"Come now, don't be so rigid. If I really wanted to kill you, wouldn't you cease to exist? Look at the others, how obedient they are. They are all mine now. Surely you don't want to be bashed to death, brick by brick, right in front of them?"
As he spoke, Zhang Pingfan produced a brick from somewhere and held it brazenly before Elder Jin.
Elder Jin's face turned grim. He had lived for so many years, always holding a high position, and everyone treated him with utmost respect. Now, a young man was threatening to beat him to death with a brick. How could he endure such humiliation?
"Boy, if you have the guts, just kill me with one stroke! What kind of skill is it to torment someone? I, Jin Lao, swear I will never become your servant!"
Zhang Pingfan shook his head. His innate skills couldn't be used casually. If Elder Jin could be signed willingly, that would be ideal.
But what if he was as stubborn as this old man? Then a beating would be in order.
Without any regard for his image, Zhang Pingfan brought the brick down directly onto Elder Jin's face.
He had to admit, hitting people with a brick felt incredibly satisfying. No wonder those hooligans loved using bricks when fighting.
One hit, two hits. The force of the brick wasn't great, but it hurt. It hurt so much that Elder Jin cried out.
If one wanted to kill someone with a brick, one would have to aim for a fatal spot. But Zhang Pingfan was different; he specifically targeted the face.
These repeated blows were truly torturous. Even a bull couldn't withstand this kind of torment.
After more than ten minutes, Elder Jin's face was so battered it was unrecognizable.
His teeth had almost all fallen out.
"I... I surrender! Do you have to torment people like this? Don't you understand respect for elders and love for the young?"
Zhang Pingfan dropped the brick and, with a smile, handed the clan genealogy agreement to Elder Jin.
"Heh heh, didn't I tell you earlier? You insisted on being stubborn with me. If you had signed the contract earlier, you wouldn't have suffered like this. Your face is all messed up now. I was thinking of hitting your backside next time. With your old arms and legs, your backside has the most flesh!"
Elder Jin was utterly humiliated.
He, a mighty peak Nine-Rank War God, was so pathetic today.
He couldn't even die, forced instead to become this young man's servant in disgrace.
When Elder Jin dripped a drop of blood, a beam of golden light shot into the sky.
From this moment on, Elder Jin became Zhang Pingfan's top enforcer, at least openly.
Elder Jin never imagined that his impulsive act would lead to the downfall of his entire Heavenly God Sect.
"Sigh, I wish I hadn't gotten involved in this mess. Maybe I could have lived a more leisurely life!"
Zhang Pingfan patted Elder Jin's shoulder.
"Elder Jin, don't overthink it. Once I complete my mission, the next step is to integrate all of you and make you my enforcers. After all, the sect I founded is also called the Heavenly God Sect. You can blame yourself for not picking a better name and choosing the same one as mine!"
Elder Jin almost spat out blood. What kind of reason was that?
"Master, the Heavenly God Sect in the Divine Realm is yours now!"
"Did I need you to tell me that?"
Zhang Pingfan had just received a system notification.
[Ding! System notification: Congratulations to the Master for successfully merging the Heavenly God Sect. Progress towards the goal of becoming the world's number one force in the mythical game has reached 80%!]
With only 20% remaining, Zhang Pingfan felt there shouldn't be any major problems. As long as he integrated the remaining peak Nine-Rank War Gods and those players, this mission should be completed.
"If there's nothing else, you can all go back first. I still need to wait for the Extraterrestrial Profound Star Stone here. Oh, right, do you happen to have any spare Extraterrestrial Profound Star Stones you could give me?"
Elder Jin said, "Master, you're making things difficult for me. The Extraterrestrial Profound Star Stone is a hard currency in the Divine Realm continent, and collecting it is extremely difficult. Moreover, this item is no longer of use to me. Since I am the leading power in the Divine Realm, I have never paid much attention to the Extraterrestrial Profound Star Stone!"
"Alright, then what do you do to improve your strength at your level?"
Elder Jin replied, "It's hard to say. The strongest known individual has only reached the peak of Transcendent."
"Oh, your level is called Transcendent?"
"Yes, once one reaches the Transcendent level, it becomes very difficult to improve. The strongest known individual is at the peak of Transcendent!"
Zhang Pingfan asked curiously, "And what about you? What is your standing within the Transcendent realm?"
Elder Jin found it strange. With this young man being so powerful, why did he know nothing about cultivation realms?
"Your subordinate is currently a Three-Star Transcendent!"
Another completely new term. At the Transcendent level, they used stars to denote rank.
"Alright, it seems you are quite far from the strongest."
Elder Jin's old face flushed red. Wasn't that stating the obvious?
"Master, if there is nothing else, we will take our leave!"
"Wait, help me check on a person named Hu Hanshan. He came to the Divine Realm continent over ten years ago. I don't know how he is doing now!"
"Understood! Your subordinate will dispatch people to investigate!"
After Elder Jin and the others left, Zhang Pingfan waited for about another hour before finally obtaining that Extraterrestrial Profound Star Stone.
Thus, Zhang Pingfan stayed in the Divine Realm continent for nearly two months. By then, the people under his command had all become peak Nine-Rank War Gods.
This was partly because the Extraterrestrial Profound Star Stone was sometimes unobtainable even with his abilities.
Its appearance locations were too tricky. Zhang Pingfan argued with the system's lady, and the response he got was a few lightning strikes.
However, after nearly two months of searching, Hu Hanshan was finally located.
Because too much time had passed, finding Hu Hanshan was incredibly difficult. Initially, there was no clue at all.
Finally, through Zhang Pingfan's efforts, after he had brought all eight major powers of the Divine Realm continent under his control, he found a faint trace.
At this moment, a skeleton lay before Zhang Pingfan. Elder Jin had brought it out from a secret realm.
"Master, this person was trapped in the secret realm and starved to death!"
Zhang Pingfan sighed.
He had actually anticipated this outcome.
"I see!"
Zhang Pingfan casually put the skeleton back into his storage. When he returned to Pingfan City, he would give this skeleton to Widow Wang, thus fulfilling her wish.
"Master, this is an item found on Hu Hanshan. It seems he found it in the secret realm and held onto it tightly as he died!"
Zhang Pingfan nodded, and upon opening it, he was somewhat surprised.
[Fortune Pill: Can upgrade an ordinary person to a fifth-rank martial artist!]
Zhang Pingfan sighed and shook his head. This was likely the pill Hu Hanshan had been looking for Widow Wang, but sadly, he could no longer bring it to her.