By noon, Du Li teleported to the small courtyard to get beaten up.

After explaining briefly—because a Director from the Inspection Department betrayed them, leading to the entire department being ordered by the Alliance Leader to lay off staff, hence the previous Director’s badge being void—Jiang Yuan was dumbfounded.

He looked at them in shock, thinking to himself, I haven’t even received my paycheck yet!

So, they simply collapsed the department just like that, right?

Actually, this had happened before, being packaged and sold with the department, only for the new owner to not last long and close down as well.

But collapsing the Inspection Department didn’t increase the exchange rate; it seems a mere department doesn’t count as achievements.

"When I got the news, like Mr. Jiang, I was shocked and baffled; I still don’t understand why he chose to betray us." Du Li sighed heavily, "The alliance is in chaos now, I’ve taken a beating, and I must quickly return to handle the chores. Then I’ll find a leisure job and get you another badge. Such an incident really embarrasses the alliance."

He Miancun waved his hand and said, "It’s okay, I won’t laugh. Betrayal is not rare anywhere; human hearts are separated by skin, so who can truly understand another’s intentions?

Perhaps you believe you’re calculating thoroughly on their behalf, but they think you’re stingy and harsh. Fortunately, no serious consequences arose; otherwise, the Wilderness World would have faced inevitable turmoil."

Jiang Yuan also quickly expressed, "Since that’s the case, we can talk about it later."

Anyway, the system didn’t demand immediate entry into the Demon Realm Alliance; the rewards were taken, and by bringing down a department, whether entering again truly collapses the alliance remains uncertain if it’s good or bad.

However, Du Li seriously promised that he would properly handle the chaos and give him another badge.

After taking the beating, Du Li quickly bid farewell and hurried to Wanmang Mountain, needing to oversee the repairs personally to prevent further complications;

He Miancun then teleported to East Lake Port.

Lately, Leng Yutang has been stationed there, attempting to design and refine various Magical Artifacts for common people to use, to make their lives more convenient.

The meticulous Hu Zhile believed that having a High Level Cultivator accompany him would be safer, and since others were busy, He Miancun figured he’d hang around after each beating to keep watch.

Leng Yutang, worthy of being deemed a Genius Refiner, has produced unexpectedly good results so far. Inspired by the small courtyard’s sprinkler, he has already crafted an all-in-one water storage and sprinkler Magical Artifact, solving issues of field water accumulation after rain and irrigation during drought.

Now, he is refining new lighting artifacts, and with the sprinkler as a foundation, the residents of East Lake Port highly admire him, even more fervently thankful for the Little Immortal dispatched to bless East Lake Port.

Therefore, Jiang Yuan’s Faith Values are skyrocketing daily.

Furthermore, as Hou Ze’s firestone business on Trapped Snake Island expands, yielding increasing returns, the tens of thousands of Angry Fire Bear Race in Sand Hill City are progressively valuing the "Fire God" worship.

After accumulating for over half a month, the once-depleted Faith Values have become a long string of numbers again, which can be converted to six or seven pieces of land.

After learning the full Space Technique from Jiu Mu, everything was ready except for the east wind.

So, Jiang Yuan called Ling Di to team up and try to swiftly collect ten pieces through the World Tree branch instance, to see exactly what kind of "world" might be formed!

"Woof Woof! Master, what is that thing up there? It looks like a ship but is way too narrow." Old Dog was thrilled to contribute. Upon entering the World Tree branch instance, he looked up at the large, dark shadow and wagged his tail while speculating.

Jiang Yuan thought it might be war debris but wasn’t sure, so he chuckled and said, "As we fight our way layer by layer, we’ll see what it truly is, but it’s bound to be formidable."

Considering that the thin streams of filth floating down from above were already quite powerful, let alone a large-scale source of pollution, it was unknown how many levels Ice Flame needed to reach to purify it.

Fortunately, it’s still far away; fighting through each layer needs plenty of time and Faith Values, ensuring it won’t be reached too quickly, allowing time for Ice Flame to keep growing.

The first four layers have been purified, shielded by faintly glowing protective barriers, resembling small mushrooms.

As they climbed the stairs, before reaching the Fifth Layer, black spider silk-like threads fell, gleaming with light spots, tumbling onto blocks covered in black fog, stirring up a surge of black mist.

"Perfect timing, during the break from falling, let’s exert ourselves and eliminate more of the strange!" Ling Di leapt nimbly over the last few steps and dived into the black mist, then retreated with her face scrunched up and said, "Master, this time it’s incredibly disgusting!"

Jiang Yuan peeked inside and it was indeed disgusting yet familiar—aren’t these zombies?

The fifth piece of land was a vast desert, where dry winds carried hot dust and the nauseating stench of rotting flesh, forcing the scent-sensitive Ling Di to temporarily block her sense of smell. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Zombies in ragged clothing had skin of bluish-brown, eyes gray-white, with some parts showing rotten flesh exposing bones, their shabby clothes stained with old blood.

They wandered slowly in groups of three or five across the desert, resembling scenes straight out of a movie.

"Ling Di, be careful not to get their blood on you; I’m worried this thing is contagious." With the movie’s premise deeply ingrained, Jiang Yuan whispered this warning.

As Cultivators fighting movie-like zombies, they surely can’t retaliate and are bound to get beaten. But these zombies with similar appearances are bizarrely corrupted, possibly far more potent than movie setups, being cautious would be wise.