sat down to meditate in the cave dwelling.
Tonight, there was no moon. Thick dark clouds covered the Shennongjia wilderness, and the surroundings were pitch black, making it impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face. Ye Qingyan meditated in the darkness, with only the faint white spiritual energy swirling around her providing a small amount of light, illuminating about a meter around her.
For some reason, in this deep mountain, Ye Qingyan heard no insect chirps or bird calls, nor any movement of wild beasts. The entire world was eerily silent. Even with her eighth-grade cultivation, she felt extremely uncomfortable in such an oppressive environment. She couldn't even calm her mind to cultivate!
'Whatever it is, just come... Don't torture me like this!' Ye Qingyan opened her eyes. Unable to bear the dead silence, she suddenly sat up from the stone platform and leaped out of the cave dwelling.
Rumble... As soon as Ye Qingyan exited the cave entrance, the roar of a helicopter echoed from the sky, and a blinding searchlight shone upon her.
"Who?" Ye Qingyan blocked the strong light with her arm and asked sharply.
"Miss Ye, please do not resort to force. We are from Hongchen Pavilion!" A clear shout came from the helicopter, followed by a black rope dropping down. A black man, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, descended holding the rope and landed in front of Ye Qingyan. He revealed a row of white teeth and spoke fluent Chinese, "Hello, Miss Ye. My name is Mao Jianhe, External Affairs Officer of Hongchen Pavilion."
Ye Qingyan scanned her surroundings. She could sense at least two seventh-grade extraordinary individuals hidden in the wilderness. As for whether there were any eighth-graders, she couldn't be sure.
Ye Qingyan looked at Mao Jianhe and snorted coldly, "Good Hongchen Pavilion. I have worked diligently for you for six years, only to end up with nothing. In the end, I gained no benefits and am now being hunted by you!"
Mao Jianhe smiled, "Miss Ye, please do not be angry. I believe there must be some misunderstanding. Why don't we go back to the base to talk? In this desolate mountain wilderness, if anything were to happen to Miss Ye, it would be a loss for Hongchen Pavilion as well."
Clang! A clear sword cry rang out. Ye Qingyan held a long sword and placed it at Mao Jianhe's neck, her eighth-grade aura erupting! Mao Jianhe's expression changed drastically!
Ye Qingyan said coldly, "With just these people, you dare to threaten me?"