The Attack of the Wastrel

Reality showed that success does not come from perfection.

Pan Luming would not have imagined that Gu Lingzhi could escape his grasp even after all his measures. He had no idea that she would have a ‘secret helper’ who could dig holes.

Half an hour later when the guards of the city checked the house that Gu Lingzhi chose, they only saw the unconscious man on the floor. The backyard of the house had a meter wise hold that was barely enough to squeeze a man through it. It reached about fifty meters long and it was strategically dug to an exit that was out of sight of the guards. The moment Pan Luming learned of the escape route, he bit his mouth so hard, a tooth broke. He took in a deep breath of frustration before he yelled, “After him!”

He would not let the spy escape!

Gu Lingzhi definitely could not escape all eyes but she managed to make her escape route. This half an hour delay was enough for her and she shrugged off all her chasers easily.

“Useless! A bunch of useless men!” Once he learned that the guards were unsuccessful in capturing Gu Lingzhi, Pan Luming went into an uproar, breaking everything around him. He shattered vases and ornaments in the palace, leaving the whole room in chaos. Worried that Pan Luming would die out of anger, Pan Yu finally mustered enough courage to say meekly, “Don’t be so angry, Chief Duke, you must not harm yourself because of this.”

“That is right, Chief Duke. You have to think for yourself. For our kingdom, you must not fall. If something were to happen to you, it would only be for the benefit of the Alliance.” An advisor beside Pan Yu chimed in. This was the advisor who had accompanied Pan Yu and Pan Luming when they obtained the Life Whip. She was the third Chief Duke of the North Qiu Kingdom, Pan Yue’er.

After repeated persuasions by Pan Yue’er and Pan Yue, Pan Luming finally calmed himself down and he stared into the distance as he cursed under his breath, “I wanted to catch her and hand her over personally to the Grandmaster. I believe we will have to inform the Grandmaster about this.”

Pan Yu frowned deeply, “Chief Duke, if that is the case, wouldn’t the Grandmaster reward us with less things?”

Compared to handing Gu Lingzhi directly over to the Grandmaster, informing the Grandmaster about her would yield less rewards.

“Idiot!” Pan Luming scolded as he glared at Pan Yu, “Do you know who the Black Thorn is? If we do not inform the Grandmaster about her, we will never be able to find her!”

From the news he gathered about the Black Thorn, she came out of the blue every time she appeared. No one really knew her real identity.

More accurately speaking, no one other than Rong Yuan knew the identity of Gu Lingzhi.

As a result of creating a decoy for the Black Thorn, everyone aside from Pan Yue and Rong Yuan thought that Gu Lingzhi and the Black Thorn were two different people. Pan Luming had no idea as well but he believed that there was a low chance of learning the identity of the Black Thorn from Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan. He could not delay and waste any more time to find the Black Thorn and hence he made up his mind to tell Pan Luo about her.

“With the Sacred Weapon in the hands of the Alliance, we can not delay any further.” Taking in a long sigh, Pan Luming addressed his audience in the hall.

Pan Yue’er and Pan Yue were both surprised by Pan Luming’s decisions and they realized what happened in the Earth Palace instantly. Pan Luming’s anger and fury finally made sense to them and they understood why he disregarded public opinion when he took drastic measures to find the Black Thorn. The Sacred Weapon given to them by the Grandmaster was stolen?

They really needed to seek help from the Grandmaster!

A cold chill passed through both their hearts as they thought of the power of the Life Whip. They had to capture the Black Thorn before she returned to the Alliance!

As they spoke, Gu Lingzhi was jumping for joy as she made her escape through the tunnel that Zi Zi dug for her.

She had succeeded!

Gu Lingzhi had not imagined that her battle against Pan Luming in the Inheritance Space would move so smoothly. The feared Sacred Weapon that the Empire possessed was now in her hands and she waved it around in glee.

Without wasting any time, Gu Lingzhi made her way to the Alliance territory on horseback. Once she was certain the North Qiu army was not following her, she found a secluded place to enter the Inheritance Space.

However, inside the Inheritance Space, Lord Fashen and Rong Huachang wore a hesitant expression. Even though the Sacred Weapon was now in their hands, they could not help feeling doubtful.

If they knew that Rong Yuan and Gu Lingzhi could steal the Sacred Weapon by themselves, why had they gone through the trouble of going on a mission to steal it? They even lost a Demigod in the process!

As she recalled her resolve to self-destruct a few days ago, Rong Huachang felt terrible internally. She felt that she and Lord Fashen were useless in the mission to obtain the Sacred Weapon and only created extra trouble for the couple.

Lord Fashen was feeling distressed when he thought about how Rong Huachang had wanted to self-destruct. As the top Martial Artist in the continent, he could not help being disappointed in himself. How could he be so useless as the leader of the Alliance?

Rong Yuan’s eyes swept past the two men and he knew that they felt disappointed in themselves. He turned in another direction and saw Pan Yue filling himself with spring water.

Twitching his mouth, Rong Yuan said sarcastically, “Can you observe your conduct as a prince of the North Qiu Kingdom?”

Pan Yue stuffed all the storage items he had with him with spring water and he looked like a starving camel. His desperate and greedy actions were unsightly! How was he the top merchant in the Alliance?

As he thought about Pan Yue being a merchant, Rong Yuan gritted his teeth and shivered in disgust.

“What do you know? This is water from a Spiritual Essence Spring!” Pan Yue wiped the remaining spring water off his mouth and grinned at Rong Yuan, “Others would pay heaps for this valuable item. I need to drink more here.”

Full of confidence, Pan Yue downplayed his greedy act.

All of a sudden, bright light flashed in the Inheritance Space and Gu Lingzhi appeared. Rong Yuan’s sight took a moment to adjust before he stepped forward.

“Lingzhi, did everything go smoothly?”

Rong Yuan had been worried sick by letting Gu Lingzhi face Pan Luming herself. Thankfully, unless one had a high cultivation rank, there was no way anyone inside the Inheritance Space could escape without Gu Lingzhi’s consent. An example of this was Pan Wen and Bian Cheng tied up in a corner of the Inheritance Space. Even Rong Yuan himself could not leave the Inheritance Space by his own will.

Rong Yuan’s arms wrapped tightly around Gu Lingzhi when he asked the question out of concern. Gu Lingzhi pushed him aside and reassured him, “Yes, everything is going smoothly.”

She turned and faced Lord Fashen as she handed the Life Whip to him, “Lord Fashen, this is for you.”

Lord Fashen’s eyes widened in surprise. Gu Lingzhi…was giving the Sacred Weapon to him?

This was a Sacred Weapon!

Gu Lingzhi had risked herself to obtain the Sacred Weapon. Was she handing it voluntarily to him now? Even if he was the most powerful Martial Artist among the group then, he would not force Gu Lingzhi to pass him the Life Whip if she did not want to.

However, the expression in Gu Lingzhi’s eyes showed her determination and resolve. There was no hesitation and second thought when she gave Lord Fashen the Life Whip.

Staring at the valuable Life Whip in his arms, Lord Fashen hesitated before he pushed the Sacred Weapon down and rejected Gu Lingzhi, “This…the Sacred Weapon was obtained by you. Since you obtained it, you should keep it.”

Despite his desire, he would not take what rightfully belonged to Gu Lingzhi.

Gu Lingzhi shook her head and continued to gesture for Lord Fashen to take the Life Whip. “Such a good item should be in the hands of someone who can fully realize the potential of it. Leaving it with me is a waste.”

When Gu Lingzhi fled from the North Qiu Kingdom, she tried to use the Life Whip to create a stoneman. However, she realized that the stoneman she created was weak. From her experiments with the Life Whip, she realized that none of the stonemen could last longer than fifteen minutes and a maximum of three Demigod rank stonemen could be summoned at any point in time. At the same time, she realized that the cultivation rank of the stonemen created could not exceed its master. If a Martial Student used the Life Whip, the stoneman he created would at most be of a Martial Student rank.

“Your Highness…” Fashen was moved by Gu Lingzhi and he found himself at a loss for words. After a long while, he sighed deeply, “Since that is the case, I will have to thank you on behalf of the entire Alliance.”

Gu Lingzhi smiled meekly as she handed the Life Whip to Lord Fashen. Not many people could do what she did with that much resolve. Her actions then were life-changing for the entire continent. By handing the Life Whip to Lord Fashen, it was akin to adding three more Demigods on the Alliance side. With how things unfolded, it seemed like ending the war was only a matter of time.

“You don’t have to thank me, Lord Fashen, I am also helping myself by doing this.”