Dawnless Sovereign-Chapter 128 (2): Gates of Hell

The breakthrough that Dong Changfeng had just made was fantastic news for the Guardians, and everyone was extremely excited, not least Dong Changfeng himself.

Before long, this piece of good news had spread across the entire White Cloud Prefecture, and within the hour, all high-ranking warriors of the entire prefecture had been informed.

As a result, more and more people flocked to Dong Changfeng to offer their congratulations, and in the end, he decided to book out an entirety of the largest restaurant in the prefectural city to accommodate all guests at or above the Emperor tier.

All of the warriors across the entire White Cloud Prefecture jumped at the opportunity.

So what if I'm not at the Emperor tier? I can at least go there and take a look, can't I? I'll just bring my own wine and stand outside the restaurant to take a glance at Senior Dong Changfeng from afar! Even if I don't get to catch a glimpse of Senior Dong, who's going to stop me from extending a bow toward the restaurant as a gesture of respect and admiration?

In the blink of an eye, the restaurant in question was completely packed to the rafters, and it was threatening to collapse under everyone's collective weight before Dong Changfeng had even arrived!

***

As Fang Che slowly regained consciousness, he discovered himself laying inside the cave.

Jun Lin was already nowhere to be seen, as was the case for his spirit sense domain, and everything that had taken place here earlier felt like a dream.

However, the thirty-six jade slips in his hands and the new set of spear techniques in his mind all served as evidence that it had not been a dream.

Fang Che heaved a forlorn sigh as he realized that from this day forth, Jun Lin was well and truly gone from this world.

He rose to his feet, then began to make his way back toward the entrance of the cave, but he stopped in his tracks as he passed by the spot where Zuo Guanglie and his band of brothers had met their demise.

Looking at the dark red bloodstains on the ground, his heart spasmed in agony as he extended a deep bow.

After observing a moment of silence, he continued on his way, cutting a lonesome figure in the dim cave.

***

After emerging from the cave, Fang Che turned back to discover that the spear intent emanating from within was gone.

The second thing that he noticed was that it was already morning.

He had been sucked into the cave in the early afternoon of the previous day, which meant that he had been in there for close to an entire day, but he had been completely oblivious to it all.

As a safety precaution, he quickly darted his way into the nearby forest, and after some observation, he discovered that the area was strangely quiet.

Had no one detected the disappearance of the spear intent? Surely someone had to have noticed, especially after all this time!

Fang Che quickly made his way back to the city, and on the way there, he noticed many powerful warriors hurriedly flying into the city from overhead, with all of them seemingly traveling toward the same destination.

The closer he drew to the city, the more of these warriors that he saw, and the majority of them were at the Emperor and Sovereign tiers.

What's going on?

Upon entering the prefectural city, Fang Che quickly learned what was happening just from overhearing the conversations between the passersby on the streets.

According to them, Dong Changfeng had made a breakthrough thanks to the lingering spear intent in the cave left behind by the One Strike Spear Demon, and he had invited everyone at or above the Emperor tier for a celebratory banquet!

At the moment, many powerful warriors were converging from the nearby prefectures.

Fang Che was very much taken aback to hear this, and at the same time, he felt very touched by Dong Changfeng's selfless gesture.

By making it appear as if he were the one who had claimed the One Strike Spear Demon's inheritance, he was shielding Fang Che from all attention and scrutiny.

***

Back at the Virtue Manor, Ye Meng was feeling very anxious and concerned over Fang Che's failure to return home the previous night, and it was with immense relief that she welcomed his return.

"You must be exhausted. Go and take a rest. You have to go to the Hall of Protectionists soon."

"It's fine, I'll just go now," Fang Che replied, having already offloaded the spirit sense jade slips in his study.

Ye Meng fetched a bowl of warm congee from the kitchen for him, and after quickly devouring the congee, he wiped his mouth before turning to depart, only to suddenly stop in his tracks as he turned back around.

"Why didn't you ask me where I went last night? Did you not find it strange that I was gone the entire night?"

"I know not to ask too many questions," Ye Meng replied with a gentle smile as she affectionately smoothed down his collar. "Just go do whatever it is that you have to do and leave it to me to hold down the fort."

A surge of warmth welled up in Fang Che's heart as he gave her a gentle embrace and a peck on the cheek.

"Alright, I'm leaving now."

"Go on."

As Fang Che made his way to the entrance of the Virtue Manor, he found himself a little reluctant to leave.

He couldn't help but envision how serene and comfortable his life would be if the Church of the Self-Righteous didn't exist, and he finally understood why his colleagues at the Hall of Protectionists were so complacent and, at times, downright lazy.

Unfortunately, he couldn't afford to be like them.

***

As he arrived in the administration hall, he discovered that everyone was chatting about something in an animated fashion, seemingly very excited.

"What are all of you doing here? I don't see much work being done!" he scolded in a cold voice.

"Chief Fang, Master Dong Changfeng just made a breakthrough, and he's invited everyone to a celebratory banquet at the Good Fortune Restaurant!"

"So? What does that have to do with any of you? Does his invitation extend to people with cultivation bases as lowly as yours'?"

"Even if his invitation doesn't apply to us, the fact that Master Dong has made a breakthrough should be a cause worthy of celebration for everyone! The more powerful the Guardians are, the safer we'll be. Isn't that something to be happy about?"

"So you're just going to live under the protection of others your entire life?" Fang Che scoffed in a cold voice. "You're just going to let Master Dong and the others fight on the front lines, while you benefit from their protection? Have you even considered taking some of the burden off their shoulders? Have you considered that if you work just a little harder, you could be of help to them someday?

“You're not ordinary people, you're Protectionists! Do you feel good about yourselves, cowering under the protection of others all the time? You are all meant to be warriors fighting on the front lines, not people benefitting from the efforts of others on the front lines! When your allies grow stronger, you can celebrate and praise them, but at the same time, you have to think about how you can also grow stronger so as to not weigh them down!

“Think about how difficult it must be for a warrior of Master Dong's caliber to make a breakthrough. If even he can do it, why can't you? In fact, you should be ashamed that even Master Dong has made a breakthrough, while you're still stuck at the same cultivation base!"

Everyone hung their heads in shame at Fang Che's scathing words.

"Go out on patrol! I'm conducting examinations tomorrow! Hurry up!" Fang Che yelled as he slammed the table. "While you're out there, make sure to keep an eye on the Good Fortune Restaurant. We have to ensure its safety at all costs!"

"Thank you, Chief Fang!" everyone cheered in unison, then rushed out of the administration hall.

In the wake of Dong Changfeng's breakthrough, no demonic church members would dare to rear their ugly heads in the city, so even though the city was currently in a rather bustling and chaotic state, it was actually much safer out there than normal.

Even though Fang Che had been very harsh with his words, he definitely wasn't going to make his subordinates pass up this golden opportunity.

Dong Changfeng would be sure to offer some kind of benefits to everyone gathered within and around the Good Fortune Restaurant, and that would be a massive opportunity.

As for the so-called objective of protecting the Good Fortune Restaurant, the restaurant hardly needed any protection at this time.

However, the administrators could use this excuse to claim the best spots outside the restaurant, thereby reaping the greatest benefits, and that was why everyone was so grateful to Fang Che.

***

"Tang Zheng! What's your cultivation base right now?"

"I've finally reached the Lord tier, Chief Fang! I feel like my entire body is filled to the brim with power!"

"Well done. Go and fetch me a whip, I'm going to use it on some people tomorrow."

"Er..."

"Hurry up! After that, go to the Good Fortune Restaurant to protect Master Dong!"

Protect Master Dong?

Tang Zheng almost laughed out loud at the absurd notion.