Volcanic Age

Chapter 165: Evil Valley Infiltration (1)

"Aaaah!" Blessed Existence screamed and flipped over his desk. Mountains of documents and books resting on the desk immediately went flying, splattering messily in the air.

The people around him—resembling scholars—retreated immediately upon his outburst.

"Zhou Xuchuan! You son of a dog! Trampling and spitting on your corpse won't be enough of a punishment for you!" Blessed Existence raged. He was famous for being the epitome of composure, but he was actually raging like a madman at this moment.

Blessed Existence screamed, pounded the ground, and swore incessantly. Considering his personality, he'd never put on such a disgraceful show for others to see, but today was an exception.

"Just how! How! How....!" The blood rushing to Blessed Existence's head made it difficult for him to form a proper sentence. He gnashed his teeth so hard that creaking noises echoed from his teeth.

He survived the Jiangsu branch?!

That place was supposed to be a death trap—a guaranteed death for intruders!

The trap mechanisms installed by the entrance were designed to overwhelm any intruders. Even if the intruders somehow managed to break through the traps, they'd have to deal with the jiangshis immediately afterward.

The whole place was a nightmarish hellscape!

Regardless of Zhou Xuchuan’s cultivation realm and how many heavenly spiritual medicines he had consumed so far, escape from that tunnel was supposed to be possible.

Even if he somehow got lucky and survived both the overwhelming traps and the jiangshis, the experts from the Warped Valor Division were still lying in wait for him.

Blessed Existence reckoned that even a Harmony Realm expert would find it difficult to fight against a highly trained group of enemies in an unfamiliar and constricting environment.

The Jiangsu Branch was bolstered with many different advanced and expensive mechanisms, creations of sorcery from the Blood Cult, and even a living group of experts.

Even if an intruder were a top expert, they'd still fail to survive such a predicament—no, even the grandfather of said top expert would die if he were in the latter's shoes.

Blessed Existence even received criticism from the other executives; they all said that he was going overboard by dispatching Warped Valor’s soldiers. Blessed Existence's preparations were that thorough, and it was the only way for him to feel secure.

The Jiangsu secret branch was surprisingly valuable to the Association, so giving up on it would be too much of a loss. That was why he worked so hard to prepare for a possible infiltration.

Since he had decided to do it, he was going to do it as meticulously as possible. He even deployed a surveillance team near the entrance just in case the absolute worst ended up happening.

He was so thorough that the word "meticulous" was no longer apropos to describe him; he had long entered the realm of obsessive madness!

However, despite his preparations...

"How come we still know basically nothing?!"

Several pawns based in Suzhou had reported that something strange had happened below the Lion Grove. Feeling anxious, Blessed Existence dispatched his agents, and they reported that the secret base had somehow caved in.

It was literally destroyed. The entrance was designed to end up that way, so its condition did not really matter. However, the report also stated that the hidden entrance located some distance away had also been blocked off by debris.

With that, it became impossible to investigate what Zhou Xuchuan had uncovered and had taken away with him.

The surveillance team near the entrance had gone missing as well.

Of course, "missing" was just the official report. Blessed Existence reckoned that they were all dead by now.

Blessed Existence's meticulous preparation had all ended in a spectacular failure, but what enraged him even more was the possibility that the Association’s grand plan had been compromised.

Having no idea how much information Zhou Xuchuan had unearthed, Blessed Existence had to consider going back to the drawing board for the Association's grand plan.

***

A week ago, Zhou Xuchuan’s group shoved every log, record, and document in the library into a large sack. Then, they left the branch through the hidden exit. Zhou Xuchuan immediately sensed hidden gazes observing him from afar, and he promptly took care of them.

Once he was done dealing with the gazes, he couldn't help but feel a bit afraid, realizing that his enemies were awfully prepared.

After dealing with the surveillance team, the group returned to the hidden exit to destroy the Dark Heavens Association's secret underground branch.

Zhuge Shengji pushed and prodded the walls, sending the traps into a frenzy.

Eventually, the ground caved in, and the branch was buried in a ton of dirt. At the horrible sight, the Jiangsu Branch Head bit his tongue, choosing to end his own life.

It was a mistake born from a brief moment of distraction. Since the Jiangsu Branch Head was so obedient, Zhou Xuchuan figured that the old man was a smart man who valued his life, but he was mistaken.

The Jiangsu Branch Head lost all hope when the hidden trump cards he had been counting on ended up getting buried beneath all that dirt.

The original plan was to drag the Jiangsu Branch Head back to Jinan and torture him until he spat any useful information. However, the plan had to be scrapped with the Jiangsu Branch Head's death.

The group had no idea of their current location, so they were forced to walk in a random direction. After walking for half a day and arriving at a remote village, they finally got their bearing. It turned out that the remote village was neither too far nor too close to Suzhou.

"What are you going to do now, Senior Brother?" Luo Xiaoyue asked.

Zhou Xuchuan was somewhat rueful about the fact that he could not take his friend with him. His next destination was within the Evil Valley’s sphere of influence. He’d have to move in surreptitiously once he was there, so allowing Zhuge Shengji to return home was a better choice.

Luo Xiaoyue would be Zhuge Shengji's escort, so there was nothing to worry about. Her cultivation journey would reach its end once Zhuge Shengji was returned to the Gold Will Merchants. She could return to Mount Hua directly afterward.

"Looks like it’s only you and me, Little Ghost," said Zhou Xuchuan.

"Yes, sir."

"Do you mind chatting with me whenever things get boring?"

"No, sir."

"Yup, I’m screwed. Might as well talk to myself instead."

Zhou Xuchuan needed Little Ghost to guide him to a Phantom branch. However, he also required someone capable of acting as his hands and feet. Little Ghost was perfect for the job, as her skills were unquestionable, and they had gotten quite close, too.

"For now, let’s head to Zhejiang."

Zhou Xuchuan could already picture Blessed Existence losing his mind over the destruction of a secret base. He reckoned that Blessed Existence had to be in the middle of turning Jiangsu upside down to find the culprit.

Zhou Xuchuan briefly considered working together with Jiangsu’s Phantoms, but their base was in the opposite direction to Zhejiang, and the distance was quite considerable, too.

Zhou Xuchuan could hide his face and move with extra caution, but he didn’t feel like it was worth doing that in exchange for exhausting himself mentally. Besides, he could just stop by later.

Thus, Zhou Xuchuan visited Zhejiang's Valley of Phantoms instead of their branch in Jiangsu.

The Phantoms welcomed him politely.

"We welcome the Phantom Sovereign."

The branch was smaller than Zhou Xuchuan had expected. Zhejiang’s Phantom branch was located on Mount Tianmu, and the number of Phantoms was fewer than expected—there were only thirteen of them. It was the same story for the number of trainees, too.

It wasn't supposed to come as a shocker due to the shortage of instructors. Clearly, handling more agents was harder than handling just a handful of them.

Zhou Xuchuan wondered whether the branch had a head Phantom or not, and he decided to ask about it, but he was mistaken. Since the make up of a branch’s personnel differed from region to region, the response wasn't surprising at all, so Zhou Xuchuan brushed it aside.

Fine. Should I stay here for a while? He had a bit of time to kill, but he also had to prepare a few things before infiltrating the Evil Valley. And the first thing on the list is... a fake identity.

Blessed Existence had to be moving around like crazy right about now. He was definitely worried about the leaked information from their secret branch in Jiangsu. He had to have returned to the drawing board, revising the Association’s plans.

With that in mind, Zhou Xuchuan knew that showing up and loitering around the Evil Valley’s territory could make things rather tricky.

That was why he decided to obtain a fake identity for his new adventure.

Thankfully, he had a perfect identity for such an occasion.

The Phantom Bow Swordsman, Zhou Xuchuan!

A swordsman with an absurd talent in archery—an expert from an evil faction! A man who had obtained much fame during the war between the Miao Family Sword Gate and Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate!

He had fought hard to obtain the Mind Qi Separator; he also fought Ju Zhong, the leader of the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate, to death, eventually becoming a part of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.

Like an idiot, he brazenly used the name "Zhou Xuchuan" everywhere back then.

Thankfully, he managed to overcome those events without too many hiccups.

"Wheeew... Alright, should I go with that again, then?"

Zhou Xuchuan reckoned that he would be able to fool most people with a disguise and the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword. With that identity, infiltrating the Evil Valley’s territory and taking care of things there was doable.

Even if the truth was uncovered later on, it wouldn't matter. The enmity between him and the Dark Heavens Association was already considered irreconcilable, so his current predicament couldn't be considered the same as his predicament back then.

Zhou Xuchuan stayed in Zhejiang’s Phantom branch for a while, devoting himself to training. Of course, his focus was on the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword.

It was unfortunate, but he couldn’t practice Phantom Steps. The Ten-Thousand Jin Sword demanded he become heavier, but Phantom Steps demanded he become lighter.

In other words, the two arts were diametrically opposed.

His Ten Thousand Convergence Art had allowed him to practice both simultaneously, but it came with a hefty penalty in the form of a fifty-percent reduction in the effectiveness of both arts.

Two weeks later, Zhou Xuchuan's Ten-Thousand Jin Sword reached the fourth stage, and it was all thanks to his rigorous training. The speedy rate of improvement was only made possible by his high comprehension of the sword. Of course, sparring with all the Zhejiang Phantoms at once had been a big help, too.

It would actually be strange if his rate of improvement were slow.