CHAPTER 838: CHAPTER 384: MISSION_2

It could be said that the Lin family is now struggling to protect itself, overwhelmed, and has no time to trouble us in the Foolish Underworld.

Without Lin Yiqiu to oversee, the Lin family’s merger with the Li family is almost inevitable.

If the Lin family is destroyed, then the conflicts between the Foolish Underworld and the Lin family will naturally come to an end.

However, this kind of thing probably won’t happen. The other three families won’t sit back and watch the Li family grow too strong. At an appropriate time, they will surely join the fray, either to share the spoils of the Lin family or to support the Lin family to continue restraining the Li family, weakening the Li family in the process.

What exactly will happen and what will occur afterwards depends on the subsequent battle between the Lin and Li families, as well as the actions of the other three families.

No matter what, in this conflict, the Foolish Underworld is absolutely safe in the short term.

The hall masters, having understood this, exchanged glances, their expressions becoming much more relaxed.

"In that case, the ban can be lifted, and the Foolish Underworld can resume normal operations starting today."

"Certainly."

An Menyi nodded with a smile and then looked at Fang Yu, tossing a blue token to him.

"Diao Deyi, you made a great contribution in this operation. With this token, you can go to the True Pill Pavilion to collect three Concealing Pills, and go to the third floor of the True Scripture Pavilion to select any cultivation technique."

Fang Yu’s eyes lit up.

He didn’t expect to receive such treatment.

He took the token and glanced at it. Compared to the previous green token, the blue token before him was slightly rough in texture, but its authority was still substantial.

"Thank you, Lord Hall Master, for your reward!"

Fang Yu quickly expressed his gratitude.

But An Menyi waved his hand.

"It’s too early to thank me now. The intelligence on Lin Yiqiu is crucial to the survival of the Foolish Underworld, and your contribution is far from enough for this reward. Therefore, I decided to give you a special reward."

Fang Yu secretly rejoiced.

The more good things, the better, of course.

Fang Yu clasped his hands and said, "Thank you for your great favor, Lord Hall Master. I, Diao Deyi, will go through fire and water for the Foolish Underworld without hesitation in the future!"

Fortunately, no one brought that broken candle at the time; otherwise, it would start flashing red, making the situation awkward.

An Menyi nodded with a smile, saying, "Don’t rush to be happy yet. This reward won’t be easy for you to take. Because what I am giving you is a task."

"A task?"

"Yes, a task, a task concerning an artifact. If you can complete it successfully, you can choose one of the retrieved artifacts to keep for yourself."

Fang Yu’s eyes lit up.

He had only seen two artifacts so far.

One was a broken candle that could only tell the truth.

The other was the unknown artifact in Qiong Xiaolou’s hand, which could make one’s hand briefly transparent and disappear.

Whichever it was, the effects of the artifacts were very significant.

The former is not mentioned for the time being, but the latter had an effect even when his strength could crush Qiong Xiaolou’s, which showed that an artifact could still play a role even when fighting against a higher level.

But are artifacts that easy to obtain?

The Foolish Underworld probably doesn’t have many artifacts to use, right? And now they’re just giving them to me like this?

Fang Yu looked at An Menyi.

"May I ask the Lord to explain the task?"

Better to be safe than sorry. If it’s too dangerous, I just won’t do it.

Fang Yu thought that by grinding out some points and fighting demons, he could still become stronger without taking risks.

"No rush. When the time is right, I will send someone to explain the task to you. The only thing I can tell you now is that the mission location is not in Tianyuan Town."

Not in Tianyuan Town... so it’s going to the wilderness?

A chill ran through Fang Yu’s heart.

He had never been to the wilderness, but the descriptions on the player’s forum depicted it as quite terrifying, with a high death rate.

Although his strength was much greater than that of ordinary players, it was uncertain if he could survive safely in the wilderness.

He thought for a moment and hesitated.

"I... Can I not go?"

It wasn’t that Fang Yu was unwilling; it was just that if something was too dangerous, it was best not to do it if possible.

But no sooner had Fang Yu finished speaking than An Menyi narrowed his eyes.

"Diao Deyi, do you still not understand?"

"What?"

Fang Yu was puzzled.

An Menyi approached and patted Fang Yu on the shoulder.

"Have you forgotten that we have always been discussing whether the Foolish Underworld is safe? But when it comes to individuals... how do you think the Lin family will treat you, the person who provided the intelligence? Don’t forget, handing you over as the intelligence provider was one of their three conditions."

A chill ran through Fang Yu’s heart, and he hesitated: "But... they don’t know I’m the informant."

"Indeed, they don’t know, but others can investigate. The Lin family’s intelligence network is extraordinary. It’s only a matter of time before they find you, and by then, we can’t protect you around the clock."

Fang Yu frowned slightly. He felt something was off, but couldn’t quite put his finger on it, so he asked, frowning.

"So what you’re suggesting is... that I use this mission as a pretext to lay low for a while?"

"Exactly."

"But won’t that be too conspicuous?"

"Rest assured, if you leave Tianyuan Town, we can start erasing some traces, making it impossible for the Lin family to find evidence that you are the source of the intelligence, preventing them from making a judgment. If necessary... we will arrange a decoy for you to withstand this wave of the Lin family’s wrath. But if you remain in Tianyuan Town, some traces will conflict with your movements, leading to loopholes."

"Can this... fool the Lin family?"

"It’s fifty-fifty. We have to try. You are still important to the Foolish Underworld."

Given the Lin family’s current capabilities, dealing with the entire Foolish Underworld would indeed be challenging.

But if they were to target a small role like himself, it would be incredibly easy... as long as they could identify him as the informant.

Fang Yu’s brow remained furrowed.

He didn’t expect that just as one wave seemed to subside, another would rise; the Foolish Underworld would be fine, but he would face problems.

"Lord, I still have one question."

"Speak."

"According to what you said, even if I go out to avoid the trouble, I’ll still have to face the Lin family when I return."

"It’s different." An Menyi replied with a smile.

"How is it different?"

"If you successfully complete the task and return with an artifact, this achievement will be enough to put you in the queue for competing for the position of substitute hall master. In other words, you might become the next... Yangshen Hall Master! Moreover, as long as you return after completing the task, we will teach you the Supreme Technique of the Foolish Underworld, the ’Purple Qi Technique’! At that time, even the Lin family wouldn’t dare easily touch you."

Purple Qi Technique??

Yangshen Hall Master???

Honestly, Fang Yu was a bit dizzy from being hit with such a large "pie."

This is the position of a hall master!

In the entire Foolish Underworld, there are only five hall masters.

Now Wu Lvzhu’s mind is still unclear, and the situation is uncertain. It’s reasonable to find a new hall master to take a position, isn’t it?

I didn’t expect that by muddling through, I’d suddenly be close to becoming a hall master?

Just recently, I had just become an acting captain, and now I’m about to reach the top.

Brother Qing, did you see? Next time, we’ll truly meet at the peak!

Honestly, Fang Yu felt excited.

His concerns were greatly lessened by this excitement.

After all, the specifics of the task were not yet known. I’ll first see whether or not the task is dangerous.

If it’s not dangerous, then I’ll do it. At most, I’ll take a trip to the wilderness. Besides, this is a mission from the Foolish Underworld, vastly different from ordinary players’. I can find a large group of advanced Martial Artists as teammates, greatly ensuring my safety.

Of course, if it looks extremely dangerous, then... I’ll still abandon the task and either hide in the Foolish Underworld or seek refuge in the demons’ territory. Surely the Lin family can’t kill their way to the Li family’s stronghold? In fact, I could even announce Lin Yiqiu’s death to the public and see if the Lin family dares to trouble me then.

Once he had sorted out his thoughts, Fang Yu nodded.

"In that case, I leave everything to your arrangements, my lord."

On the surface, that’s what he’d say, but how he’d actually act could be a different story.