As soon as he finished speaking, the three of them looked at one another, all somewhat wary.
"Not just this Rat Demon, but the spoils left behind by the previous Reincarnators, and even the divine positions and edicts..."
Wu Ming chuckled softly, then suddenly spoke.
"What do you mean, little brother Wuming?"
Shan Lan's expression changed dramatically. She stepped back a few paces, edging closer to Ling Guhong, her gaze wary.
"To be honest, I gained a great deal from this mission, but killing members of the Blood Oath Alliance has also planted no small trouble for me!"
Wu Ming said calmly, "What do you two suggest?"
"Young Master Wuming, you're joking... Who outside could know what happened during a Reincarnation mission? Besides, that Tu Yanghao was only a minor pawn..."
Shan Lan groaned inwardly.
She and Ling Guhong had truly used every last one of their trump cards and were badly weakened. At this point, even an ordinary person could kill them both.
Wu Ming, by contrast, looked as though he had only lost the use of his left hand. He still had at least half his fighting strength.
If they turned against each other, it would mean certain death for the two of them.
"We can swear we'll never reveal anything about the secrets of this mission!"
Ling Guhong suddenly spoke.
"Swearing an oath means nothing!"
Wu Ming shook his head. The Spring Return Talisman in his robe began to glow faintly.
"But an oath made before the Main God Hall is absolutely binding!"
As if sensing danger, Shan Lan hurriedly said, "We can draw up a contract, with the Main God Hall as witness. We absolutely won't reveal a single thing about this mission!"
"Hmm? That could work. But can we do it now?" Wu Ming asked.
"Of course," Shan Lan replied at once. "Even in a Quest World, we Reincarnators can spend merit points and use a special item to have the Main God Hall witness a contract. That's as good as having the Main God Hall guarantee it. No Reincarnator would dare violate one!"
Wu Ming nodded. "Then let's do it right now. Otherwise, I can never trust the two of you."
As an Apostle of the Main God, he was confident his authority was higher than theirs. If they tried to tamper with the contract, they could never hide it from him.
After all, when things were ambiguous, the Main God Hall would have to favor him, at least a little, given the difference in their authority.
"Blood Oath Contract!"
With a pained expression, Shan Lan took out a red pact and wrote its terms in blood. She then dripped her blood essence onto it before passing it to Ling Guhong. He snorted, but did the same, then handed it to Wu Ming.
[Heavenly Dao Oath: Reincarnator No. Xinyou 33 and Reincarnator No. Renhai 4 swear not to reveal the specifics of this Reincarnation mission in any form. Any violator will be erased! This agreement is supervised and enforced by the Main God Hall. Do you accept?]
"How interesting!"
Other things could be faked, but the Main God Hall couldn't.
Wu Ming nodded, then revised a few details to make the terms more airtight. He handed it back to Shan Lan, and Ling Guhong acknowledged it too. At last, they both nodded, and the contract in his hands instantly turned into a streak of blood-red light that sank into their bodies.
"How does one obtain this contract?"
Wu Ming's eyes lit up as he asked. He immediately understood the value of this oath.
"It's extremely rare... You can only get one in certain specific story worlds, after completing a particular mission!"
Shan Lan looked pained. "If my life hadn't been on the line... I'd rather die than take it out..."
"Sorry for the trouble just now. Please don't hold it against me!"
Now that the agreement was settled, and the two were being quite reasonable, Wu Ming immediately put on a smile and cupped his hands in apology. "You two can have this Rat Demon. I won't take a single coin!"
"You..."
Shan Lan's expression softened. She had thought she'd lost everything this time; simply surviving would have been a win, and she had stopped hoping for any spoils. She hadn't expected to walk away with the corpse of a Centennial Monster after all.
Now, though, she found that she was less and less able to read this man, Wuming.
"We'll part here after this mission. May we meet again, wherever fate takes us!"
Wu Ming paid them no further heed. He waved and strode away, his voice drifting back to them: "But take my advice: don't get dragged into the conflicts of this world again, or you may come to a bad end!"
In truth, Reincarnation missions changed in countless ways, so he wasn't particularly worried about running into members of the Blood Oath Alliance again.
Besides, what good were those two magic artifacts if he couldn't use them?
And if he used them, wouldn't his secret inevitably be exposed?
So even if the two of them couldn't give him any definite assurances, there had still been a thirty-percent chance he wouldn't kill them. But this outcome was the best possible one.
He couldn't bring himself to kill and rob them—especially after fighting side by side with them just moments ago—and then keep all the spoils for himself.
What's more, the pelt of that Centennial Rat Demon was useless to him, since he already had a robe. Even with its Demon Core, it couldn't compare in value to the two magic artifacts.
And then there was the most important prize of all, the Divine Position Edict, whose value was beyond measure.
"Main God Hall, I want to return!"
After walking some distance, Wu Ming immediately called out.
[Reincarnator No. Gengshen 69 detected. Apostle of the Main God has completed the Main Quest. Beginning extraction!]
In an instant, the world spun around him, and he returned to the Main God Space.
"Begin treatment!"
Wu Ming shouted. Bathed in a pillar of light, he watched his left arm slowly regenerate—bone and flesh growing back until it was restored as before. A relieved smile touched his lips.
Although the World of Gods and Ghosts seemed to hold plenty of value, with many treasures still waiting to be unearthed, Wu Ming didn't dare linger another moment.
After all, their final clash had thoroughly offended both Black Platform County and Lord of Black Mountain. If he stayed any longer, he was sure to meet a bad end. The advice he had left Shan Lan and Ling Guhong before departing had truly been golden.
[Mission complete! Beginning settlement!]
Wu Ming flexed his arm and watched the scene of the mission appear before him as a phantom.
A moment later, a column of seal-script characters appeared before his eyes:
[Main Quest: Defend the weak and punish the strong—Complete! Received five hundred Lesser Merit!] [Killed Great General Black Wind. Received one thousand Lesser Merit!] [Eliminated resentful ghosts, vengeful ghosts, Rat Spirits... Received four hundred Lesser Merit in total!] [Total merit received: one thousand nine hundred Lesser Merit!]
"Rat Spirit... Could it have been the one in the Land God Temple?"
Wu Ming shook his head. "Good thing I burned the place down. Otherwise, that could've been a problem..."
Then delight spread across his face, and he let out a long breath. In the Quest World, he had to be on edge, treading on thin ice. Now, at last, he could relax.
"One thousand nine hundred Lesser Merit... And so much loot on top of that. I struck it rich this time!"
Excitement shone in Wu Ming's eyes. "Nearly two thousand Lesser Merit. That should be enough to exchange for some beginner Dao arts... When a decision must be made, hesitation only brings trouble! I'll write to Sister Wu Qing and hurry her along. If she still can't get into the Dao Academy, I'll start cultivating on my own. With the Main God Hall behind me, I can still make something of myself!"
He took out the spoils he had collected earlier and said expectantly, "Main God Hall, appraise everything!"
The Main God Hall's light descended. First came the talisman Zheng Qian had clutched in his hand before dying:
[Minor Heavens Thunder Talisman: An intermediate Thunder Dao Talisman. It can be used to repel enemies with thunder and can be activated by an ordinary person!]
"Now that's what I call rich! I've struck it big!"
Wu Ming looked up the description of the Heavenly Heart Five Thunders Talisman and discovered that although the Minor Heavens Thunder Talisman was a little lower in grade, it had far fewer restrictions. Even True Qi could activate it, so its price was hardly lower at all: fifty Great Merit, nearly equal to the Heavenly Heart Five Thunders Talisman.
Next came the two magic artifacts:
[Item Name: Yin Gathering Banner] [Materials: century-old locust wood, Five Yin Threads, Heavenly Woven Brocade] [Grade: Low-grade magic artifact] [Effect: Made with locust wood for its shaft and Yin Threads woven into brocade for its face, it can create a Yin dwelling and keep ghosts. Ordinary wandering souls that dwell within have a very small chance of becoming vengeful ghosts. (Note: This banner must be placed in a corpse-filled location every three months and nourished with Yin Qi!)]
[Item Name: Dustless Robe] [Materials: silkworm silk, fire-rat fur, ghost maiden hair] [Grade: Intermediate magic artifact] [Effect: Provides defense comparable to ordinary iron armor. Can cast an evasion spell once per day and grants a cleansing spell, keeping it spotless.]
"One low-grade magic artifact, and one intermediate-grade robe?"
Wu Ming made up his mind at once. He was still unsure about the Yin Gathering Banner, but he would put on the Dustless Robe as soon as possible.
"Such a shame... What a shame... I didn't find any Dao art incantations on Zheng Qian..."
Wu Ming looked thoroughly disappointed as his gaze settled on the final item.
A pillar of light descended. The gray-white stone edict trembled faintly, as if unwilling to accept its fate.
"A divine edict..."
Wu Ming's eyes flickered, and a line of text appeared before him:
[Item Name: Black Water Town Land God Edict] [Quality: Principal Ninth Rank, White Edict] [Effect: A token granting the authority of a local land deity. If refined into the body, there is a small chance of ascending to the position of an Orthodox God!] [Restriction: World of Gods and Ghosts, Black Platform County, Black Water Town!]
"Damn... It really is useless junk..."
Wu Ming grimaced. Even if he were willing to return to Black Platform County and serve as a land deity, he wouldn't dare.
Besides, that place was perilous beyond belief. He might end up as a pawn of Lord of Black Mountain and the Black Terrace City God. No wise man would do that.
[This item can be recycled for three hundred Great Merit. Would you like to hand it over to the Main God Hall?]
But the explanation that followed made Wu Ming's eyes light up.
This was the first time the Main God Hall had ever offered to recycle an item, and the reward was a considerable amount of Great Merit—equivalent to three thousand Lesser Merit! For ordinary Reincarnators, it would be worth three thousand three hundred!
"Are there any other options?"
He held back his impatience and read on.
Sure enough, at the end of the description, there was an additional option:
[Exclusive option for Apostles of the Main God: You may spend fifty Great Merit to transform this divine edict into a Divine Officer Edict! Its grade will fall, but its range of use will expand! (Note: The divine edict may disappear if the transformation fails!)]
"A Divine Officer? So, an unranked one..."
Wu Ming had a dark look on his face. "But if I can use it in Great Zhou, that's already pretty good... It'll cost merit, though. Forget it. I'll hold on to it for now!"
He decided neither to recycle nor transform it, and simply stored it in his space.
In any case, Wu Ming figured he was nowhere near needing to use a divine edict yet. If he left it in the Main God Hall, there was no risk of it flying away.
"All told, including the magic artifacts, my gains this time are worth well over five thousand..."
Wu Ming laughed heartily and immediately chose to return. Then he let out something close to a scream: "The Dustless Robe and Yin Gathering Banner are one thing, but you're charging me just to bring the Black Gold Ring back too? Main God Hall, why don't you just rob me?"
Before you continue