A Very Tough Life

You are... Luo...

Oh, so the tycoon still remembers me, Luo? I'm truly honored.

Why... save me...?

Oh, actually, Abbot Lu promised me three hundred dan of gold in exchange for killing you. But when I got here, good heavens, all the Emei sect members showed up! Three hundred dan of gold? What the hell am I supposed to do with Emei? I'll just hide on the sidelines and watch you fight.

... others...

There's no one else. They're all dead. All the Mohists are dead, and all of Lou Guan's are dead too. Tsk tsk, it's a pity that although Master Lu is shrewd, he hasn't seen the world of the Central Plains and doesn't know the power of the Xuanmen. He tried to scheme against them, but hey, they won't listen to your sweet talk. If they find your calculations wrong, they'll turn on you and kill you all. Tsk tsk, they're ruthless too.

... Let me die...

Wait a minute! The Grand Master's head is worth three hundred dan of gold. I was thinking of using you to claim a reward from the General. Here, eat this, catch your breath, and turn your head back into a human.

What, you won't eat? You look like a ghost, what are you worried about? Let me tell you, this is a good thing. Boil it until it's soft and eat it with the broth and the skin, it's so delicious. In my hometown, we call it "sai qiongzhi," it's so good that we don't envy sheep. In winter, when we can't get enough grain, everyone relies on this to warm their stomachs.

Haha, what's wrong? A dignified magnate like you can't even swallow the flesh of a dead man?

You Moshan people aren't much better than them, spouting empty platitudes all day long, about Heavenly Ghost, about righteousness, about being a decent human being.

Ah, do you know what people are like?

People will do anything as long as they can survive.

If you truly aspire to achieve great things, then first prove me right by living.

Zheng Zetian watched as Erlizi lay on the grass by the lake, legs crossed, basking in the sun, reminiscing about the past. He took a big bite of an apple, his mouth watering and juice overflowing.

Hearing this, the Tu Lou immediately rushed over, knocked him down, snatched the apple, and ran away, eating and defecating all the way.

"You good-for-nothing, I've been too kind to you!"

Zheng Zetian punched the Tu Lou twice, but the apple was still taken away. He had no choice but to break off a blade of grass, put it in his mouth, lie down on his back, and stare blankly at the sky.

Well...

I seem to have quite a connection with Moshan...

A rainbow streak flashed across the Tianyu Peak, circled the mountain three times, and then, with a swift turn, landed in front of Zheng Zetian.

Qin Jiu walked over with a cold face, looking down at Daozi like an iron-cast gatekeeper.

Are you alright?

Zheng Zetian, with a blade of grass in his mouth, asked, "Huh? What's wrong?"

Qin Jiu frowned, flicked her sleeve and rolled him up, "If you have nothing to do, go to class and cultivate. Don't lie here lazing around in broad daylight."

Zheng Zetian patted his bottom, rolled his eyes, and looked at Qin Jiu, asking,

"Senior Brother, you just got back from the South China Sea?"

"Nonsense."

Oh, they came pretty quickly! They wiped out 100,000 demons in one night and rushed back overnight?

However, Qin Jiu was truly a man of few words; once he uttered a single pointless remark, he would say nothing more...

Zheng Zetian sighed inwardly and could only continue to pretend to be a curious child, asking questions.

"Senior brother, did you rush back because of the demon's attack on the mountain? Is the sect alright? I also encountered a demon yesterday, but luckily I subdued it using the thunder magic taught by Master."

Qin Jiu glanced at him sideways.

"Um."

"..." Zheng Zetian waited for a while but didn't hear a second word, so he had to ask again, "I heard that Ink Bamboo Mountain is going to besiege the Yushan Demon Cave. Will you go to help, Senior Brother?"

Why not let this cheat code take him straight to the hundredth floor of the Demon Cave, and test the waters there first?

Who knew that Qin Jiu,

I'm not going.

Not going? Zheng Zetian suddenly understood. It seemed that with the assassination attempt on Chen Sha, the Poison Sword Immortal, Ink Bamboo Mountain was short-handed, so they had to bring Qin Jiu, a mobile force, back to guard the heart of Tianyu Mountain. Good heavens, the Grand Master, you're really squeezing every last drop of blood from your subordinates...

Qin Jiu wasn't good at chatting with people. After Tu Lou finished defecating, he grabbed the sheep with his bare hands, and with a gust of sword wind, he swept Zheng Zetian and Tu Lou up to the classroom at the summit of Tianyu Mountain.

By this time, quite a few disciples of Ink Bamboo Mountain and students from the Xuanmen were already waiting. Qin Jiu waved his hand, telling Zheng Zetian to lead Yang to reserve a seat, and then walked to the center of the stage.

"I'm here for class today."

Everyone present naturally recognized Senior Brother Ink Bamboo Mountain, and the title of Master of Yuntai Sword carried even greater weight in the Xuanmen sect. Thus, everyone was filled with anticipation, wondering what secrets this senior brother, who almost never taught, would impart.

"Swordsmanship."

Oh, swordsmanship, huh? It's definitely Senior Brother's signature skill.

"Those wielding swords, come forward."

Wow, they're offering one-on-one tutoring right off the bat! How professional!

A large group of female disciples immediately signed up. Hmm, it seems my senior brother is quite popular.

Qin Jiu casually pointed to one, "That one, I guess."

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother!"

The girl chosen, dressed in a flamboyant manner and resembling a female disciple of the Yuling Courtyard, was overjoyed and immediately seized this rare opportunity to be alone with her senior brother to come closer.

"Senior brother, I've diligently practiced swordsmanship precisely because I admire your skills. Please don't hesitate to teach me; don't hold back..."

"Smack!"

Qin Jiu flicked his wrist, knocking the wooden sword from the opponent's hand, and then struck his junior sister's face with the sword, instantly swelling her rouge-painted lips into the shape of sausages.

The junior sister was stunned on the spot.

Qin Jiu cursed angrily.

"You can't even hold a sword properly! You're not qualified to wield one! Go practice your basic skills for another hundred years!"

"Waaaaah!"

The junior sister broke down in tears and left, leaving the disciples of the Yuling Courtyard in an instant silence.

The group of old Xuanmen immediately perked up.

"Wow! You're serious!" "Okay, okay! I'll do it!" "Sword Master! Sword Master! Look over here! Look over here!"

Clearly, only a reincarnated old monster appreciates this kind of teaching style that gets straight to the point and avoids unnecessary talk.

Qin Jiu also engaged in a sword duel with these international students. Neither side used internal energy or sword qi, nor did they dodge or weave. They simply competed in the arena, wielding wooden swords and exchanging blows, showcasing the exquisite skill of swordsmanship.

Of course, this kind of swordplay competition with its rapid-fire movements was too specialized, especially since some sword techniques required special occasions involving flying and teleporting. Simply moving around on two legs wasn't enough to demonstrate them effectively. So, those who understood it were naturally captivated, while those who didn't found it boring and tedious. Soon, most of the junior sisters who had come to get acquainted with Senior Brother left. Only a group of old men—cough cough, children—were left in the classroom, diligently studying.

Zheng Zetian was momentarily distracted.

He didn't have time to "take a class" here. The deadline for the rollback was approaching, and even after reviewing so much intelligence and equipment information from the company, he couldn't come up with a solution for the time being.

After all, a company is an organization that doesn't rely on individuals, but on the power of the entire system. Even someone like Mo Zi is nothing more than cannon fodder to be discarded like trash. Changing plans at the last minute, and Chen Sha beat him up so badly. Song Dayou has no ability to match her. Thinking about it this way, it's a dead end that can't be escaped.

But... is escape really impossible...? Perhaps we should try to hide?

Zheng Zetian looked at the stage, where Qin Jiu was exchanging blows with a Xuanmen disciple who was clearly a reincarnation. Both of them were only attacking and not defending, trying to defeat each other with the speed of their swords, and relying solely on footwork to dodge the swords. Qin Jiu did not care about the so-called dignity of a lecturer when he was fighting, rolling and crawling, jumping up and down.

Since it doesn't use sword energy, it's impossible to block this sword head-on, so it's natural to dodge it.

The company is going to great lengths to eliminate Song Dayou, a target whose fighting power is less than that of "cannon fodder," not to protect the more important assets beneath Yushan Mountain. Oldest One, when Song Dayou went out to find disciples, the company couldn't find him either, and only planned the operation after staking out Qingting Peak for a long time. So, if they can just avoid it for a while, and wait for the company to conduct its planned stress test, or for the fighting to break out on Yushan Mountain, the company might change its plans for various reasons.

If all else fails, he can join the company to change the plan.

However, his level 23 employee privileges were clearly insufficient. Although he was the person in charge of Ink Bamboo Mountain Company, he was unable to access information related to Qingting Peak and Song Dayou.

"What, you don't like using a sword?"

Zheng Zetian snapped out of his daze and noticed Qin Jiu standing in front of him, realizing that he had already casually given this guy a lesson.

"A sword is a murder weapon, so naturally I can't say I like it much."

Zheng Zetian replied,

"Moreover, sword practice from a young age requires guidance from a master, with hands-on instruction. Various sword manuals and techniques are rare and precious true teachings. Raising a sword is even more expensive; a lone individual without the support of a family or sect simply cannot afford it."

Qin Jiu listened without giving a response, and after a moment of silence asked,

"So what weapon do you want to learn?"

Zheng Zetian gave him a strange look. What was this guy doing? Was he outwardly cold but inwardly warm, genuinely treating him like a junior brother and wanting to fulfill his senior brother's responsibility of teaching and imparting knowledge?

Then Zheng Zetian's eyes darted around,

"If we're going to choose a weapon, let's learn from Mo Shan's Iron Guard Holy Armor, that's awesome!"

"Wouldn't that make it even harder to maintain!"

Qin Jiu felt a little dizzy for a moment.

"But Saint Cloths can be mass-produced, right? Why not get a couple more sets? They're so cool! By the way, I heard that disciples who make outstanding contributions are rewarded with custom-made Saint Cloths by their sect? Senior brother, you must have your own Saint Cloth, right? Can I see it?"

The Iron Guard Holy Armor is a piece of equipment that can increase one's strength by a whole realm. It's only natural to prepare it if possible. If Song Dayou's unrepaired suit could be converted into combat power, the chances of success would be even greater. Besides, the company itself also has 'exoskeleton mobile armor' similar to the Saint Cloth.

Qin Jiu frowned.

"The Saint Cloth is also a sect secret. Who told you about it?"

"Senior Brother Lu... he's the kind of guy who carries a dog on his shoulder."

"Ah, I remember, there was that dog that kept watching me... cough cough, okay, come with me."

Unexpectedly, Senior Brother was quite easy to talk to. He directly took his junior brother to the cave to see that exciting thing, and what was even more unexpected was that he had quite a few holy armors. There were twelve sets specially displayed in the cabinet, not counting some miscellaneous accessories and modifications.

"Wow... Senior Brother, you've made so many contributions to the sect!"

Perhaps because it was rare for someone to share their treasured collection, Qin Jiu stroked the cabinet and introduced each item to him.

"It's alright. Actually, it's not all of it that I earned it for my military achievements. Most of it is souvenirs from the early prototype Saint Cloths. I was the pilot of the test flight prototype, after all."

This set has the strongest power, but the acceleration is too great. It almost tore my lumbar spine apart when I started. I don't think anyone without the protective aura of a War God Realm expert could wear it.

My master tried adding some kind of apostle system and absolute domain to this setup, but when it shone on the Moon, it became 'Non-Thing,' which almost killed me.

This set... this set is just painted red and has a corner added, nothing special. Master must test whether it can speed things up...

In short, there are many others that went out of control, exploded, caught fire, or couldn't be fully recovered during durability testing; all that was left were some parts as souvenirs.

Ah, there were several times when I thought I was going to die, but I actually made it through. Thinking about it, I guess I'm pretty tough."

Many of these are completely destroyed, is it even possible for a human to survive? Is this an experiment or is it meant to harm you...? And this guy seems quite talkative, doesn't he? Does he usually just hide at home and talk to his Saint Cloths in the closet?

"Senior brother, what outfit do you usually wear in battle?"

"Well, actually these external objects conflict with my Daoist techniques, so I basically don't use them anymore to avoid damage during battles. I only come to look at them occasionally."

Is it really just occasionally...? It looks like I'll have to take it out and wipe it down at least every ten days to two weeks, right?

"Qin Jiu! Qin Jiu! Something terrible has happened, Qin Jiu!"

Suddenly, a crow flew into the cave and almost crashed into the cabinet, but Qin Jiu caught it in time.

"Sigh, here we go again. They always come to announce bad news. Who died this time?"

"The Outer Sect Disciple instructor has died!"

"Oh, you mean Lou Guan City's place?" Qin Jiu said with a look of disgust. "Fine, fine, I got it."

Seeing Zheng Zetian's curiosity, Qin Jiu casually plucked three feathers from the crow's rump and handed them to him.

"This is a minor spell taught by my master. Although telegrams are convenient, I'm often traveling around and inevitably not in Ink Bamboo Mountain. If there are any important sect matters that need to be reported to me, using this crow is just as effective. As for Outer Sect Disciples, only the top Golden Core cultivator can become an instructor, which is considered a garrison-level position. I never expected that they would also be attacked and killed this time."

Zheng Zetian thought for a moment, "Outer Sect Disciple instructor? Is his surname Qian?"

"How do you recognize me?"

The crow cawed, "Yes! Teacher Qian! Teacher Qian is dead!"

Zheng Zetian narrowed his eyes. "Why are you only informing me now? How did he die? When did he die?"

The crow cawed, "I don't know! They only found out he was missing during the inventory! His body was found in the ditch; it'd been rotting for at least seven days!"

Qin Jiu frowned upon hearing this.

"How is that possible? Even if the murderer used magic to conceal the secrets of heaven and bewitch the soul lamp, how could no one notice if the body was left in the ditch for seven days? What about the Discipline Institute in Lou Guan City? What about the eyes of the Grand Master? Didn't they see anything?"

Zheng Zetian understood immediately upon hearing this.

"It's not impossible. Perhaps no one noticed because after Teacher Qian died, someone carried the body with them and used magic to conceal it at all times. They only threw it out and disposed of the body when Nangong launched the attack... That's my guess."

Qin Jiu nodded after his reminder, "Oh, that's one possibility."

Zheng Zetian pressed further, "Who was it that notified Senior Brother using a secret method instead of a telegram?"

Qin Jiu was taken aback. "Oh, who is it?"

The crow cawed, "Lu Xing! It's Lu Xing!"

Qin Jiu frowned, "Lu Xing?"

Zheng Zetian explained, "It's his sister who has the dog."

Qin Jiu panicked, "I know who she is! I mean, sigh... why is that girl looking for me? Isn't Lou Guan City her territory? Why do I have to handle everything, inside and outside the mountains?!"

Zheng Zetian thought for a moment and then understood. "I get it. That person did it cleanly, and she probably doesn't have solid evidence, but she already has suspicions. Moreover, since the murderer was her own brother, in order to avoid suspicion, and because it involves the Inner Sect's direct disciples' struggle, and now that she can't contact the Grand Master, she simply asked our sect's senior brother to make the decision."

Qin Jiu, "What!?"

Crow, "Caw?!"

Zheng Zetian stroked his chin, deep in thought.

Judging from this, it seems that after he stopped the train, Lu Qi's side quickly found out about Heavenly Clothes and eliminated the innocent Teacher Qian. They were so well-prepared, keeping him hidden by their side until the Demon Prince's stress test, when they were sure there were no 'eyes' around before disposing of the body. This kid... he's quite interesting, a smart one!

Qin Jiu was still stunned when she asked him, "What? The one who killed her was her brother? The one with the dog?"

Zheng Zetian looked at this straightforward man who didn't understand human nature with a sorrowful expression.

Senior Brother, you're really lucky to have reached this level of cultivation...