CHAPTER 123: HOW DO I MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS?

"On top of that, Yin Shengong does seem to trust me right now, but he doesn't truly see me as a subordinate. Instead, he still treats me like a child. If I want to truly obtain his trust, I'll have to do certain things, such as killing current Protectionists or Guardians. I can't think of any other way to earn his full trust, and that will also be a steep mental hurdle for me to overcome."

This was a rather difficult predicament, and Dongfang Sansan said, "That is indeed worthy of consideration."

As the chief advisor, Dongfang Sansan had always known the importance of making sacrifices for the sake of the greater good, and he possessed the objectivity and decisiveness required to make such decisions.

In order to win the war, he was willing to lose a few battles here and there.

However, even he wouldn't be able to bring himself to kill his own allies, yet that was the situation that Fang Che was eventually going to have to face.

Sacrificing allies to the enemy for the greater good and killing them themself were two completely different concepts.

"I understand your concerns. Of course, it would be ideal if this could be avoided, but if it can't... You have to realize that it's much more preferable to be granted a swift and painless death by your hands than to be tortured by the demonic churches.

“Any of our allies who fall into the hands of the demonic churches will be put through unimaginable torture, and many Protectionists and Guardians have turned traitor because th torment is simply too much to bear.

“Once they turn to the enemy, their hands will be stained by the blood of their former comrades, and there will be no turning back for them, particularly after Five Spirit Parasites have been planted in their bodies. As opposed to letting them be used against us by our enemies, it's better to... leave them with the reputation of heroes who died in battle, do you understand?"

"I understand."

"So if you do encounter such former allies, please give them a hero's sendoff," Dongfang Sansan said in a grim manner.

Fang Che nodded silently in response.

Giving them a hero's sendoff meant that he would have to bear the reputation of the villain. Dongfang Sansan hadn't articulated that, but both of them were aware of this.

It was very cruel, but Fang Che knew that it had to be done.

"You have to understand that by killing them, you will actually be saving them, so make sure you do not let timidity get the better of you."

"I understand," Fang Che replied. "My second concern is my progression up the official ranks among the Protectionists. They'll be trying to use me while simultaneously restricting me, and I plan to use that to my advantage, but I'm going to need some strategies to maintain balance between the two sides."

"That's not something you have to worry about," Dongfang Sansan said with a smile.

"Alright, I'll leave that in your capable hands then, Master Nine. Lastly, I have a request. I want to forge some bonded weapons, for which I'm going to require divine metals."

This concerned his future as a warrior, and it was an extremely important request that had to be fulfilled.

"Bonded weapons are something that only warriors of the General tier and above can use, but I suppose you're not far away from the General tier. How many bonded weapons are you planning to forge?"

"I want a saber, a spear, a sword, and a halberd."

Dongfang Sansan's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this.

"I don't have that much on hand."

"In that case, I can just settle on one weapon for now."

"Do you want a weapon or just the materials?"

"I want the materials. I want to forge the weapon with my own spirit sense."

This was something that Fang Che had already decided.

A weapon forged by someone else would never truly become one with him.

Instead, once he obtained a piece of divine metal, he would be able to subtly mold it over time with his spirit sense to craft the perfect weapon for himself.

Only then would he come into possession of a true divine weapon that he could use for life.

"Alright, I'll get you a piece of a divine metal, and you can mold it as you see fit. Someone will deliver it to you in the near future."

"Thank you, Master Nine."

Dongfang Sansan suddenly fell silent here, and it was as if he were contemplating something.

Fang Che didn't dare to disturb him, so he also remained silent.

After some time, Dongfang Sansan said, "The mention of divine metal has reminded me of something."

"What is it, Master Nine?"

"I think the piece of jade that the Church of the Self-Righteous was recently searching for most likely belonged to Sun Wutian, the man buried in the White Cloud Prefecture. Thankfully, we were able to destroy his soul fragment using two Soul Destruction Jade Hoods, but it was also as a result of this that the piece of jade in question went missing.

“Not long ago, the Church of the Self-Righteous called off its search, which means that the jade had already been found and bound to a new soul. If I'm not mistaken, you were the one who obtained it, right?"

Fang Che was completely astonished to hear this. In spite of all of Dongfang Sansan's unmatched brilliance, never had Fang Che imagined that he would be able to guess this.

"The White Cloud Prefecture has a population in the hundreds of millions, how can you be so sure that it was me?"

"So it really was you!"

Dongfang Sansan was ecstatic as he knew just how important the piece of jade was.

If it had been obtained by a demonic church member, they would most likely grow into another Sun Wutian, but the fact that it had fallen into Fang Che's hands was nothing short of ideal in Dongfang Sansan's eyes.

"Was that really just a guess, Master Nine?"

"Of course it wasn't entirely just a wild stab in the dark," Dongfang Sansan chuckled. "While it was a guess, it was an educated one."

"How so?"

Fang Che had no idea what clues Dongfang Sansan could've gathered to arrive at this conclusion.

"Sun Wutian was killed by Xue Fuxiao several thousand years ago, and his body was buried for several thousand years before its recent resurrection. However, the burial site was discovered because you noticed the abnormal conditions in the forest, and you also came across that Blood Spirit Ginseng.

“That's one thing that ties you to all of this. Secondly, his soul fragment was able to enter Wei Zihao's body through the Blood Spirit Ginseng, but you were able to beat it out of him, and that's another connection. "

Fang Che was still perplexed. Could these really count as connections?

"Thirdly, the soul fragment was discovered because of you, and we were able to destroy it in a timely manner. Do you still think you have nothing to do with this? If we look at everything with the benefit of hindsight, you are the main culprit for reducing Sun Wutian to his current state! All of this happened because of you!

“The end result is that Su Wutian lost his Formless Divine Jade. You may not believe in things like fortune, but I can assure you that it truly exists. Through your actions, you unintentionally caused Sun Wutian to lose his Formless Divine Jade, which means that you are the likeliest candidate to also unintentionally obtain his Formless Divine Jade.

“You can attribute this to fortune or karma. Having said that, this is far from an exact science, so ultimately, that was still just a guess. However, I wouldn't make the same guess on anyone other than you, do you understand?"

Fang Che felt as if he hadn't understood anything, and he remained just as confused as ever, if not even more confused than before.

"I... Kind of, I guess..." he said.

"There's no need for you to understand," Dongfang Sansan chuckled. "All you need to know is that you've obtained the piece of jade. Everything else is trivial in comparison."

Fang Che nodded in response in a dazed manner.

He would just have to leave it to Master Nine to understand the things that he couldn't.

Dongfang Sansan was clearly in very high spirits in the wake of this revelation, and he asked, "Where did you find it?"

"Come to think of it, I was able to find the jade because of the search for it. Bei Mingxin had come from the main church to examine the jade I had collected, so I was kicked out of my residence, and..."

Telling the story now, it did indeed feel as if everything had been orchestrated by the threads of fate and fortune.

"... I heard that the ancestral grave of some Sun Clan had exploded, so I went to take a look out of curiosity, and the Divine Heavenly Church and the One Heart Church just so happened to have been fighting over the Formless Divine Jade over there. Hence, I killed them and took it for myself."

An intense look suddenly appeared in Dong Fangsansan's eyes as he asked, "Who did you say the ancestral grave belonged to? The Sun Clan?"

"Yes, the Sun Clan. Why do you ask?"

Dongfang Sansan offered no response, and a contemplative look appeared on his face as he rose to his feet and began pacing back and forth.

"I see, so that's what happened... Yes, that must be it..."

After some time, he sat down with a smile and said, "Looks like I'll have something to do once I get back."

"What do you mean, Master Nine?" Fang Che asked in a perplexed manner.

"All you need to know is that you've made another significant contribution. The tides have finally begun to turn! This world is beginning to resist the invasion of the foreign deity!"

Fang Che: "......"

He felt like the more he heard, the more confused he became.

"Rest assured, all of these contributions will be recorded in your file, but they will remain strictly confidential."

Even now, Fang Che was still reeling. I made another contribution? How? What's the contribution? I don't know anything!

"Is there anything else you want to speak to me about?" Dongfang Sansan asked with a smile.

Fang Che hesitated momentarily, then began, "There is something else, actually. There's another student in White Cloud Warrior Academy's first-year cohort, and he's a seeded prodigy of the Night Demon. He comes from an eighth-tier clan, and his name is Ding Jieran."