Chapter 165: Returning to the Camp
As night fell, the conflict between the Qi Family and the Han Family during the day had its specific cause spread among the various factions.
Especially the fact that two Qi Family Phantasmal Tamers had been killed made them speculate whether it was the Han Family’s doing, since everyone knew full well about the deep-seated enmity between the two families.
However, what these factions discussed even more was that the Qi Family’s strength had been severely damaged, and they were considering whether to bite off a piece of benefit from them. After all, the Han Family was currently attracting all of the Qi Family’s hatred.
Meanwhile, inside the Han Family Estate, the Han Family’s Grand Elder Han Yanshuo, the Family Head Han Zhenshu, and the Second Elder Han Zhenfa were discussing a plan to counterattack the Qi Family.
Just as the three were talking, a foot-long Ironthread Snake crawled into the hall.
“Ironthread Snake? Whose clan member’s pet ran out?”
Han Zhenfa was just about to open his mouth to instruct the servants when he saw the Ironthread Snake in front of them open its serpent mouth and, as its body writhed, spit out a slender object.
Before Han Yanshuo could react, the Ironthread Snake suddenly lost all signs of life and died right in front of them.
Han Yanshuo reacted immediately. Yellow light flickered in his palm, and the item spat out by the Ironthread Snake instantly fell into his hand.
It was a slip of paper wrapped in plastic film. Han Yanshuo immediately opened it and took a look.
“Qi Kaiyuan is dead. Please have the Han Family fulfill the cooperation agreement.”
After this line, there was also a specific location.
“Third Uncle, is this the message sent by that person?”
Han Zhenshu, who was standing to the side, immediately guessed that this was a message sent by Zhou Ming.
“Mm.”
“But if we provide the resources he needs now, won’t the Qi Family and the Alliance use this to find evidence of our cooperation with that person?”
Although Han Zhenfa had never seen Zhou Ming in person, he knew very well what had happened last night.
At present, the Qi Family and the Alliance officials were constantly watching the Han Family. Any movement would bring trouble, so Han Zhenfa immediately voiced his thoughts.
“The Qi Family hasn’t been completely dealt with yet. We can’t afford to offend an expert of unknown background. The other party has already fulfilled the requirements of the cooperation, so naturally we must honor the agreement.”
“Let Violent Bear make contact with them first. Provide the early-stage resources first, and wait until this wave of attention passes before slowly making further contact.”
Han Yanshuo understood Han Zhenfa’s concerns, but since Zhou Ming had killed two Qi Family Phantasmal Tamers in succession, they naturally did not dare to violate the agreement between both sides.
As for the Violent Bear mentioned by Han Yanshuo, it was the Violent Bear Hunting Corps secretly established by the Han Family.
Although it was inconspicuous among the many hunting corps in Qinghui Base, providing some ordinary resources was still not a problem.
Afterward, the three core figures of the Han Family began discussing the specific details of their cooperation with Zhou Ming.
As for Zhou Ming, he had already left the Han Family Estate by this time.
Before nightfall and before the base closed, having recovered his strength, he hurried back to Qinghui Base in time.
The conflict between the Qi Family and the Han Family during the day had already spread throughout Qinghui Base. After all, ordinary people were particularly interested in matters concerning the upper echelons.
Knowing that the Han Family was currently under the attention of many factions, he directly went to the pet market and bought an ordinary Ironthread Snake to help him deliver the message.
Having resolved the trouble brought by killing Qi Shouwu and having found a suitable cooperation partner, Zhou Ming could finally focus on his own affairs.
After returning to the hotel he had stayed in the previous night, Zhou Ming immediately began sorting through the spoils of war.
The first item was Qi Kaiyuan’s life-saving necklace.
Name: Greenwood Necklace.
Grade: Rare.
Effect: When activated with spiritual power, it can summon a jadeite barrier to protect the user. (Wood-attribute Phantasmal Tamers can further increase the defensive strength of the jadeite barrier.)
“A defensive-type transcendent equipment?”
Zhou Ming immediately tested its effect.
As spiritual power was injected into the Greenwood Necklace, a barrier resembling a green crystal shield, about two meters tall and roughly one and a half meters wide, appeared before him.
At the same time, Zhou Ming also sensed that if he expended additional spiritual power, he could not only control the shape of the barrier but also further enhance its defensive strength to a certain extent.
“This piece of equipment can only unleash its maximum power in the hands of a wood-attribute Phantasmal Tamer, but it’s still of great help to me.”
Not caring that it had been stripped from a dead man, Zhou Ming directly put it around his own neck, tucking the finger-sized green pendant into his clothes.
As for the Phantasmal Beast crystal core, compared to the one obtained from Qi Shouwu, its quality was much better. After playing with it for a moment, Zhou Ming directly placed it into his Spatial Ring.
After that, Zhou Ming began inspecting Qi Kaiyuan’s Spatial Ring.
Over three million Alliance Coins in cash, more than fifty kilograms of Source Crystals, a pile of Ferocious Beast materials, and over a hundred low-tier potions.
In addition, there were various tomes, including detailed introductions to Ferocious Beasts and spiritual objects, as well as experiences in cultivating Phantasmal Beasts, meditation insights, and all kinds of anecdotes.
There were quite a lot of miscellaneous books, most of them involving Beast Tamers, and they were all quite valuable.
“This is…”
As the words fell, a three-meter-long emerald-green whip appeared in Zhou Ming’s hand. The whip was interwoven with special golden threads.
Name: Green Vine Whip.
Grade: Rare.
Effect: Toughness, wood-element enhancement, vine python entanglement.
“Fortunately, I didn’t give Qi Kaiyuan time to react, otherwise this time it would’ve been troublesome.”
After sensing the information of the Green Vine Whip, the quality of this piece of equipment was clearly superior to the Fire Sparrow, and it even came with an inherent skill.
After a brief consideration, Zhou Ming did not test the power of the Green Vine Whip inside the guest room.
Afterward, Zhou Ming also discovered a third-tier spiritual object, the Evergreen Fruit. It contained extremely rich vitality, could temper the physique, slow aging, and could also be used to refine high-tier potions.
The value of this kind of spiritual object was extremely high. Even the two Earth Core Fire Stones Zhou Ming had obtained from Qi Shouwu were no match for it.
After all, Earth Core Fire Stones could only be used to strengthen Phantasmal Beasts or refine equipment, whereas the Evergreen Fruit had far broader uses. Beast Tamers of any system could make use of it.
Just the effect of slowing aging alone was enough to attract many professional Beast Tamers to risk their lives fighting over it.
These were all the spoils Zhou Ming obtained from assassinating Qi Kaiyuan.
As for meditation methods as well as spells and combat techniques, Zhou Ming did not discover any.
However, this situation was not unexpected. Unless under special circumstances, no one would carry family inheritances on their person.
After all, as long as the inheritance remained and the family had not been completely wiped out, that was the foundation for a comeback.
“All these things combined are worth at least close to one hundred kilograms of Source Crystals. Adding the spoils from Qi Shouwu, among professional Beast Tamers, I can be considered a small tycoon now.”
“It really fits that old saying—horses don’t get fat without night grass, and people don’t get rich without windfall wealth.”
After briefly evaluating the benefits the Qi Family had brought him, Zhou Ming directly began to rest.
Tomorrow, he still needed to return to the camp to check on Lin Hai and Lu Tao’s performance over the past few days.
The next day, Zhou Ming dressed as an ordinary hunter and walked out of Qinghui Base’s city gate wearing a duckbill cap.
After leaving the safe zone, he immediately summoned Silver Scale and hurried toward the camp.
Before long, the small hill where the snow had mostly melted appeared within Zhou Ming’s field of vision.
As he entered the vicinity of the camp entrance, a hidden sentry immediately discovered Zhou Ming’s return, hurriedly revealing himself to salute and welcome him.
“Has anything happened at the camp recently?”
“Reporting to my lord, everything is fine. Under your instructions, Minister Lin and Minister Lu have both been busy with renovating the camp recently.”
“Continue carrying out your task.”
After learning that there had been no major changes at the camp, Zhou Ming gave a brief instruction and then directly headed toward the underground dark river where the camp was located.