Herk, Perfectly Blended In

This small Transcendent World was roughly two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand li in diameter. At Zhou Zheng's current speed, he could circle this small Transcendent World several times within three hours.

Since his tracks had already been discovered, Zhou Zheng simply stopped concealing himself. He called Feng Zhuhong and Mo Zitong over and used the final three hours to search this small Transcendent World once more.

At this point, the Special Lifeform Corpses in Zhou Zheng's possession already amounted to nearly forty-five percent. If he could obtain the remaining Special Lifeform Corpses held by the Native Transcendents, as well as the ones Fu Heng had promised him, then the Special Lifeform Corpses in his hands would easily exceed sixty percent.

Such gains were already more than double the mission's minimum requirement, yet Zhou Zheng did not feel much pressure.

This mission was called a Danger-level Mission, but in reality, it seemed rather ordinary.

However, Zhou Zheng was not surprised.

At the start, the danger of this mission had mainly been concentrated on Feng Zhuhong, Herk, Mo Zitong, and the others. Given Zhou Zheng's strength, as long as he was not careless, getting through this mission had never been much of a problem.

That was only natural. The Temporal Temple could not possibly fail to see Zhou Zheng's potential. He had grasped the Proto Time Deceleration True Meaning when he was only in his twenties. One had to know that Zhou Zheng was not a born Transcendental—he had climbed up step by step from the mundane world!

With such potential, the Temporal Temple would not casually send Zhou Zheng to his death.

As for the danger centered on Feng Zhuhong, Herk, and Mo Zitong, Herk had taken on most of it.

Herk had infiltrated the Native Transcendents and provided Zhou Zheng's group with a great deal of useful intelligence, allowing all three of them to act without a hitch.

Feng Zhuhong and Mo Zitong, following beside Zhou Zheng, had simply coasted along. Other than Shockwave's sudden outburst, the two of them had barely encountered any danger.

Later on, if Zhou Zheng had not grasped the Proto Micro-particle True Meaning, he would not have possessed such terrifying detection abilities. Without being able to predict and avoid the Transcendentals of the Emperor Yu Mortal World in advance, Feng Zhuhong and Mo Zitong would not have had it so easy either.

But Zhou Zheng had grasped the Proto Micro-particle True Meaning, so the two of them got to coast along again.

It had to be said that their luck was truly good.

In truth, Mo Zitong and Feng Zhuhong really had it very easy. Mo Zitong especially had more mission experience, and she knew very well that under normal circumstances, she could not possibly be so relaxed during a Danger-level Mission.

Yet now, this mission had reached its final stage in the blink of an eye, and their gains had far exceeded the mission's minimum requirement. It was simply unbelievable.

"Captain, this mission ends in half an hour!" Feng Zhuhong looked at Zhou Zheng and asked, "Are we still going to keep searching?"

"No!" Zhou Zheng shook his head. "I'll deal with Shockwave. You two keep watch nearby. If you find any Native Transcendents trying to escape, stop them!"

"Deal with Shockwave?"

Feng Zhuhong and Mo Zitong were slightly startled, but they quickly nodded.

"..."

Zhou Zheng said nothing more. Feng Zhuhong was somewhat weak, but she was a Transcendent Mage and could provide support from the rear. Mo Zitong, meanwhile, was not weak, so dealing with some Native Transcendents should not be a problem for her.

Zhou Zheng arrived outside the Native Transcendents' stronghold at precisely the right time. Fu Heng, who had been waiting there for some time, emerged from Shadow Space. He did not approach Zhou Zheng, merely watching him from afar.

"This is part of the Special Lifeform Corpses. I'll give you the rest once it's done!" As Fu Heng spoke, he tossed a Storage Treasure over from a distance.

Zhou Zheng caught the Storage Treasure and glanced inside. His expression did not change as he nodded.

Fu Heng was indeed extremely cautious. He knew that getting too close to Zhou Zheng risked a sudden attack, so he maintained a considerable distance from him.

At this distance, he had enough time to enter Shadow Space.

"Later, you use Time Deceleration on Shockwave, then I'll strike suddenly. It would be best if we can kill him in one blow. How about it?" Fu Heng asked.

"Fine!"

Zhou Zheng nodded directly. This tactic was very reasonable.

A Transcendental who had mastered Shadow Space was already the most terrifying sort of assassin. Combined with Zhou Zheng's full-force Time Deceleration, which could reach thirty times its normal effect, Shockwave was practically dead for certain unless he had some hidden trump card.

Different rule mysteries, when combined, could produce an effect greater than one plus one, and Time Deceleration and Shadow Space clearly belonged to that category.

Elsewhere, where the Native Transcendents lived, Shockwave, Herk, and more than a dozen other Native Transcendents had gathered together.

The Native Transcendents came in all sizes. They surrounded Shockwave and drank wine.

"Good brother, come, taste the fine wine I've been saving!" A Native Transcendent hooked an arm around Herk's neck and laughed as he handed him a huge jar of wine.

"Together, together!"

Herk laughed heartily. Without hesitation, he drained it in one gulp.

"Good, that's the spirit!" The Native Transcendent laughed loudly and went off to drink with the others.

"..."

Herk said nothing. Holding his wine, he walked over to the others as well.

Herk had now blended perfectly into this Transcendental group. Although he was a Demon, the Native Transcendents no longer treated him as an outsider.

There were many reasons for this.

First, Herk had previously saved two Native Transcendents. They had never suspected that he had ulterior motives and had regarded him as their lifesaver from beginning to end.

Second, Herk's acting was extremely convincing.

He claimed that he had encountered a spatial rift in the Dark Abyss and, after being tossed about, had arrived in this small Transcendent World.

Fearing that the Yu Huang Clan would capture and kill him, or keep him in captivity, he had kept an extremely low profile. Only when he saw members of the Yu Huang Clan bullying two Native Transcendents earlier had he been unable to hold himself back from acting.

Herk's explanation was quite flawless. Spatial rifts did indeed frequently appear between the Dark Abyss and the Material Realm. In the case of large-scale rifts, tens of thousands of Demons might enter all at once.

For a mortal world, that would be a disaster.

As for small-scale rifts, it was not strange for a single unlucky Demon to be swept in.

A large number of Demons was a disaster for a mundane world, but a single Demon was merely meat on the chopping block.

After all, some Transcendent Mages were very fond of studying Demons. They would keep Demons in captivity for research, and that fate was undoubtedly extremely miserable.

Herk's tale of woe immediately resonated with the Native Transcendents, because they too lived under the oppression of the Yu Huang Clan. If not for Shockwave, their fates would likely have been equally miserable.

With the debt of gratitude for saving their lives, coupled with that sense of shared understanding, the Native Transcendents naturally accepted Herk's presence and treated him as one of their own.

In fact, the Native Transcendents had never questioned Herk's origins.

Although the Temporal Temple was not exactly a secret, not everyone knew of it. Even Wu Jiuxin, a Transcendental from Nine Rivers Temple, knew nothing about the Temporal Temple. These Native Transcendents, who had never left their own world, were even less likely to know of it.

"Haha, Brother Herk, it was all thanks to your idea. Those Transcendentals from the Yu Huang Clan are probably still fighting over those corpses, aren't they?"

A Native Transcendent with a body like a small mountain laughed loudly, feeling exceptionally pleased.

"Hmph, let them fight. It would be best if they start killing each other and one or two of them die!" another Native Transcendent snorted.

"Yes, yes, fight! The fiercer, the better!"

"Hahaha, we'll just drink here and watch them beat each other's brains out. The Yu Huang Clan may be powerful, but how can they compare to our unity?"

"Exactly!"

"..."

As the Native Transcendents spoke, Herk occasionally chimed in with fervent agreement, looking as though he too was eager to watch the show.

But only he knew what he truly thought!

As for making the Yu Huang Clan Transcendentals fight over the Special Lifeform Corpses, that idea had indeed come from Herk.

In Herk's view, if these Native Transcendents had directly handed the Special Lifeform Corpses to the Yu Huang Clan Transcendentals, it would have been very difficult for his three teammates outside to seize them. That was why he had proposed this plan, which could kill two birds with one stone.

Now, everything was proceeding according to Herk's plans, and he was very satisfied.

My contribution to this mission may not match the captain's, but it definitely surpasses those other two freeloaders!

Herk was very pleased with himself. For him, the greatest danger in this mission had been this group of Native Transcendents, but they were all far too simple-minded. Herk had actually been relaxed from beginning to end.

The captain even dug up these Native Transcendents' Origin Stone mine. I wonder if he'll give me a share after we get out. I provided the intelligence, after all. Even if the captain takes ninety percent, it should be fine for me to get half a percent, right? Herk thought happily.

"Enough!"

Suddenly, an unhappy voice came from above. Shockwave had spoken.

At his words, the many Native Transcendents who were still shouting fell silent.

"Being forced to hand over our treasures this time was simply a humiliation!" Shockwave said. "If I find anyone slacking off in cultivation again afterward, don't blame me for being harsh!"

"Yes!"

The many Native Transcendents did not dare say more and immediately answered in unison.

Shockwave held extremely high prestige among these Native Transcendents, not only because of his strength, but also because he had protected them.

Therefore, the Native Transcendents would not argue with Shockwave's words.

However, these Native Transcendents had been born Transcendental, and most of them had little motivation to cultivate. Eating, drinking, and sleeping were what they loved most.

"..."

Shockwave said nothing more. He picked up a jar of wine, intending to dispel the gloom in his heart. Suddenly—

Buzz!

An invisible ripple descended, and everything within a vast expanse of space slowed down.

At the same time, a black dagger abruptly appeared behind Shockwave, stabbing straight toward his head.