King of Creation Chapter 1680: 1665: Something Good

Within the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch Temple, Ye Zhen had already spotted the temple members, featuring a single expert at the Ninth Stage Realm King Realm peak with a condensed Primordial Spirit, alongside fifty-four Realm King Realm Divine Masters, the majority being mid-to-early-stage powerhouses.

Grand Spirit Masters at the Dark Palace Realm numbered three hundred forty, Spirit Masters in the Divine Communication Realm surpassed three thousand, and Divine Envoys in the Dao Entrance Realm hit a staggering six thousand.

The overall count of members in the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch Temple matched that of the Heavenly Temple Shahe City Branch Temple, yet its top-tier battle forces doubled those of the Shahe City outpost.

In the Shahe City Branch Temple, merely two thousand Spirit Masters occupied the Divine Communication Realm, with only two hundred Grand Spirit Masters, but Ye Zhen exploited their scattered deployments to crush them one by one.

Since the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch Temple boasted double the strength of the Shahe City Branch Temple, a brute-force annihilation was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Even worse, the urgency of this mission left Ye Zhen without time to summon Ling Qianbi and Big Ears.

Big Ears’ Innate Divine Ability proved vital against elite foes, while Ling Qianbi’s vast All Living Beings Hundred Illusion Divine Ability shone in clashes with hordes of enemies.

It could at minimum disrupt a third of the enemy’s Grand Spirit Masters, either sidelining that portion or flipping them to bolster one’s own ranks—either outcome delivering massive impact.

Regrettably, Ye Zhen stood alone this time.

He needed to triumph via cunning tactics!

Thus, over the previous three days, Ye Zhen lurked in the void above the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch Temple, hunting for any viable opening to attack.

With every ticking hour, anxiety gripped Ye Zhen tighter, yet no alternative existed; he had to endure until the final instant.

Ye Zhen possessed just twenty days total, fourteen already elapsed, leaving six—but actionable time dwindled below four days.

Should no opportunity emerge in the coming three days, Ye Zhen would face no choice but a desperate gamble.

Fortune smiles on the prepared, as the ancient wisdom declares.

Right after Ye Zhen’s four-day vigil outside the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch Temple, as dawn barely tinged the sky, two Grand Spirit Masters departed alongside ten Spirit Masters and a hundred Divine Envoys from the Luo Prefecture Branch Temple.

Ye Zhen trailed them stealthily from afar.

Thanks to Ye Zhen’s Divine Soul Cultivation, now forged into a Primordial Spirit, it utterly dominated these Grand Spirit Masters capped at Dark Palace Realm Eighth Stage, most wielding Innate Soul Light of merely four or five levels.

Not forgetting Ye Zhen’s own Four-colored Innate Soul Light.

Thus, the shadowy pursuer went utterly undetected.

Before long, Ye Zhen, by spreading his Divine Soul Power via Water Spiritual Power, eavesdropped on their talk, revealing a trip to Luo Prefecture State City for bulk purchases.

The Luo Prefecture Branch Temple’s routine biweekly supply run.

With over ten thousand souls in the Luo Prefecture Branch Temple, daily resource drain was immense, particularly for these Heavenly Temple Divine Masters and Grand Spirit Masters craving luxurious living.

Though Dao Entrance Realm martial artists could forgo food for ten to half a month, sustaining via Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power alone.

Still, whenever feasible, they indulged their tastes.

Besides, steady intake of Spirit Valley, Spirit Wine, and spirit-rich Beast Meat profoundly reshaped a martial artist’s physique and boosted cultivation progress.

Such habits forged the divides among martial artists.

A mediocre-talented scion of nobility, nurtured on endless Spirit Plants and Spirit Wine for centuries, would rival the cultivation heights of prodigies from humble origins despite their gifts.

Hence, among martial artists with means, no day passed without three squares, nor cultivation sessions without Spiritual Tea.

Only the resource-strapped suppressed their appetites.

This gulf defined wealth’s role in the martial world.

Regarding the Heavenly Temple, every Grand Spirit Master who earns fame there boasts wealth beyond imagination, with abundant Spirit Plants and Spirit Wine supplied generously within its confines.

Naturally, the resources available depend on one's status and rank.

In these conditions, the bustling Heavenly Temple Branch Temples dispatch procurers on a regular basis, and the Luo Prefecture Branch Temple proves no different.

This procurement duty offers rich rewards, handled by Cheng Ji, disciple of Abbot Jiwei from the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch Temple; they make purchases every half month, and today marks the procurement day.

Once he discerned their objective, Ye Zhen considered for a moment and trailed after them, viewing the chance as promising.

Ye Zhen found no opening to strike until they arrived at Luo Prefecture State City, where over a hundred figures had assembled.

Yet, the moment this crowd stepped into Luo Prefecture State City, a golden opportunity appeared.

In charge of procurement, Cheng Ji signaled with a wave, assigning ten Spirit Masters—each to command ten Divine Envoys—to fan out across Luo Prefecture State City for gathering materials.

With the Spirit Masters and Divine Envoys scattering, Cheng Ji traded a knowing smile with a Grand Spirit Master before heading separate ways.

Through Ye Zhen’s Divine Sense pursuit, that other Grand Spirit Master traveled only a short distance before shifting his form and slipping into the grandest casino of Luo Prefecture State City.

Meanwhile, the procurement overseer Cheng Ji, a Grand Spirit Master, skirted the crowded main thoroughfare and entered a tranquil courtyard tucked away in the depths of the alley.

The courtyard held few souls: only two young women, two maids, and an old lady busy at the stove.

With Cheng Ji clutching a woman in each arm, Ye Zhen grasped the scene immediately.

It seemed this scoundrel maintained a hidden harem right in Luo Prefecture City.

Indulging in a daylight dragon-with-two-phoenixes escapade, Cheng Ji reveled in utter bliss.

He frolicked from morning straight through to afternoon, reducing the two young girls to limp puddles and even claiming the two maids in his frenzy.

Once sated, Cheng Ji clutched the bare women close and plunged into heavy slumber, as a slender vivid-green grass blade crawled up his exposed skin like a creeping bug.

Aware of the high stakes, Ye Zhen advanced with utmost vigilance in every action.

As the grass fully blossomed to block all Cheng Ji's vital acupoints, drawing a stifled grunt from him, Ye Zhen erupted from the earth.

A fierce palm gale swept across, sending the cluster of girls into unconsciousness.

Then, Ye Zhen crammed the horrified Grand Spirit Master Cheng Ji into the Spirit Beast Bag before tunneling into a makeshift underground hideout.

Interrogation commenced!

Hardened criminals exist aplenty in this world, but spotting one among lustful sots like Cheng Ji proves exceedingly rare.

Before long, Cheng Ji spilled every detail on the Luo Prefecture Branch Temple to Ye Zhen; the branch's true state aligned closely with Ye Zhen's earlier gathered intelligence.

In a bid to preserve his wretched life, Cheng Ji finally unleashed a shocking revelation.

He declared himself the bastard offspring of Jiwei, abbot of the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch, bearing the true surname Cheng; upon taking him as disciple, Jiwei assigned the monastic name Cheng Ji.

Cheng Ji elaborated that this blood tie earned him the profitable procurement head position at the Luo Prefecture Branch, and to demonstrate honesty, he noted his status as the abbot’s son was common knowledge inside the branch.

In this way, Cheng Ji warned Ye Zhen that his death would spell disaster, yet sparing him promised floods of inconceivable riches.

Ye Zhen laughed lightly at such pleas; on the verge of launching his extermination scheme against the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch, why bother with concerns?

Another detail casually dropped by Cheng Ji truly captured Ye Zhen's curiosity: owing to his role as the abbot’s illegitimate heir, every Divine Master and Grand Spirit Master in the branch kept amiable ties with him.

No one, after all, would be idiotic enough to antagonize him.

While idle chatter held no appeal for Ye Zhen, the substance of this chatter did intrigue him.

For safety's sake, Ye Zhen withheld full belief from this supposed bastard son of the Luo Prefecture Branch abbot, so once the divine sense exchange ended, he launched a direct Soul Search.

The Soul Search proved the youth spoke truth, and through it, Ye Zhen seized the majority of Cheng Ji’s memories.

Particularly the web of relationships inside the branch; amid the jumble of thoughts in Cheng Ji’s mind, Ye Zhen identified seventy to eighty percent of the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch's members.

Additionally, he obtained a clear sense of the boy's temperament.

To play it safe and prevent any soul restrictions in the boy’s divine soul from warning others upon his demise, Ye Zhen performed the Soul Search with extreme care, guaranteeing that Cheng Ji’s divine soul stayed intact.

With a casual fling, Cheng Ji landed inside the Spirit Beast Bag. Then, Origin Mirage Qi drawn from the Ancient Mirage Qi in Ye Zhen’s Mirage Dragon Pearl erupted, morphing him into an exact duplicate of Cheng Ji.

Now in Cheng Ji’s likeness, Ye Zhen carefully reviewed every detail while directing Achou, his Mirage Dragon Primordial Spirit, to tweak things precisely using Ancient Mirage Qi, aligning his aura flawlessly with Cheng Ji’s.

Upon Ye Zhen’s return to the small courtyard, the girls continued sleeping soundly.

Slipping into Cheng Ji’s Grand Spirit Master robes, Ye Zhen gauged the hour, gave a quick signal to the old woman guarding outside, and departed the courtyard.

By the time they reached the rendezvous point, the group of ten Spirit Masters had already wrapped up their shopping. They endured an hour’s wait before the gambling-obsessed Grand Spirit Master finally showed up.

“Huh, Brother Cheng, why are you here so early today? You’re always the last one, later than even me,” remarked the Grand Spirit Master with a sleazy smirk, spotting Cheng Ji’s unusual punctuality.

“Ah, it’s starting to feel a bit dull.” Ye Zhen flashed a suggestive look.

The gambling-crazed Grand Spirit Master grinned in understanding right away and replied, “Brother Cheng, I understand completely. No worries, before the next procurement run, I’ll line up some new beauties just for you, brother.”

Ye Zhen gave a wry chuckle, sporting that familiar expression all men recognize.

The procurement squad soon embarked on their journey back.

As night descended, they made it to the Luo Prefecture Branch Temple with no checks along the way. Ye Zhen slipped effortlessly into the Heavenly Temple Luo Prefecture Branch, now shuttered for the evening.

Once a few exchanges were done, Ye Zhen headed back to Cheng Ji’s quarters.

After a brief moment of thought, Ye Zhen pulled out the Talisman Lead he’d taken from Cheng Ji and dispatched a message.

Its content was straightforward: “Come to my room, there’s something good!”