"Of course I'm satisfied, it's better than I expected!"
Zhang Yao showed a smile and said:
"Fellow Daoist He Ze's techniques are eye-opening to me."
As he spoke, he took out a storage bracelet from his sleeve and pushed it over:
"This is the reward I promised, fellow Taoist, please accept it."
Although this incarnation puppet has no fighting ability, its price is not cheap. It is worth the price of two magic weapons.
However, Zhang Yao's current net worth is considered to be among the very rich among the Jin Dan ancestors. He could pay this amount of spiritual stones without blinking an eye.
"Okay, Taoist friend is indeed a cheerful person."
Ancestor Heze picked up the storage bracelet, and revealed a smile after scanning it with his spiritual thoughts.
After the transaction was completed, Zhang Yao put away the puppet incarnation, chatted with Patriarch Heze for a few more words, and then asked:
"Just now, Fellow Taoist said that apart from door-to-door delivery, there is something else you want to see me for. I don't know what it is specifically?"
"Is such that……"
Ancestor Heze's expression became serious, and his tone was solemn:
"Man Tiansheng, a golden elixir-level body-refining monk from Xu Kingdom, do you know him, fellow Taoist?"
"A natural born?"
Zhang Yao squinted his eyes and thought to himself - finally here!
He had long known that the death of a high-level body-refining cultivator would not pass without incident.
To be able to cultivate to the realm of golden elixir, there must be someone behind Man Tiansheng, but at present, it is not known which force this ancestor Heze represents.
"Yes, I know him."
Zhang Yao looked calm and told the truth:
"As early as a hundred years ago, when he was still hanging around in Dali, I had dealt with him, but the situation at that time was not pleasant."
"Later, I met him again during an exploration operation in Dayu. At that time, he was a foreign aid invited by Dayu's Taoist Sansha, Patriarch Yuanxu and others."
"But it's a pity that he died during that exploration operation."
"Is it……"
Ancestor He Ze pondered for a moment before tentatively asking:
"Fellow Taoist just said that Man Tiansheng died during an exploration operation in Dayu."
"Can fellow Taoist reveal a little more about that exploratory operation?"
"Feel sorry."
Zhang Yao shook his head and firmly refused:
"This matter involves Pindao's secrets. Please forgive me for not letting them out."
"But I can tell you that Man Tiansheng was not killed by me, but by the hands of several demon cultivators."
"Demon cultivator..."
Hearing this, Patriarch He Ze frowned and thought to himself:
"The demon cultivators in the Golden Core Stage...could they be members of the Illuminati?"
"What exactly happened in Dayu that caused the demon cultivator and Man Tiansheng to fight? This Qingxu ancestor is very tight-lipped and I'm afraid he won't reveal it easily..."
The matter of the Jade Palace has become a top secret. Zhang Yao and Taoist Sansha, the only two survivors, cannot reveal it to the outside world.
As for taking tough measures for this matter, it is unrealistic. After all, there are so many adventures in the world that it is not necessary to expend so much effort on the dead.
Zhang Yao looked at the silent Ancestor He Ze and suddenly said:
"By the way, fellow Taoist He Ze."
"Since you are here for Man Tiansheng, let me ask one more question, what is your relationship with him?"
"what relationship?"
Hearing the words, Patriarch Heze pondered for a moment before slowly saying:
"He is considered a colleague and half a superior."
"Actually, I don't know him very well. We've only met him a few times and just nodded. I came here mainly because I was ordered to do so."
"oh?"
Zhang Yao raised his eyebrows and said:
"Appreciate further details."
Ancestor Heze smiled and said calmly:
"I was born in the country of Bingzang. I was originally an ordinary leader of a small sect. By chance, I received the Taoism from my ancestors and refined the golden elixir by stumbling along the way."
"As for Man Tiansheng, he was born in poverty and is like a rootless duckweed. If he hadn't been talented in body training and was valued by experts, he might never have the hope of a golden elixir in his life."
"I didn't have much interaction with him originally, but we were both members of the Ziyao Tiangong and accepted the mission about him."
"Ziyao Tiangong..."
Zhang Yao repeated these words and immediately thought of the two talismans made of Ziyao real gold in his hand.
He did not expect that the powerful force suspected to be behind Man Tiansheng and You Quan would come to light so quickly and even take the initiative to contact him.
"Ziyao Tiangong is extremely mysterious. No one knows its specific origin, but it should come from Tianzhou."
"Their recruitment methods are very casual, and their management of peripheral members is equally loose and has few constraints."
Ancestor Heze introduced:
"The resources of the Heavenly Palace are extremely huge, especially the various precious spiritual gold materials, which are very attractive to body cultivators, weapon cultivators, sword cultivators, or monks like me who practice side sect magical powers."
"Not to mention these conveniences, the Heavenly Palace itself is a huge platform across the Central Plains countries. Many powerful monks communicate with each other, exchange information and spiritual experience, cooperate in various ways, and the power they can leverage is incredible. Call it vast.”
"Many powerful monks who have no need for spiritual gold resources will also find ways to join them, just to take advantage of the various channels of Ziyao Tiangong."
Having said this, he paused for a moment before speaking in a sincere tone:
"Fellow Taoist Qingxu, I won't hide anything from you either."
"I came here today not only to give you the incarnation puppet, but also to take over the internal tasks of Ziyao Tiangong and come to see you."
"You just heard my introduction. Do you have any idea of joining Ziyao Tiangong? This is a rare and good opportunity!"
After hearing what he said, Zhang Yao frowned slightly:
"Ziyao Tiangong... This is a bit too sudden. I would like to ask you a few more questions, fellow Taoist Heze, is it okay?"
Frankly speaking, if Ziyao Tiangong is really an organization with loose management and few restrictions, then he would be willing to join.
After all, it is a bit difficult for him to collect the numerous treasures of heaven and earth by himself, and even the information is difficult to obtain. If he can use the channels of a large force, it will be much easier.
However, when it comes to this kind of superpower that spans the Central Plains, one must be cautious before making decisions to avoid falling into a pit.
"No problem, just ask."
Ancestor He Ze said cheerfully:
"As long as I can say it, I will tell you everything I know and will tell you everything."
"good!"
Zhang Yao nodded slightly and said:
"The first question is, how long has Zi Yao Tiangong existed? How many members does it have?"
"It has probably been thousands of years. Almost all the big forces with long traditions in the Central Plains countries have known about the existence of Ziyao Tiangong."
Ancestor He Ze cautiously replied:
"As for the specific number of members, I don't know."
"But if you want to join Ziyao Heavenly Palace, the most basic requirement is the Golden Core realm. From this point of view, the number of people should not be too many."
Hearing this, Zhang Yao pondered for a while before speaking again:
"Then you just said that Ziyao Tiangong has 'almost' no restrictions on peripheral members. In other words, there are still some restrictions in some places, right?"
"Fellow Taoist Qingxu is very perceptive."
Ancestor Heze smiled and said:
"Joining Ziyao Tiangong, not counting the convenience of various channels on this platform, the biggest benefit Tiangong itself can provide is actually the preferential prices for purchasing various spiritual gold materials."
"This price is much lower than the normal price outside. It can be regarded as a benefit given by the top management of Tiangong to peripheral members."
"Of course this kind of benefit is conditional, that is, you need to obey the orders and perform a mandatory task for the senior officials of Tiangong every hundred years."
As he spoke, he paused and added:
"Of course, this task is only nominally mandatory. If you don't want to perform it, you can choose to pay a huge 'tax' to be exempted from this task."
"Even if you have no money for the time being and cannot afford to pay the tax, you can still choose to discuss it with the senior management and repay it by performing tasks or installments. These are all allowed, and the senior management's attitude is generally very tolerant."
Zhang Yao turned his eyes slightly when he heard this:
"Then if someone refuses to perform the task and refuses to pay the money, there will definitely be punishment measures from the palace, right?"
Although he has not formed a large force himself, his experience is here and he knows the ropes very well.
The senior officials of Ziyao Tiangong are not out to do charity. They will definitely use thunderous means to establish their majesty, but what makes him curious is——
Facing the golden elixir monks scattered all over the Central Plains, what methods do the senior officials of Ziyao Tiangong rely on to make these golden elixir ancestors obey the rules honestly?
"of course."
Patriarch Heze shrugged and said:
"There are a group of 'Ziyao Envoys' under the command of the senior officials of Tiangong. They are very powerful and extremely proficient in tracking methods. They are almost impossible to escape - unless you just give up everything and escape from the Central Plains."
"Normally speaking, no fool would choose to go to this step. After all, the conditions offered by the senior officials of Tiangong are not harsh, on the contrary, they are very generous."
"……I see."
Zhang Yao took a deep breath and said slowly:
"last question."
"Fellow Taoist asked me about Man Tiansheng before. Could it be that he also accepted a mission in the Tiangong?"
"good."
When Patriarch Heze talked about this, his expression suddenly became much more solemn:
"Fellow Taoist Qingxu, to be honest, Man Tiansheng is not an ordinary peripheral member of the Heavenly Palace, but someone who signed the 'Purple Yao Golden Contract'!"
"His life and death are directly related to the interests of the senior officials of Tiangong. Even his body after death must be recovered!"
"And that's why I'm here."
Hearing this, Zhang Yao shook his head directly and said:
"Man Tiansheng's body is not in my hands."
"Actually, when he died in the hands of those demon cultivators, his body was already torn into pieces. Even if it was used to refine the corpse, its value would probably be greatly reduced."
He guessed that the Zi Yao Golden Contract was most likely some kind of mandatory legal contract, which had a strong binding force on those who signed the contract, so they would not be able to live in peace even after death.
But this was Man Tiansheng's own choice. Zhang Yao actually didn't care what the senior officials of Ziyao Tiangong did with his body after his death, but he couldn't bear the blame for it.
"Yeah……"
Hearing this, Patriarch He Ze sighed:
"That would be troublesome."
"His body cannot be recovered, which is equivalent to a loss for the senior officials of Tiangong. This is not easy to explain."
When he said this, he looked at Zhang Yao and asked tentatively:
"Fellow Taoist Qingxu, can you tell me where Man Tiansheng's body is exactly? I can go and recover it and complete the mission."
"Even if his body has been torn into pieces and its value has been greatly damaged, it still belongs to the property of the senior officials of Tiangong..."
(End of chapter)
