Chapter 277: 277. You’re truly a genius, damn it.

Du Ruxue knew of the True Mother God Sect’s existence, but she remained silent and didn’t assist Qiao Sen, instead adopting a neutral stance and avoiding any help, evidently intending to protect herself.

This choice is quite normal, after all, Du Ruxue only owed Qiao Zhi the emperor a favor, serving as the Chief Tributor for several years should suffice. Was it realistic to expect her to fight to the death for the Qiao family?

The lunatics of the True Mother God Sect aren’t to be trifled with; even a Major Sect like the Xuanji Sect got severely wounded.

This trip yielded little, Fang Zhou merely hoped to locate those cultists from the True Mother God Sect without alerting them, but currently he’s clueless.

Fang Zhou lay on the bed, entered the gourd space, and found Ya Zi and Luo Xuan.

Time has passed significantly in the gourd; Fang Zhou was startled seeing the two.

He almost popped his eyes out, thinking, “What are you doing in the Demon Sect?”

Ya Zi also noticed Fang Zhou’s appearance and immediately slapped Luo Xuan.

Luo Xuan cried out in pain from Ya Zi’s blow and hurried over to Fang Zhou.

Fang Zhou didn’t restrict Ya Zi’s strength, but Luo Xuan was completely powerless, thus unable to resist in Ya Zi’s hands.

Ya Zi handed the leash to Fang Zhou, flattering, “Sir?”

Fang Zhou almost choked; Ya Zi’s words carried too much ambiguity.

Although he was a healthy male, he had no interest in such matters, waving his hand, “Forget it.”

Ya Zi quickly replied, “Rest assured, sir, my skills are renowned within the sect.”

Wow, are you getting proud of it now?

Ya Zi then kicked Luo Xuan, “Hurry up and call him, are you looking for a beating?”

Luo Xuan lost all dignity, obediently approaching Fang Zhou.

Ya Zi kicked her again, “Who told you to speak?”

Luo Xuan’s face was full of grievance!

Fang Zhou was truly amazed and couldn’t help praising Ya Zi by patting his shoulder, “You, you’re a real genius.”

Ya Zi was not just a genius, but a treasure, Fang Zhou had indeed hit the jackpot.

Although Luo Xuan was miserable, she was a heartless cultist, no need for any sympathy toward her.

Fang Zhou asked Ya Zi, “Has she written it?”

Ya Zi promptly pulled out a thick stack of paper, handing it to Fang Zhou.

Fang Zhou received it with both hands to read.

It detailed the cultivation method of the Secret Technique of Substitute Messenger.

Luo Xuan, being one of the experimenters of the True Mother God Sect’s substitute program, naturally studied the Secret Technique of Substitute Messenger.

Before leaving last time, Fang Zhou had instructed Ya Zi to extract the secret technique from her.

After flipping through a few pages, Fang Zhou realized he couldn’t understand it at all. Alas, poor comprehension was a curse; he could only forcefully learn through Wise Time.

Wise Time hadn’t cooled down yet, requiring some more time.

Fang Zhou considered staying inside the gourd space, using the thirty-to-one time ratio to quickly cool Wise Time, thereby achieving rapid learning.

The only drawback of this method was the waste of significant lifespan, so Fang Zhou didn’t want to resort to it unless necessary.

Ya Zi wasn’t aware her lifespan was decreasing at a thirty-to-one rate; if she knew, she’d have gone mad long ago.

Upon turning to the last page of the Secret Technique of Substitute Messenger, Fang Zhou discovered it required an ‘alive flesh body without a soul’.

He crouched down to ask Luo Xuan, “What does requiring an alive flesh body without a soul mean?”

No further interrogation needed as Luo Xuan meekly replied, “It just means a body that’s alive but without a soul.”

The complete Secret Technique of Substitute Messenger would automatically awaken the substitute upon cultivation.

The flawed version didn’t have this feature, forcing the True Mother God Sect to find a solution: using a soulless but still alive flesh body to refine it into a substitute with special techniques.

Luo Xuan’s current substitute was made this way; due to its flawed version, it neither matched the original in strength nor could awaken innate abilities like the original.

Fang Zhou thought once Wise Time cooled, he’d master the Secret Technique of Substitute Messenger, but it turned out to be just software, lacking hardware.

Damn, where am I supposed to find a flesh body that’s alive yet without a soul?

“Do you know the special technique for refining the substitute?”

Fang Zhou asked Luo Xuan, “If you don’t, do you know anyone who does?”

Luo Xuan shook her head, “I don’t know how to refine substitutes; only General Yaksha does. She also assists Di Ao in usurping the Chu Kingdom throne.”

This was the second time Fang Zhou heard the name General Yaksha from Luo Xuan, prompting him to demand a clearer explanation of General Yaksha’s profile.

However, Luo Xuan knew little; General Yaksha, her superior, never revealed her true appearance and always hid under a black veil.

She never gathered her subordinates together, issuing separate orders to each, leaving no chance for interaction among them.

General Yaksha commanded Luo Xuan to probe the Heavenly Sword Sect reinforcements requested by Qiao Sen.

Fang Zhou extracted a crucial bit of information from Luo Xuan: General Yaksha was indeed a cultivator of the Innate Realm.

Fang Zhou felt as if he were battling wild in a game, unexpectedly confronting a mighty dragon.

How on earth does one deal with this? Even an international champion couldn’t handle it.

Fang Zhou intended to inquire further but Luo Xuan knew nothing; she hadn’t even seen General Yaksha in action, but her Innate status was undeniably authentic.

…

After leaving the gourd, Fang Zhou sat on the bed, pondering what steps to take next.

General Yaksha was indeed terrible news, no wonder Du Ruxue wanted neutrality, as there was a lurking tiger in the Capital.

If it were Fang Zhou, he wouldn’t provoke an Innate Realm cultivator without cause.

All previous plans had to be overturned and restructured; Fang Zhou had only considered numbers from the True Mother God Sect, not their deployment of the Innate Realm.

He contemplated for most of the night but couldn’t devise any effective strategies against the Innate Realm, given the tremendous power gap.

However, he did come up with another question.