A Pleasure Doing Business

Is it really that easy to save him? Am I dreaming...?

Li Fan pinched Qiongqi's face hard and pulled out two of its whiskers, making it howl in pain.

Looks like it's not a dream, let's get out of here quickly.

Although it's possible that the three places will try to 'hunt tigers' again in the future, Qiongqi's cultivation is also very fast. Although its strength was greatly damaged this time, it has not yet reached the point of dissolving its cultivation. As long as it eats and sleeps well, it will be able to recover its strength in a few years.

As for the two agents in front of him, there's no need to worry about them. When he hacked into Lotus earlier, Li Fan had already used the puppet to easily reduce their fragmented consciousness into idiots. Now that they're in Xiantong's hands, it's a good opportunity to shift the blame to Penglai. With the company, the legion, the cult, and the Xuanmen all busy for the time being, the three departments probably don't have much free time to deal with Qiongqi.

Although the company's personnel haven't shown up yet for some reason, it's possible they didn't expect Li Fan's rescue operation to go so smoothly. Moreover, the great battle between the Xuanmen and the Divine Sect has only just begun and hasn't even reached its climax yet. Perhaps they are still standing on the sidelines, waiting for both sides to be weakened before launching a backstabbing attack to maximize their profits?

Anyway, I'm outta here! Come or not, it's up to you! Time to get out of here!

Li Fan immediately used his Radiant Star clone to carry Qiongqi and flew straight towards Yuntai Peak.

Given Qiongqi's current weakened state, the bounty on its head from the Security Bureau, and the infamous title of Qingyang Altar Master of the Divine Sect, it's highly unlikely it could escape the battlefield where the Xuan Sect God Sect is fighting. Showing itself would be tantamount to suicide.

But compared to the previous problems of quantum entanglement hackers infiltrating the Taisu Lotus, this problem is damn simple.

Li Fan circled around Yuntai Peak, and with a sweep of his Divine Sense, he quickly found an uninhabited Daoist palace in the mountain stream. After breaking down the door, he rummaged through the garbage heap of ruins and found a magical bronze cauldron that was roughly at the Nascent Soul Realm, with its spirit damaged and never repaired.

This isn't some kind of supernatural stroke of luck. To put it bluntly, these abandoned immortal caves are a rare find for mortals, but they're everywhere on Yuntai Peak. Just find an uninhabited, abandoned cave, pick up a broken magic Magic Treasure that's not worth repairing, then set up an altar, perform a ritual, casually create an array, set up a sealing magic instrument, seal the Qiongqi into the bronze cauldron, and then find a demon-suppressing tower nearby and suppress it.

Alright! Mission accomplished!

Yes, it's that simple. There are plenty of demon-sealing arrays and demon-suppressing towers at the foot of Yuntai Peak. When the Sword Sect swept across the world, all sorts of demon-suppressing prisons were overflowing with fresh materials. Although most of them are now idle, they can still be used as 'temporary accommodations' for demons whose demon-sealing arrays are not yet complete. Even if you are highly skilled and escape, where can you run to when all the immortals on the mountain are watching?

Honestly, for the Divine Sect to attack Yuntai Peak is practically suicide. The Xuanmen sect can easily capture one or two of them, sealing them off on the spot.

Furthermore, for outsiders to attempt to storm Yuntai Peak, topple the Demon -Demon-Locking Tower, and rescue a few demons would be an incredibly difficult task, perhaps even impossible, as they wouldn't even know which tower their target was imprisoned under. However, for the immortals of the Xuanmen sect, suppressing and sealing demons is a much simpler process. To put it bluntly, it involves three steps: raising the tower, putting the demons inside, and lowering the tower...

Hmm, or maybe we could put up a sign, like on a public restroom, to indicate that the tower is in use...

In short, although Qiongqi was unlucky—having just been rescued from the Void Prison and barely had time to breathe fresh air before being transferred to another prison and suppressed under Yuntai Peak —at least it was safe, wasn't it? As long as the recent storm passed, Li Fan could come over at any time, remove his talisman, and take Qiongqi elsewhere to 'seal' it.

Incidentally, this means he also participated in the defense of Yuntai Peak, capturing a leader of the Demonic Sect; he might even get a reward...

Yeah, that's right. When you go out and brag, and someone asks, "You captured the leader of the Demonic Sect? Who's that?" If you just blurt out, "I captured the Qingyang Altar Master," won't that give you away?

Since we're already here, why not just grab a few more to distract everyone? Then we can say, "I arrested so-and-so, the leader of this forum, and his gang!" Wouldn't that be great?

With everything going smoothly, including his own body being unharmed, Qin Jiu being safe and sound, and even inexplicably having some romantic luck, Li Fan felt relieved and happily joined the Xuan Sect God Sect's Juelong Ridge battle.

At the same time,

Qin Jiu frowned, staring wide-eyed at the leg sticking out from behind the tree trunk in the distance.

To be precise, this is the right leg of a female humanoid creature, white and smooth, peeking out from behind a tree, vaguely reaching the upper thigh, as if the person hiding in the shadows is not wearing any of the fine clothes, such as brocade jackets, tasseled gowns, silk skirts, fur shirts, inner garments, blouses, robes, or stockings.

What's going on...?

Qin Jiu took a half step back, gathering Xuanhuang Qi to protect himself. He raised his left hand, using the large gourd in his hand as a shield to block his chest in case of a sudden attack. He flicked his right hand, summoning the Crimson Sand Blood Sword in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

The demons who had just attacked him were all killed by his master. He was following orders to come out with his gourd to collect materials about that Nangong. Of course, he also needed to look for those iron sweet potatoes.

After he collected the remains of eight Nangong, when he returned to collect the body of the first 'Si Jiu', he was suddenly confronted with this inexplicable scene.

What is this thing? A thigh ghost? A thigh monster?

No, there's no demonic aura or magical light; it's probably just an ordinary woman hiding behind a tree...

An ordinary woman?

In this Devil Domain, this killing field, where there are no demonic arts, and where ordinary women aren't even cultivators, are they hiding naked behind tree trunks, exposing their thighs???

Moreover, it's obvious that they discovered he was collecting the Demon Prince's corpse and were deliberately lying in wait for him. Their conspiracy is obvious; only a fool would fall for it!

Qin Jiu wasn't stupid. He wouldn't go over if his opponent didn't come over. He carefully held the talisman in his hand, keeping an eye on his surroundings, gradually increasing the distance, ready to fight at any moment.

Then the leg moved!

Qin Jiu immediately stopped, knelt down, and condensed his Dao power onto the blood sword, causing a crimson star to light up at the tip.

Then the leg moved, as if... waving at him...

Qin Jiu narrowed his eyes...

To be on the safe side, we should strike with our swords and kill this monster.

The problem was that no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't see any demonic aura. It was just an ordinary thigh. Using the mighty Blood Radiance Flying Star to kill a leg felt like it lowered his own prestige...

As a result, the leg retracted...

What are you doing...?

Qin Jiu didn't need to waste any more time. He slung the gourd in his left hand over his back, pinched Thunder Talisman between his index and middle fingers, and flicked it toward the tree.

The talisman flew like a dart, swiftly affixing itself to the tree trunk. The scarlet cinnabar instantly turned dark brown, and then with a thunderous crash, it cleaved the tree in two, setting it ablaze!

Qin Jiu also launched a surprise attack at the same time! Wielding his blood sword, he condensed a flying star and sped across the ground! He was about to strike the demon behind the tree!

Huh!?

Qin Jiu suddenly stopped, leaving a long trail in the mud.

There was no one behind the willow tree.

Blown in two by the Thunder Talisman, it was clear from the blazing flames that there was no one around.

How is that possible! It clearly has one leg!

Qin Jiu quickly retreated to his original spot, fearing he had fallen into an ambush, and remained in a defensive position for a long time.

Still no sign of legs...

Finally, unable to resist any longer, he risked leaping forward, his blood-red sword flashing, the fierce sword wind whipping up branches and leaves, slicing tree trunks into pieces, and sweeping across the ground.

But there was nothing there.

There were no legs or anything... Was it a ghost?

No, that's impossible. Qin Jiu can distinguish between humans and ghosts.

When Qin Jiu visited Luo Temple earlier, his master performed a ritual to help the monks and villagers who had been killed by bandits and monsters pass on to the afterlife. Qin Jiu also witnessed the souls of those wronged spirits being reborn. During the first half of the night, when they were slaying demons, they encountered all sorts of bizarre and grotesque monsters and demons.

You couldn't be mistaken, there was a woman hiding behind the tree just now, but she suddenly disappeared...

I understand now, this is a technique of the primordial spirit! Perhaps he was ambushed! He's now under an illusion!

Qin Jiu was about to wave the flag and run away, but when he pulled out the battle flag, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

How dangerous! If he's been caught in a primordial spirit spell and trapped in an illusion, then the moment he uses the flag formation, it might reveal the Six Gates Formation Diagram of Life, Death, Illusion, Annihilation, Obscurity, and Light, leading to the formation being breached by demons!

Therefore, Qin Jiu made a decisive move and followed the unique technique for breaking illusions taught by the two elders of Songshan! Holding the blood sword, he ripped off the nail of his little finger with a single stroke!

Ouch! That hurts! I wasn't under any illusion!

Qin Jiu was in so much pain that tears were about to come out. Then, she turned her head and saw a long leg waving around in the distance...

But this time it's my left leg... What happened? Was my foot numb just now?

Qin Jiu was furious; he felt like he'd been played for a fool by this freak.

Qin Jiu immediately Dao Breath energy, took a swift step, leaped onto a branch, and charged straight towards the tree trunk where the giant thigh monster was hiding!

The guy with the thigh didn't expect Qin Jiu to rush over, so he quickly pulled his leg back and disappeared again!

But this time Qin Jiu saw it clearly: a transparent humanoid figure vaguely flew out from behind the tree! Sure enough, someone was playing tricks! It's just that their hiding method was so good that they couldn't sense even a trace of Dao Breath or Yuan Shen fluctuations!

Qin Jiu understood!

So that's how it is! These demons saw that the Mountain Formation was so powerful that even the nine demon princes combined couldn't break through it, so they wanted to use this trick to lure him away from the formation and seize the opportunity to steal Master's Dao body!

Qin Jiu sneered. This was really giving him too much credit. Now, eight new Revered Heavenly Demon Guardians had been placed to block the entrance of the formation. He had carefully examined the Three-Four-Star Joint Sword Formation. Even without anyone in charge, it would work. Taking a wrong step inside the formation would result in being torn to pieces. Moreover, the Moon Soul Sword Lord and the Seven Star Formation had not been moved at all.

Since his little finger was still throbbing with pain, it was clear that he didn't have any magical illusions. As long as he didn't chase after them out of the formation, he could retreat into the temple at any time!

Qin Jiu wanted to see just who was plotting against him and his disciple tonight!

So, following the sounds to pinpoint locations and relentlessly chasing after them, Qin Jiu quickly located his target.

In the middle of nowhere, an octagonal pavilion appeared out of nowhere, with yellow beams and green tiles, surrounded by beaded curtains and screens, making it impossible to see inside even with Divine Sense or magic.

The pavilion was located right in the center of the formation, clearly not set up when the master was there. Moreover, the faint sound of a woman speaking could be heard from inside the pavilion, though it was not clear. Smoke curled out from between the pavilions.

It was clear that the other party had deliberately lured him here to negotiate.

Qin Jiu then sheathed his blood sword and took out two magic flags from his bosom. With a wave of his left flag, he could teleport back into the formation to protect the head and tail of the enemy. With a wave of his right flag, he could activate the Earthly Fiend Formation, which would send earth fire, wind, and thunder to crush the enemy into dust.

Having made these preparations, Qin Jiu was confident and fearless, and stepped forward to hurl insults.

"Monster! What are you plotting by luring me here? Speak your mind! Spit it out!"

Then a woman wearing a silk veil hat that covered her face and head, and wrapped in a white silk robe, lifted the curtain, stepped out, leaned against the pavilion, and smiled at Qin Jiu.

"Stop pretending, nobody's listening. I mean, there's no need to care about a few Level 3 Inspectors who brought their trainees to do private work. They don't have access to the subnet, and I seriously doubt they'll bail these losers out. But... you really are with the Legion, right? What's your rank? May I ask...?"

Qin Jiu, "?"

Qin Jiu didn't answer, and the woman didn't seem to mind.

"Hmph, heh, heh heh heh... You're quite arrogant, swaggering around next to Number Nineteen, as if you're afraid we're blind and won't notice you? But your skills are not bad. With the outdated equipment of those stowaways, you still have this level of prosthetic operation. You're not in the commander rank, are you? Sergeant Major First Class? Do you still have any surviving sergeants majors around here?"

As if to prove that she wasn't blind, the woman's eyes, hidden behind the layers of curtains, suddenly shone like morning stars, shining brightly like two sapphires.

Qin Jiu was stunned for a moment, and vaguely, he seemed to hear the laughter of a baby.

Qin Jiu, "??"

Then the blue light disappeared, as if it were all Qin Jiu's illusion. The woman behind the screen burst into laughter.

"Hehehe, hehehe! Interesting, I really didn't know the Legion had such abilities!"

Okay, frankly, I don't care what agreement you reached with Zhang Jian, but he even dared to bomb the Security Bureau's ship. It's clear you really struck gold this time, managing to attract all three agencies; you must have made a fortune, right?

Haha, I like dealing with people who are willing to spend money. Actually, I've been running this lab for a long time. Although it's been sabotaged and is temporarily out of my control, if you're interested in project number 19, wouldn't it be more convenient to talk to the real person in charge?

Of course, I know you're most interested in number 19, but forget about it. That's the only successful experimental subject so far, so it can be classified as level nine. It's not for sale, but it's a level four mass-produced item. I've already shown you its level, so the price-performance ratio is pretty good, right?

If you're interested, please give me a price. The higher-ups have reinstated me to finish things up, which is all thanks to you guys. How about I give you a 5% discount? This offer won't last long!

With a wave of her hand, the woman summoned smoke and clouds that gathered in her palm, revealing a long string of numbers.

Qin Jiu, "???"

The woman waved her hand lazily, scattering the characters. "Looks like your permissions aren't high enough. Well, you should be careful with the bait you throw out, since you're holding the line. It wouldn't be good if it got pulled into the water... Well then, to show your sincerity, take my bait."

She snapped her fingers, and suddenly a flash of light appeared, revealing another woman! It was the woman who had just exposed her thighs, appearing silently in front of Qin Jiu! Startled, Qin Jiu jumped back, almost twisting her ankle.

This was a beauty whose every description—"a beauty that could topple kingdoms," "a beauty that could make fish sink and geese fall from the sky," "a beauty that could shame the moon and put flowers to shame"—would not be an exaggeration. Her thighs alone revealed her top-tier figure. Now that she was in full view, Qin Jiu realized that she wasn't completely naked; a V-neck belt covered her vitals... cough cough...

Well, if you look closely, it's not actually a belt, but rather skin that changes color and shape. Of course, it's obviously not just a simple color change; it can also alter shape, texture, and feel, and become invisible, transparent, or disappear. It can even make someone invisible, hiding nearby to serve them anytime, anywhere. Cough cough, Qin Jiu had just witnessed a little bit of these magical and convenient special effects.

No matter how many times Qin Jiu has witnessed such a scene, it remains as exciting as ever for a boy his age.

"Don't worry, this is a figurine I kept privately. I made it myself, it's not registered in the system, and it even has a built-in dedicated dial-up line. You can discuss any business transactions through it. There are many similar ones; feel free to choose if you have any particular fetishes. But it seems you're already quite satisfied with this one, aren't you? Hehehe."

Please accept this as a small gift. After all, it's a specialty of our company. Besides, I've always believed that without some close interaction, it's difficult for both parties to understand each other. Pillow sales are truly an essential part of building good relationships, hehe.

Oh, right. Anyway, since this is our first collaboration, to show our sincerity, let me ask your opinion."

As if remembering something, the woman, who had almost turned to leave, stopped and turned to ask Qin Jiu.

"What do you plan to do with those stray dogs on Yuntai Peak?"

This time, Qin Jiu finally heard words he could understand.

"Yuntai Peak? Xuanmen?"

"Oh right, it's called Xuanmen," the woman said in a cheerful voice. "These stray dogs have caused you a lot of trouble, haven't they? They've made me lose quite a few treasures lately. Would it be alright to slaughter them all? Would it get in your way? I don't want any misunderstandings."

"The Mysterious Sect..."

Qin Jiu was stunned for a moment, then felt a sudden pang of pain in her heart, as if she had thought of something, yet also as if she couldn't remember anything at all.

But the pain in the boy's eyes won't be so easily erased.

The woman smiled. "Then it's alright. Very good, it's been a pleasure doing business with you."

Then the woman, the pavilion, all vanished in an instant, like bubbles, as if Qin Jiu had just had a dream.

But the 'V-shaped transparent thigh' didn't disappear. She waved her hand, as if retrieving something, and then knelt down in front of Qin Jiu.

Qin Jiu stared at the curve of the other person's back, then peeled off another fingernail, before suddenly realizing what was happening and jumping up.

"Who exactly are you people?!"

The 'V-shaped transparent thigh' opened, saying, 'Please bestow a name upon me, Master.'

Qin Jiu was speechless for a moment, then pointed in the direction where the pavilion had been.

"Then who is she?!"

A V-shaped transparent thigh opened, displaying the message, "Access denied."

"Me! You! Her! Ah, this..."

If Xuan Tian had taught Qin Jiu, he would probably know to be more direct and cut off this tribulation. Unfortunately, there aren't many true men like Xuan Tian Iron Egg in this world. Most simple-minded men, especially, would probably be unable to bring themselves to take advantage of a free gift like a 'V-shaped transparent thigh'.

However, reason also told Qin Jiu that he might be involved in some kind of huge trouble, and it would be best to go find his master now. So, for the safest and most secure reason, Qin Jiu waved the flag and teleported back to Luo Temple.

Kun was idly slapping its tail as it wandered around the yard. When it turned around and saw Qin Jiu returning, it happily hopped over and gave him a wink.

Do you have sweet potatoes?

Qin Jiu was stunned for a moment, and only after being slapped on the face by the fish tail did he react, handing over the dozen or so 'sweet potatoes' he had picked up from his pocket.

Kun gave this rebellious disciple, who was trying to murder his master with a look that seemed to say, "Are you kidding me?"

Qin Jiu didn't notice Kun's displeasure, after all, he couldn't read the fish's eyes. At this moment, his master was still in seclusion, and it was still dark. For the time being, there was no one to confide in about the magical experience he had just had. Qin Jiu could only jump onto the roof of the Hall of Light, gazing at the moonlight over the distant mountains, and staring blankly at the dark sky.

And from time to time, a woman whose face he couldn't see would appear in his mind. Of course, it wasn't the 'transparent thigh' or the 'inaccessible' one.

But he couldn't remember who it was.