Elder Jiangbao, sleeves rolled up and ready to unleash a set of Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms on this grandson with no blood relation, paused his opening stance upon hearing the words.

"Yuanshi Tianzun invited you to join his gang?" The old man frowned.

Red Rooster nodded repeatedly.

"He messaged me last night, saying the gang was one person short of opening the gang instance dungeon. He wanted to pull me in to make up the numbers and level up together in the instance. I can leave the gang anytime after if I want."

"I came to you for advice, grandpa, because I wanted to ask for your opinion," Red Rooster explained. He might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he wasn't stupid. Joining a gang was a major, serious decision for The Way of the Extraordinary.

He admired Yuanshi Tianzun and considered him a true friend, but he also represented Elder Jiangbao. Now that Yuanshi Tianzun had offended headquarters, joining the "Undead Return" gang would be seen by some at headquarters as Elder Jiangbao's open support for Yuanshi Tianzun.

Red Rooster was okay with that himself, but he had to consider Elder Jiangbao's position.

Elder Jiangbao sat back down at the table, picked up his bowl, and drank his porridge, saying, "Xiao Xu, what do you think?" A middle-aged man in a suit stood in the hall. He was Elder Jiangbao's secretary, mainly handling branch affairs. His profession was Swordsman.

High-level Fire Mastery leaders liked to find Scouts as secretaries. Firstly, Fire countered Metal, giving them a natural advantage in control. Secondly, Scouts were obedient, disciplined, and perceptive, perfectly complementing the shortcomings of Fire Mastery personalities.

The secretary and the leader were inherently linked, sharing both glory and loss. If the leader needed money, the secretary would find ways to get it. If the leader wanted abalone, the secretary would prepare a lavish feast. If the leader wanted to sleep with a female subordinate, the secretary would diligently pimp them out. If the secretary was a woman, it was even easier, as she'd throw herself into his arms in no time.

Secretary Wang, standing to the side, slowly stepped forward, bowed, and whispered, "Elder, last year, you pointed at Grand Elder Dihong's secretary and scolded him for financial issues. At that time, you also clashed with Elder Jin. At this year's headquarters meeting, you publicly expressed dissatisfaction with headquarters, saying 'a general in the field may disobey his lord's commands,' subtly implying they were interfering too much."

"I wasn't implying, I was stating it clearly," Elder Jiangbao retorted spiritedly.

The secretary forced a smile. "You're not among the top ten elders at headquarters. They're considering replacing you, believing you're disobedient and don't follow organizational discipline. At this crucial moment, I don't advise you to get involved with Yuanshi Tianzun. Anyone can see he's offended headquarters, and the Alliance Leader doesn't interfere."

The secretary paused, adding, "Besides, the Alliance Leader might support him, but he won't support you."

Elder Jiangbao slurped his porridge. "What's he like as a person?"

Secretary Wang replied, "I'll gather his information for you. I'll have it sent over in five minutes."

Elder Jiangbao waved his hand. "No need. Red Rooster, you know the kid well. You tell me."

"That kid is very loyal, oh no, that kid is practically a reincarnation of Lord Guan, loyal to a fault! Traitorous and cunning like Qin Hui won't end well!" Red Rooster puffed out his chest proudly. "Grandpa, am I being cultured and elegant enough?"

Have you gotten Guan Yu and Qin Hui's permission to be put together like that? Secretary Xu shook his head, chuckling.

"Then join," Elder Jiangbao declared.

Secretary Xu froze, his expression stiffening. He took a few steps forward, frowning. "Elder, think twice. This is a sensitive time. Don't create unnecessary trouble."

Elder Jiangbao waved his hand. "Red Rooster, what's the most important thing in the Jianghu?"

"Of course, it's loyalty!" Red Rooster replied in fluent English. "In the Jianghu, first you must be loyal to the boss, second you must be loyal to your brothers, and third you must not touch the boss's woman."

Elder Jiangbao looked at Secretary Xu and said, "Understand?"

Secretary Xu forced a smile. "Not really."

"That's why you're not cut out for the Jianghu, just good enough to be my secretary," Elder Jiangbao said casually, slurping his porridge.

"I've been in the Jianghu since I was 16, and I've survived this long not because I'm a good fighter, but because of loyalty. Red Rooster's father took a knife for me because he was loyal."

Red Rooster slammed the table. "Grandpa raised me because Grandpa is loyal!"

Secretary Xu frowned, tentatively asking, "So... in the Jianghu, Yuanshi Tianzun is loyal and won't mistreat Red Rooster?"

"Loyal brothers can trade lives, which is more important than anything else, right, Grandpa?" Red Rooster said. "We in the Jianghu only value loyalty."

"Don't ask me about this kind of thing next time."

"Okay, Grandpa, I'm going into the instance dungeon today."

"Drink your porridge, drink your porridge. Even if the sky falls, you have to wait until you finish your porridge."

In Fujiawan, Zhang Yuanqing stood under the showerhead, enjoying the powerful torrent of cold water washing over his body, flowing down his well-built muscles, as if washing away the anxiety and unease in his heart.

He tilted his head back, letting the cold water pour over his face, and raised his hand to his forehead, activating his treacherous and cunning White Face.

"I'm definitely in Lingtuo's chess game. He hasn't made a move yet, which means the time isn't right. Back then, the Demon Lord also safely advanced to the Dominator Realm, and even drank Ninth-Grade Dominator."

This was good, indicating that Lingtuo would definitely deal with him during the Saint stage, so he still had time.

But it was also bad, because even at the peak of the Dominator Realm, the Demon Lord still couldn't escape his fate.

"The Great One Headmaster is also in the know. Lingtuo targeted the Demon Lord. How could the strongest Night Wanderer of the era ignore the Demon Lord? Now that Lingtuo is targeting me, there must also be the 'Yuanshi Tianzun' chess piece in the Great One Headmaster's chess game. Lingtuo and the Headmaster are father and son, so the Headmaster is my protective umbrella, or at least someone I can win over. These are good things."

"The Compass of Light shard isn't on me, Master Wuhen has confirmed it. This is also a good thing."

"The mysterious person who invested in the Demon Lord was present when the Demon Lord died. Brother Bing handed over the Demon Lord's relics to me. The mysterious person couldn't possibly not know. So he must be watching me in the dark, and this is also my help. Who exactly is he?"

Various thoughts flashed through his mind as his brain rapidly processed information.

After weighing everything, Zhang Yuanqing concluded that he was temporarily safe amidst the power struggles.

He was like an ant in another dimension, proudly charging around, but above him, a group of high-dimensional humans were coldly observing this weak ant.

Those human fingers might come down sooner or later, when they felt the time was right.

So, he was temporarily safe, but once the time came, it would be a demigod-level terrifying killing intent.

"Damn it, I suddenly miss the days of playing games with my little aunt every night, living as a craftsman in the dead of night. Although going to school every day was boring, at least it was easy," Zhang Yuanqing sighed softly.

He didn't even have time to have a proper relationship with Guan Ya. Activities that couples should have, like shopping, traveling, and going to the movies, were all cut short or reduced as much as possible. He could only properly compensate her at night, saying sweet words. He was practically just a running buddy.

"Ah, what's the deal with this?"

Complaints aside, he had to return to reality. He turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and walked out of the bathroom, opening the gang member list. "Huh, why hasn't that Red Rooster bastard accepted the invitation yet?"

He said to Guan Ya, who was sitting at the table wiping her Qiao Sword, "Don't you know your friend?" Guan Ya said unhappily.

She had changed into a sophisticated and streamlined combat suit, with women's military boots, camouflage military pants, a dark green vest, and a nanometer short jacket with some defensive capabilities.

Tall, sexy, and heroic, paired with delicate Eurasian features and wavy hair, she was extremely beautiful.

"Hey, why are you putting on makeup? You're going to an instance dungeon, not a beauty pageant," Zhang Yuanqing said.

Guan Ya immediately revealed a dangerous, cold smile. "Of course, I'm going to meet your harem."

"Don't be sarcastic. I'm not even a demigod yet. Where would I get a harem?" Zhang Yuanqing accidentally blurted out his true feelings.

Before Guan Ya could raise her eyebrows and get angry, he lifted his girlfriend, who was several years older, onto the table and showered her with kisses, calling her good sister and good wife. Guan Ya was happy in her heart, snorted a few times, and forgave him.

She had always been quite fond of this younger boyfriend.

In the protagonist's team struggle group, Zhao Chenghuang asked, "When are we entering the instance dungeon? That Red Rooster guy doesn't seem to have entered yet."

The group immediately responded with a string of ellipses. Fire Mastery, so unreliable.

Zhang Yuanqing had a deep understanding of this treasure of a Red Rooster. On Yashan Sea, when he was about to die, he was still thinking about his chicken soup.

Growing up with an old man like that, the fact that he didn't stop to make a bowl of seafood fish soup while fighting a boss was already remarkable.

At this moment, the spiritual realm issued a prompt. Red Rooster had joined the gang.

Zhang Yuanqing replied with an "Mm," exited the group chat, opened the gang interface, and selected "Generate Instance."

"Ding!" The spiritual realm is generating. Please wait...

Difficulty Level: S

Main Quest: Investigate the Reason for the Fall of the Mohist School.

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