The small town remained deathly still, with tens of thousands of walking dead aimlessly wandering its streets, their faces still bearing expressions of happiness.
When Wan Lei left the town for that silent universe, his念力 (niànlì - mental power) naturally withdrew. With the faith念力 returning, the corpses could dream again.
Looking at the scene before him, Wan Lei sighed. He didn't know how to deal with these people, but thankfully, it wasn't his burden to bear. It was better to leave it to the Five Elements Hall.
He turned back and, at the base of the statue of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, set up a small illusion formation to conceal the mechanism that opened that universe.
He did not wish for anyone to disturb the Great Sage's cultivation, nor did he want anyone to destroy this entrance, which would affect his plan to bring Xiao Yu here to escape.
After finishing, Wan Lei took out his small spaceship. Inside, he placed the head of the Six-Eared Macaque to the side.
"Locate Five Elements Hall headquarters, initiate spatial jump," Wan Lei commanded the spaceship's intelligent assistant.
"Five Elements Hall headquarters located. Spatial jump platform ready. Spatial jump can be initiated."
"Proceed."
Boom!
A blue-black spatial vortex suddenly appeared at the front of the spaceship, and Wan Lei's craft shot into it.
When it emerged again, it had arrived at the Five Elements Hall headquarters.
Wan Lei marveled at the convenience of transportation in the immortal realm. As long as there was a spatial jump point, one could jump to any location, or jump directly from any location to a spatial jump point. It was incredibly convenient.
He disembarked, put away the spaceship, and carrying the head of the Six-Eared Macaque, flew towards the Five Elements Hall mission office.
Xiao Jin had told him to keep evidence after completing a mission and report it to the mission office for confirmation and reward settlement.
Wan Lei flew at a leisurely pace, noticing that disciples all around were looking at him with surprise and whispering amongst themselves.
"Isn't that Wan Lei, the one with the Origin-level potential? How did he get back?"
"I don't know. A few days ago, someone said he was assigned to investigate the Great Sage Equal to Heaven for offending the Water Hall Master and provoking the Fire Hall Master. Didn't he take the mission and leave? Why is he back?"
"That shouldn't be the case. A Purgatory-level mission with five hundred功勋点 (gōngxūn diǎn - merit points), and he actually came back alive? He probably didn't even go."
"Impossible, look at him carrying a monkey's head. He must have gone. Did the Great Sage Equal to Heaven not kill him?"
As early as the day Wan Lei went to the East Sea, the big-mouthed Xiao Jin couldn't help but post the matter on the Five Elements Hall internal forum. People learned then that Wan Lei had offended a Saint and was sent on a suicide mission.
Upon hearing this news, apart from the Water Hall disciples who were overjoyed, other disciples were shocked and regretful.
They were shocked that the Fire Hall Master, Li Yan, was so shameless, targeting a mere Void Realm disciple in such a way. After all, this was his very first mission after entering the sect, and it was a death sentence. It made one feel a lack of belonging to the sect.
They regretted that a prodigy with Origin-level potential, the first warrior brave enough to bully a Saint, known as an awesome existence, was about to perish like this. They felt it was a great pity.
Such a figure, just emerging, before he could spread his wings and achieve great things, was directly extinguished. It was truly a fleeting bloom, vanishing like a shooting star.
Yet, it had only been a little over four days, and this man had returned!
This scene attracted many disciples, all curious as to how he completed the mission, and he appeared completely unharmed. They were even more curious about the monkey's head Wan Lei was carrying.
Therefore, the disciples who saw him began to follow Wan Lei towards the mission office, wanting to hear his mission report.
The news of Wan Lei's return spread throughout the Five Elements Hall at an astonishing speed.
As the well-known informant of the Five Elements Hall, Xiao Jin naturally received the news immediately.
Xiao Jin arrived the fastest, meeting Wan Lei halfway as he headed to the mission office. Seeing Wan Lei unharmed and carrying a monkey's head, he was overjoyed and quickly flew to meet him.
"Brother Wan, hahaha, I'm so happy to see you back. How was it, did you complete the mission?" Xiao Jin enthusiastically spread his arms, about to give Wan Lei a big hug.
Wan Lei, however, lifted the monkey's head in front of him and swung it, causing Xiao Jin to immediately stop in his tracks, disgusted.
"I have fulfilled my mission, and this task has been completed successfully."
"Hahaha, that's good! Brother Wan, you are indeed extraordinary, completing a Purgatory-level mission with ease. You truly are the first warrior of our Five Elements Hall."
"My brother Wan Lei has the bearing of an Immortal Venerable!"
Xiao Jin shouted loudly, his flattery exaggerated, as if proclaiming to others how powerful Wan Lei was and how good his relationship with Wan Lei was.
*Big brother, please stop shouting. You are the one with the bearing of an Immortal Venerable, and your entire family has the bearing of an Immortal Venerable.*
As Xiao Jin followed Wan Lei towards the mission office, he tried to probe.
"Brother Wan, did you encounter the Great Sage Equal to Heaven this time? Whose head are you carrying, and what kind of battle took place?"
"Well, you'll hear it when I report later. As for the battle, I didn't make any moves during this mission."
Wan Lei was telling the truth. He hadn't fought at all from beginning to end, at most he had tried to block the Six-Eared Macaque's attacks. Most of it was him using his own wisdom to solve puzzles and help the Great Sage attain enlightenment.
As for the Six-Eared Macaque, it had participated in the third Immortal-Demon War, but because it wasn't particularly outstanding, not many people knew about it. After the war, it stayed in Flower Fruit Mountain, and later went to that universe, rarely showing itself to others, making it even more mysterious.
Wan Lei and Xiao Jin flew ahead, followed by a large group of eager onlookers.
The mission office was located on a flat mountain peak not far from the Golden Hall, with a large-scale building. This was where missions were usually posted, received, or chosen by disciples.
When Wan Lei and Xiao Jin landed on the peak, they stopped. The main entrance was blocked by a group of people. Leading them was Xing Chen, the Hall Son of the Water Hall in the Void Realm, along with other Water Hall disciples.
"Wan Lei? You dare to come back? You're courting death. It seems you truly don't take our Water Hall seriously." Xing Chen walked forward with a cold smile, looking at Wan Lei provocatively and with utter contempt.
"I merely went out on a mission, and now that it's completed, I have naturally returned. Why does this junior brother speak as if I were fleeing?" Wan Lei started by gaining an advantage, immediately upgrading himself to a senior brother.
"You call me junior brother? What are you, anyway? How many days have you been in the Five Elements Hall?"