Xu Bai: The Performance Begins

The bottle was dark and open, and from Xu Bai's angle, he could see that it contained a black liquid.

After the Myriad Poisons Compendium was integrated into the Myriad Miscellaneous Arts, it achieved the first level of Sainthood.

The bottle of medicine in front of Xu Bai now contained a variety of strange poisons, which he quickly identified.

When various rare poisons are mixed together, they will form a certain commonality, eventually reaching the level of a chronic poison.

If this potion is taken and the antidote is not taken regularly, it will cause the person to suffer the pain of having their heart ripped out, but it will not kill them; they will only suffer indefinitely.

At first, he thought the ceremony for entering the End of the Doomsday Law Pavilion was too simple, but now it seems that the other party really did have a backup plan.

Even ordinary extraordinary experts would probably not be able to withstand this kind of medicine, and this is the key to the Doomsday Law Pavilion's control over these people.

If someone could betray their country while suffering from severe poisoning, that would be utterly a fantasy.

Seeing that Xu Bai did not move, the middle-aged man's mustache twitched slightly. "Drink it. If you don't, get out of this city."

Xu Bai raised an eyebrow and took the bottle of medicine. "Everyone drank it, did you drink it too?"

The middle-aged man stroked his beard and sneered, "If you want to live and get resources, you have to pay the price. Everyone has drunk it, even the person in charge of this branch. If you want resources, you have to drink it. If you don't, don't stay here."

The meaning was already very clear, so Xu Bai didn't ask any more questions and simply tilted his head back and drank it down.

He had mastered Myriad Miscellaneous Arts and reached the first level of sainthood. Although this poison could affect even Extraordinary Realm experts, it was useless against him.

After the poisonous medicine entered his body, it turned into wisps of mist, trying to penetrate Xu Bai's heart. However, with the surge of his True Yuan Power, the mist quickly disappeared without a trace.

"Okay, you can leave after you drink it. This is a book about the rules here. Hurry up and read it. If you don't finish reading it before the mission, you can read it during your next break." The middle-aged man waved his hand impatiently, handed the book to Xu Bai, and then turned back to look at the herbs on the corpse.

Xu Bai didn't linger. He left the room, found a corner in the courtyard, and carefully examined the documents.

He flipped through the book very quickly, and in no time he had a complete grasp of all its contents.

The book mainly contains rules and regulations.

In the End of the Doomsday Law Pavilion, every member receives a portion of resources each month. These resources are distributed randomly, and the amount distributed is not high.

However, each member will undergo regular evaluations, and those who are satisfied with the evaluations will receive more resources.

This is easy to understand. After a little thought, Xu Bai realized that this is just the difference between basic salary and commission. The more you do, the more you get; the less you do, the less you get.

There are evaluation methods for each category, but in Xu Bai's opinion, this so-called evaluation method is the most unfair to those in the combat category.

The resources you gain from fighting and risking your life outside are the same as those you gain from leisurely living in the city.

Of course, Xu Bai didn't care about these things, because before his eyes, everything here would pass away.

He focused on the following content, which discussed the various rules regarding combat categories.

Those who belong to the combat category should not leave the city unless necessary. If there is a mission to be assigned, the city bell will be rung. Anyone who hears it can go there, and the person who issued the mission can choose for themselves.

The rest is not important.

Xu Bai casually put the book away, then another question came to mind.

It seems this place doesn't include food or accommodation. Food isn't a problem, but accommodation will probably require additional resources.

Xu Bai mainly wanted to see what kind of mission it was and whether he could find any useful clues by following it.

So far, the only gains from entering this place have been the first few books, but after he finished them, they haven't brought him much growth.

His main purpose was to explore the various secrets of the cheat system, but now it seems there are no clues at all.

"Let's go for a walk outside."

Xu Bai found no clues, so he decided to wait for the next mission to be released and left the building to wander around the streets.

Although the streets here are not cleaned, they are packed with people, with all sorts of people from different trades crowding both sides. You can't see this kind of scene in the real world.

Xu Bai paused for a moment in front of a stall and found that all the items on it were clearly priced, and the amount of resources required was also clearly stated.

He visited several more stalls, each one identical, but he wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he searched for the right stall one by one.

Unfortunately, by this point in time, resources were already running out, and no one valued the secret manual anymore, so he didn't find anything related to the progress bar.

After walking for almost half an incense stick's time and still finding nothing, Xu Bai was about to give up when he suddenly heard shouts coming from a corner ahead.

"Help! Help!"

A woman's cry rang out.

Xu Bai looked in the direction of the sound and saw a disheveled woman covered in horrific wounds crawling through the street.

But the woman's screams didn't carry far before a burly man stopped her. He grabbed her ankle and dragged her like a dead dog into a room. Soon, a shrill scream came from inside.

Xu Bai raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the surrounding stalls.

Everyone in the industry seemed oblivious, continuing with their own tasks, as if the scene from just now was commonplace here.

"Hmm... resources are depleted, so they've exposed a lot of their true nature?" Xu Bai thought to himself.

Of course, this was just his conjecture, but it was soon confirmed.

"This woman was once an extraordinary expert before the resources were depleted," a voice sounded from behind.

Xu Bai turned his head and saw Gao Guan in white robes and Gao Guan.

Gao Guan walked over slowly and continued, "Later, when the resources were exhausted, that extraordinary expert died on the spot while fighting for resources. This woman lost her source of resources, so she found a way out in the Doomsday Law Pavilion."

"She initially rented herself out, but later found that this wasn't a fast way to acquire resources, so she sold herself entirely. The person who just beat and verbally abused her is the one who bought her."

"Why did you run away?" Xu Bai asked, frowning.

After listening to Gao Guan's explanation, Xu Bai understood. Wasn't this just a disguised form of business? The only difference was that this woman was treating herself as a commodity and selling herself off.

"Never trust what you see in this world," Gao Guan laughed. "This woman is no pushover either. She wanted to kill the man in bed and seize his resources, but she never expected that the man would buy her and turn her into a resource instead."

"In short, it's a very complicated matter. You're new here, and all you need to know is that no one in the Doomsday Law Pavilion deserves your sympathy, because they all have blood on their hands to get in."

Xu Bai laughed and said, "Are you the same?"

Gao Guan shrugged. "Pretty much. Come on, I'll take you somewhere."

After saying that, Gao Guan led the way.

Xu Bai didn't ask why, and just followed behind. After walking for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, they arrived at a place that looked like a teahouse.

"Two people, a pot of good tea." Gao Guan said, "We're out of resources today, I've used them all up. How about I give them to you after this month's paycheck?"

The boss was a chubby middle-aged man. After hearing Gao Guan's words, he nodded, which was considered an agreement.

Gao Guan turned around, waved to Xu Bai, and found a seat.

Xu Bai, without any prior agreement, sat opposite Gao Guan. Before long, a waiter brought a teacup and teapot and placed them on the table.

It looks shabby, but Xu Bai just heard that even having a cup of tea here requires resources.

"The best medicinal herbs are sold here by tea masters, which is a supporting profession. These herbs are considered a resource, so they need to be exchanged for resources."

"The Doomsday Law Pavilion allows these trades to be here, since the resources they obtain may not be suitable for them, which makes it easier to form a trade."

As he spoke, Gao Guan poured Xu Bai a cup of tea, then poured one for himself, before carefully taking a sip.

Xu Bai also took a sip, and as the tea entered his stomach, he felt his True Yuan Power circulating slightly faster.

Tea of this quality is plentiful in the world, but it has become a rare commodity here, which shows the extent to which resources have been depleted.

"Let's get down to business!" Xu Bai finished his tea and put it down, looking at Gao Guan with interest. He said calmly, "There's no such thing as a free lunch. The fact that you're buying me tea even though you're on credit here suggests that it's not just about tea."

Gao Guan nodded, making no attempt to hide anything, and said directly, "I just want to ask you for guidance on the method of controlling corpses."

Xu Bai narrowed his eyes slightly, a dangerous glint flashing within them.

How did this guy know he could control corpses?

This time period is completely different from the last one; in fact, the two haven't even met before.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Gao Guan said, "Here, nothing about you can escape the eyes of the End of the Doomsday Law Pavilion. For example, your strength, the fact that you changed your appearance, and the fact that you killed so many people. Nothing can escape your notice."

Xu Bai was slightly startled.

What Gao Guan just said revealed all the things he had done before.

However, he did it very discreetly, and when he scanned with his spiritual senses, he did not detect any outsiders.

Why was he discovered? Even the people he killed in the end left no trace.

Seeing that Xu Bai did not answer, Gao Guan went to the window and pointed to the building Xu Bai had just visited. "There is a Entering Sainthood Supreme Treasure there, and it is a treasure based on the divine soul. It can sense everything around it, and this is in the hands of the city lord."

"So when you killed those people and entered the city, you attracted the city lord's attention, but for some reason, the city lord didn't care about these things."

Upon hearing this, Xu Bai's brows furrowed even more deeply. "How do you know this?"

If what Gao Guan just said is true, there is a supreme treasure here that can be used to detect oneself.

After all, his true strength had not reached the level of a saint, but what Gao Guan meant just now was that he also knew about this.

To put it simply, the city lord knew what he was doing, but he probably didn't tell anyone else, because neither the guards nor the middle-aged man with the mustache knew anything about his situation.

Only Gao Guan knew this, and he was even invited here for tea. So what was Gao Guan's intention? Or rather, what was his identity?

Gao Guan turned his head and solemnly said, "I am one of the city lord's male favorites."

"Puff!"

Xu Bai couldn't help but spit out the mouthful of tea he had just taken a sip of.

"This is a drink I bought for you because I owe you money, you can't waste it." Gao Guan said with a pained expression as he looked at the tea that had been spilled on the ground.

Xu Bai coughed twice, interrupting, "Let's not talk about tea yet. What did you just say? A male concubine? The city lord is a woman?"

The term "male favorite" is, to put it bluntly, a male concubine or male lover.

If that's the case, Gao Guan, being the city lord's bedmate, would be normal to know this news.

But the question is, why would such a gigolo, or even just one of them, be assigned to the combat category?

With this kind of identity, one would have been assigned to another category that poses no danger long ago; there's no way they would take this risk.

Gao Guan seemed to see through Xu Bai's thoughts and said, "There are always times when you fall out of favor. I did something wrong, so I was punished into this category."

"What we in this line of work can't stand is seeing corpses left unburied. So I buried those who died in battle. Because of the burial, these corpses can't be used to grow herbs, so they became the fields they are today."

Xu Bai: "..."

Goodness, is this an occupational hazard? Gao Guan continued, "I've been stuck at this level for a long time. After learning that you know about Corpse Control Method, I felt this was an opportunity for us to exchange ideas. To be honest, I didn't know this before I led you there. It was only after you entered that room that the city lord suddenly told me."

"By the way, you definitely won't be able to sense her when she appears, because she herself carries Entering Sainthood Supreme Treasure the realm of divine souls, so she is not afraid of divine soul probing."

Xu Bai stroked his chin, not answering the question about discussing the corpse Corpse Control Method with Gao Guan, but instead thinking about what Gao Guan had just said.

Entering Sainthood Supreme Treasure sainthood—it sounds like it's not the one-time sainthood treasure that Chief Mu gave me before. This thing must be quite powerful.

Even now, the city lord probably knows about my conversation with Gao Guan here.

But the question is, why doesn't the city lord come to see him? Logically speaking, after doing something so significant, he should have made some kind of move, but he hasn't sensed anything unusual.

"It's strange, isn't it? I'm also puzzled, but she just won't come looking for you." Gao Guan shrugged and said, "How about we exchange some methods of controlling corpses?"

"Not interested." Xu Bai shook his head.

After this incident, how could he have any other interests?

Xu Bai is currently in Ruins, and everything here is unsafe.

Although they haven't encountered any experts at the Saint level yet, the city lord of this branch possesses Entering Sainthood Supreme Treasure.

Currently, all we know is that it's related to the soul, but we don't know anything else.

For example, the level of this treasure.

If it's just the first rank of Sainthood, that's fine, but what if it's higher? The most crucial thing is that the city lord doesn't seem to be looking for him. What should he do now? Xu Bai thought about it more and more, but he had no clue and it was no use thinking about it anymore.

"I would like to see the city lord."

After thinking for a long time, he finally raised his head.

Gao Guan was taken aback, not understanding what this meant.

"The city lord already has many male lovers, you wouldn't be thinking of..."

"I just wanted to see him," Xu Bai said.

He suddenly realized something: the city lord's telling Gao Guan his situation was definitely not unintentional, but deliberate. And Gao Guan's approach to him was probably also the city lord's doing.

In that case, let's just meet in person and see what's going on.

Since they didn't act immediately, there must be other things going on.

Gao Guan frowned. "You really want to see him?"

Xu Bai nodded, indicating his agreement.

Gao Guan looked at Xu Bai with a complicated expression, and after a moment, turned around and said, "Come with me."

Xu Bai didn't waste any words and followed behind Gao Guan.

The two of them, one in front of the other, quickly returned to the building. This time, with Gao Guan leading the way, they arrived at the backyard of the building without any effort.

"Wait here for a moment, I'll go knock on the door and see," Gao Guan said.

As he spoke, he went to the door and gently knocked.

A moment later, a soft, charming female voice came from inside.

"Bring him in."

It seems they already knew Xu Bai was coming, which is normal, given that he possesses Entering Sainthood Supreme Treasure related to the divine soul.

Gao Guan Gao Guan pushed the door open and gestured for Xu Bai to enter.

Xu Bai nodded and stepped inside. At that moment, Gao Guan closed the door from the outside.

The room wasn't dark because it was broad daylight. When Xu Bai walked in, he saw a woman.

The woman was wearing a light gauze dress, with nothing underneath, so that one could vaguely see things that shouldn't be seen.

Apart from this woman, there was no one else here. Xu Bai knew that this woman must be the city lord, so he cupped his hands in greeting.

"Greetings, City Lord."

"Just call me Chief Si." The woman was barefoot, her smooth, white insteps gently arched, forming an alluring curve.

"Come here."

Xu Bai did not move.

The Chief Si smiled, not angry, and stood up.

As she stood up, the light gauze covering her body swayed, becoming somewhat loose, revealing more of her surroundings.

"It seems you've made up your mind," Chief Si said with a smile as he approached Xu Bai.

"I know what you want to know, so I will tell you the truth."

"I deliberately leaked this information to Gao Guan to see your reaction and whether you have the courage to come see me."

"If you didn't think of coming to see me, it proves you're not smart enough; if you did think of it but didn't come, it proves you're not courageous enough."

"Now that you're here, that's enough."

Xu Bai narrowed his eyes. "Now that I'm here, there are some things that need to be made clear. I wonder what the city lord's intentions are?"

There was definitely something fishy going on; in the end, they still managed to lure me here.

The Chief Si placed his hands on Xu Bai's shoulders. "You killed so many people by yourself. Your strength is remarkable. I have a business deal to discuss with you. If you do well, you can use any of my resources."

"Including me."

As he spoke, Chief Si licked his lips.

Xu Bai had no interest in this Chief Si, nor in the so-called resources. He was only interested in the progress bar and the secrets about the Ruins.

As for this Chief Si, sorry, he has two luxury cars at home and doesn't want to take this public bus.

"Tell me," Xu Bai said, removing the Chief Si's hand from his shoulder. "As long as it's within my power, I will definitely do it."

Chief Si took two steps back, turned around and went to the drawer in the room. He took out a map from the drawer, unfolded it and placed it on the table.

"This is a mountain peak two hundred miles from this city. It is said that a master at the Saint level perished here, so many resources were left here."

She pointed to a location on the map and spoke slowly.

"This information comes from headquarters and is absolutely reliable. After all, there are three experts at the Saint level stationed at headquarters."

"The reason why this expert fell was because of the headquarters. Unfortunately, they didn't kill him on the spot. He escaped and hid in this mountain, where he died from his injuries."

"But this Entering Sainthood Expert was skilled in formations. Before he died, he used all his resentment to set up a formation that would require a great deal of effort even for a Saint-level expert to enter. Now that resources are already depleted, it's not worth it."

Having heard this, Xu Bai had already figured out the whole story.

"You don't actually think I could break the formation set up by Entering Sainthood Expert a last-ditch counterattack before his death, do you?"

The Chief Si shook his head and said, "Of course I'm not asking you to break the formation. After so long, that formation has been worn down a lot. I thought we could get it easily, but I didn't expect that the fallen Entering Sainthood Expert would think of this."

"He changed this formation into a splitting form. Once the formation is worn down to a certain extent, it will explode with a bang, and all the resources inside will spread and scatter in all directions."

"Headquarters is facing a problem right now, and the experts who have reached the Saint level will not be coming out, so we are transferring manpower from the branches."

"Although all the resources we receive will be handed over, we decide exactly how much to hand over."

As the Chief Si slowly spoke, Xu Bai understood what he was really thinking.

To put it simply, they wanted to get kickbacks.

They acquire a portion of the resources, then hand over only a small portion, keeping the rest for themselves.

"But if it scatters everywhere, I can't carry much by myself."

That's true, and that's the logic, but he can't be in two places at once, so how could he possibly get it? Chief Si stretched and said, "Who said you were going to get it? There's a route from obtaining the resources to handing them over, and what we need to do is intercept the resources that are handed over in the middle. That's the real benefit."

After hearing this, Xu Bai exclaimed, "Wow!"

He originally thought it was a kickback, but he didn't expect it to be a case of double-crossing.

This woman has a big heart and is very greedy.

If that's the case, then the resources obtained would be truly abundant.

Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that people from other branches have secured resources, gathered together, and prepared to hand them over to headquarters, all of which involved considerable effort and time.

But if you get robbed on the way, all your efforts will be for nothing.

Meanwhile, Chief Si returned home laden with spoils.

"How about it? Isn't my method great?" Chief Si said, "There are too many useless people in our branch, but you are very strong and just right to do the job. Don't worry, after you finish this, I will erase all traces and will definitely not let you be exposed."

Xu Bai sneered inwardly, but did not show it on his face.

This woman had a lot of plans in mind, and she did them very well.

We absolutely will not expose him?

That's all there is to it.

If it were released, everyone who heard it would be a fool.

If this matter succeeds, Xu Bai can be made a scapegoat and pushed out by the Chief Si.

However... he became interested.

Of course, it's not just that so-called "saintly resources."

Xu Bai pretended to be serious and asked, "When do we leave?"

"Don't rush..." Chief Si said, "Before you go, there's one more thing you need to do."

As he spoke, Chief Si reached out and flicked his hair, revealing a jade-green hairpin that pierced towards Xu Bai.

Xu Bai grabbed Chief Si's wrist with his other hand. "This must be Entering Sainthood Supreme Treasure the realm of divine souls, isn't it? It's really impressive."

It looked like an ordinary hairpin, but Xu Bai could sense that it contained terrifying energy.

"Let me prick you, let me leave an imprint on your soul, so that we can both be at ease." Although Xu Bai had taken his wrist, Chief Si remained calm and composed, as if he had complete confidence in the treasure in his hand.

Xu Bai stared at the hairpin and said, "You can't keep using it, after all, your strength isn't enough."

The Chief Si remained silent, simply observing Xu Bai.

"If at first I didn't understand whether this treasure had other functions, I could tell from your usage just now that it only attacks the soul." Xu Bai's tone became indifferent.

The Chief Si's expression gradually turned cold.

Xu Bai ignored the Chief Si's expression and continued, "You are very smart, and your guesses are all correct. I did come here to confront you, but more importantly, to discuss your strengths and weaknesses. Now, I have found out."

"If you could directly activate this Entering Sainthood Supreme Treasure, you wouldn't need to say so much to me; you could just control me directly. But you insist on saying so much, proving that with your strength, you cannot activate it directly, but rather it requires a certain process."

"The time we spent talking should be enough for you to get started, right?"

At this point, Xu Bai noticed that Chief Si's expression had turned icy cold.

"Hehe..." Chief Si gently twirled the hairpin with his fingers, seemingly not worried at all about Xu Bai seeing through it.

"It's too late now that you've only just realized it, but I've already successfully started it up, and you just talked to me for a long time, which gives me more time."

A faint green light flickered on the hairpin, making one feel dizzy.

"Gao Guan was right when he said we shouldn't trust anyone." Xu Bai suddenly let go of his hand.

This action stunned Chief Si, who couldn't understand why he was suddenly letting her go. Was he planning to give up? Chief Si was very suspicious, and Xu Bai's open embrace made her hesitate.

Xu Bai smiled and pointed to his head, "Come on, do it here, use all your strength to destroy my soul, or control my soul."

In fact, this is Xu Bai's greatest reliance.

When he learned that the Chief Si's Entering Sainthood Supreme Treasure was a treasure related to the soul, he already had this plan.

Soul?

Excuse me, even the White-Robed Prime Minister of the Great Yue Kingdom, a master at the Entering Sainthood Peak Realm, couldn't do anything to me in terms of spiritual power. You, a mere Entering Sainthood Supreme Treasure, surely can't compare to a master at the Entering Sainthood Peak? Come on.

Get me!

Xu Bai had a mocking look on his face that made you want to stomp on him.

After being repeatedly mocked by Xu Bai, the Chief Si finally lost his temper.

"Fine, since you want to be controlled by me so much, then I'll grant your wish."

As he spoke, the Chief Si continued to urge the Emerald Green Hairpin to work.

The next moment, there was silence.

Xu Bai felt something enter his mind, but it was quickly swallowed up by his soul.

Chief Si: "..."

Xu Bai: "..."

Well, as it turns out, this Entering Sainthood Supreme Treasure wasn't even qualified to bring Little Gold out.

"What grade is this thing?" Xu Bai asked.

"First-class..." Chief Si answered subconsciously in his panic.

There was nothing he could do; this was the first time he had ever felt panicked. Normally, even if a Saint-level cultivator was only at the first rank in self-defense, it should be an overwhelming advantage for someone at the extraordinary level. But now, things were completely different.

Xu Bai sighed, "That's still too low."

He has upgraded the skill "Myriad Attacks" to the first level of Sainthood.

He currently only possesses the strength of Extraordinary Rank 9, but his skills are at the first-grade saint level. Among Myriad Cultivation Arts, he has integrated a skill related to the annihilation of the soul.

This is the skill that Xu Bai used to activate his cheat ability, and it possesses powerful soul attack and defense capabilities.

Now it seems that the two cancel each other out.

"Give it to me!" Xu Bai reached out and grabbed the Emerald Green Hairpin, which landed directly in his hand.

Although it's only at the first level of Sainthood, even a small mosquito is still meat. Giving this hairpin to Chu Ling and Ye Zi will increase their safety.

"Give it back to me!" Chief Si shouted.

But the next moment, she felt something flowing through her soul, and she quickly became dazed.

"Without this hairpin, you're truly a useless piece of trash. But you're still useful now, so I'll keep you." Xu Bai put away the emerald green hairpin, looked at the now-controlled Chief Si, and smiled slightly.

Now, the city is no longer in danger.

I, Xu Bai, have begun.

The divine spirit spread, enveloping the entire city in a terrifying manner.