Dawnless Sovereign-Chapter 117 (1): Chilled to the Bone

This was quite a problem.

The gifts had to be quite precious. Otherwise, he ran the risk of being outdone by Yin Shengong, and that would be humiliating.

However, if the gift were too precious, it could draw suspicion and increase Fang Che's risk of exposure.

That put Dongfang Sansan in quite a dilemma.

How about I give Ye Meng a premium Marrow Cleansing Pill to help her cleanse the lingering pill impurities in her body, then a premium Origin Nourishment Pill to bolster her foundation? But that's all for Ye Meng, what should I give Fang Che?

Dongfang Sansan then recalled from the previous report that Fang Che had obtained a set of flying daggers.

Should I give him a flying dagger manual? But that's not enough on its own. Ah, I know! I'll tell him how to use that Formless Divine Jade! He probably still doesn't know how to use it. On top of that, I'll give him two Spirit Integration Pills.

He's a fifth-rank Warlord now, and he should be able to take the pill once he reaches the King tier. Ideally, he'll only integrate himself with the Formless Divine Jade once he reaches the Emperor tier. Otherwise, the baleful qi will drive him insane.

Xue Fuxiao had forced him to consume what little remained of that Amethyst Soul, and he was regretting not keeping it instead so that he could give it to Fang Che.

What's the point in giving something like that to me? I've already had more than enough natural treasures throughout my life.

Dongfang Sansan immediately summoned Xue Fuxiao.

He felt bad for sending Xue Fuxiao out on all these trivial errands, but there was simply no other candidate for the job.

However, he had to make up an excuse. Otherwise, Xue Fuxiao would be disgruntled if he knew that he was being sent out as an errand boy.

Xue Fuxiao quickly arrived in Dongfang Sansan's office, looking very excited.

It was not every day that Dongfang Sansan called upon him, so this was a rare occasion.

"Last time, you said Duan Xiyang made up that stuff about the One Strike Spear Demon as a ruse to fool you, while his true objective was actually the Amethyst Soul, but that doesn't seem right to me."

Dongfang Sansan was very experienced when it came to dealing with Xue Fuxiao, and he was able to think of an excuse without any trouble.

"Are you saying he didn't lie to me?" Xue Fuxiao asked.

"I don't think he would lie to you about something like that. Now that they think you're convinced that you've been lied to, they could take advantage of this opportunity to send powerful warriors to the southeast to search for the inheritance without our knowledge.."

"Surely not..." Xue Fuxiao said in a hesitant manner.

"Think about Duan Xiyang's status in the Church of the Self-Righteous. The fact that he personally went to the southeast to search for the inheritance is a clear indication of its importance."

"But Duan Xiyang told me last time that it wasn't meant to be.."

"Where have your brains gone?" Dongfang Sansan sighed in an exasperated manner.

What does that have to do with anything?" Xue Fuxiao protested in an indignant manner.

"Duan Xiyang wasn't lying to you about the inheritance of the One Strike Spear Demon, but he was lying to you about his incompatibility with the inheritance. Let me ask you this: is there anyone in this world who understands the spear better than Duan Xiyang?"

"No," Xue Fuxiao replied.

"So who would be most likely to find this inheritance?"

"Duan Xiyang."

"Precisely! We've given up on searching for the inheritance because we thought he deceived us, so there's no one standing in his way now. Isn't that the perfect way for him to eliminate all potential competition?"

"What should we do then?" Xue Fuxiao asked in an anxious manner.

"What should we do? You're asking me?! Among all of us, who is the one most familiar with Duan Xiyang?"

"Me!"

"If Duan Xiyang really does return to the southeast, who would be the likeliest one to catch him?"

"Me!"

"If Duan Xiyang manages to find the inheritance, who would be best equipped to stop him?"

"Me!"

"So what're you still standing here for? Go to the southeast right away and scour the entire region at least seven or eight times to make sure that Duan Xiyang hasn't returned!"

"You're right, Sansan. This was indeed an oversight on my part."

"Go on now," Dongfang Sansan said with a dismissive wave.

Xue Fuxiao immediately rushed out the window.

"Wait, come back!" Dongfang Sansan yelled.

Xue Fuxiao returned with an agitated expression.

"What else do you want? This is an urgent matter that has to be addressed right away, so time is of the essence!"

"I just recalled something from a report from a few days ago. Fang Che and Ye Meng have gotten married. They just so happen to be in the southeast as well, so while you're there, go and deliver some wedding gifts to them."

"Sure thing, that's not a problem."

"Here are the gifts. Just give them all to Fang Che, then tell him how to use them and things that he has to be careful of, got it?"

"Of course! I don't need you to teach me that!"

Don't be so eager to deliver the wedding gifts that you forget to search for Duan Xiyang!

"I wouldn't do that! Searching for Duan Xiyang is much more important! You make me sound like some incompetent idiot with zero sense of priorities!"

"Alright, go on then."

Xue Fuxiao vanished out the window once again, while Donfang Sansan looked on with an amused smile.

Like taking candy from a baby!

***

The fourth day after his wedding, Fang Che went to work as usual, and Yin Shengong and the three elders also left the Virtue Manor following his departure.

For some reason, the wind was particularly strong on this day. Fang Che's uniform was flapping audibly around him, and he was having to hunch over slightly as he forged ahead against the oncoming wind.

A thick cloud of dust had been thrown up into the air, and a thick branch was snapped off a nearby tree before tumbling down while spinning end over end.

Fang Che caught the branch with slightly furrowed brows. A branch of this size traveling at this speed would be enough to cause damage to the nearby houses. A burst of spirit qi erupted out of his hand, pulverizing it into dust, which quickly scattered in the ferocious wind.

There were even more pieces of debris flying through the air, and Fang Che destroyed whatever he could on the way to work.

Whenever he passed by a house that was struggling to hold itself upright in the face of the howling winds, he would casually toss an ingot of silver inside, and a faint smile would appear on his face at the cries of surprise and elation that sounded inside.

Upon his arrival at the Hall of Protectionists, he was in a very good mood, and he began assigning tasks to the administrators in an uncharacteristically amicable fashion.

"Go and check on the slums. There's definitely going to be some people there affected by the winds. The more impoverished the household, the more vulnerable they are. For the wealthy, a bout of falling snowfall is a nice piece of scenery, but it could be lethal to those in need, so we need to keep an eye out for them."

The administrators went out one after another, and they all felt like Chief Administrator Fang had been much more easygoing over the past few days.

Indeed, even Fang Che himself felt like his personality had become much milder over the past few days, and he hadn't even beaten Cripple Hong during this time, something that Cripple Hong was undoubtedly very grateful for.

After sending everyone out, Fang Che also left the Hall of Protectionists to go on patrol with Tang Zheng.

***

Zuo Guanglie and his usual band of brothers were traveling toward the northern part of the city, and they were traveling with a tailwind. Given how strong the wind was on this day, they were able to move with barely any effort at all.

Even though Fang Che had been very strict and demanding on everyone of late, his style of leadership was truly yielding dividends. At the very least, everyone's cultivation bases had been improving during this period of time, and that instilled them with more confidence and ambition.

Zuo Guanglie was aiming for a promotion. Fang Che had beaten him to the position of chief administrator, and he had every intention of catching up.

"Keep your eyes peeled, everyone," Zuo Guanglie said, his eyes glowing with motivation. "Once I become chief administrator, I'm going to treat you all to a feast, then propose to Chief Ju!"

"Again?! Didn't she already reject you once last year?"

"Yeah, but that's because she's a chief administrator, while I was only a second-rank administrator last year, so you can't blame her for rejecting me! There's no way she would be able to turn me down again once I reach the same position as her!"

"I don't recall her ever saying that she would agree to marry you if you became a chief administrator."

"Shut up!" Zuo Guanglie snapped. "If you have nothing good to say, then keep your mouth shut!"

"Man, Chief Fang can be really strict, but I have to admit that I feel more motivated than I have in years working under him," another administrator said with a smile.

"Chief Fang is a brilliant man, but his personality is really holding him back," Zuo Guanglie sighed. "If he were willing to lower his head to Supervisor Zhao and mend that relationship, he would have an immeasurable future ahead."

"If Chief Fang bows to someone else, then he would no longer be Chief Fang. Honestly, I think it's already very remarkable that he's tolerated so much blatant oppression for this long. Someone else in his place would've quit long ago!

“However, not only has Chief Fang chosen to persevere, he's making more and more contributions, and he's essentially slapping Supervisor Zhao across the face with the weight of his deeds! Chief Fang's reaction during those few days after his promotion to first-rank administrator was really understandable in my opinion. That would've been too much humiliation for anyone to bear!"

Everyone heaved a collective sigh.

For some reason, whenever they got together to chat of late, their conversations would always naturally gravitate toward Fang Che.

"I wonder if Chief Fang and Administrator Zhao are going to be a couple," someone mused.

"Administrator Zhao still hasn't come back yet."

"If you ask me, there's an over 60% chance that they won't work out," Zuo Guanglie said with slightly furrowed brows.

"That still leaves 40%!"

"That 40% is up to Administrator Zhao. It's always been easier for women to pursue men than the other way around. If she goes after Chief Fang with full determination and forces herself upon her, there's a very good chance she'll get what she wants."

Everyone erupted into laughter as they began discussing how Administrator Zhao should go about forcing herself upon Fang Che.

Thanks to the assistance from the strong tailwind, it didn't take them long at all to reach the northern area of the city.

In the distance was the brand new drum tower, which had been reconstructed after being completely demolished.