Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!

Chapter 1288: Chapter 975: Listen to the Story I’m Making Up for You_2

A frail human body, without any traces of cultivation, probably can’t even activate a lifebound weapon.

What a pity!

No wonder he hides and uses a magical treasure to conceal his aura; with such a weak frame, he couldn’t attack anyone. Just a puff of air could cost him half his life.

"How did things come to this? Explain in detail what happened to the more than a hundred subordinates under your charge." Qi Baijun sat high on his throne, speaking gently: "Don’t try to hide anything. As long as you tell the truth, I can pardon your offenses. But if you deceive..."

"Yang Sansi would never dare to hide anything!" Jiang Yuan quickly bowed, pretending to be eager yet slightly fearful, and hesitated: "Could the Protector lend me a moment privately to speak?"

He thought to himself, how could I make up a story on the spot? Let’s not play the storytelling game at our first meeting and just talk privately; a real contact opportunity would settle this matter!

Unexpectedly, Qi Baijun didn’t follow the usual path and waved his hand: "Everyone here is my confidant. There is nothing they cannot hear. Just speak freely."

"Uh, alright then." Jiang Yuan quickly decided to throw Qi Baijun’s disliked Great Protector under the bus, he hesitated: "Actually, the trouble began at Qihan Mountain..."

Just hearing the beginning, Qi Baijun raised an eyebrow, "Rumor has it, is it the Qihan Mountain where the Mist Dragon reincarnated and resides?"

Jiang Yuan thought to himself how could the Mist Dragon advertise so much that even evil cultivators knew.

"Indeed, Qihan Mountain is a mix of various paths. Many of my subordinates make a living there."

"The first deaths were likely Wang Zhushui, Chen Li, and other disciples, do you know what happened?" Qi Baijun glanced at the death list, judging from the time of death, these ten should be the first hit.

He always liked to disrupt opponents’ rhythm, even when "interrogating" a small Incense Master, he used sudden questioning to prevent the opponent from hiding anything.

"Answering Protector: Wang Zhushui, Chen Li, and other disciples were all under Peng Dahai." Jiang Yuan knew everything clearly and responded: "Peng Dahai was introduced by Lady Yu, wanting to earn more merit, led his subordinates to show off and gamble in Qihan Mountain.

If gamblers lost, they collected money. If gamblers won, and sought pleasures with disguised subordinates, they would be taken away to refine their essence. Peng Dahai was cautious, his merit accumulation speed was swift, and given time he would surpass and replace the Deputy Director.

I also thought highly of him; unexpectedly... it was said that on the incident day, he encountered a tall and strong gambler. Using the gambling table, ten subordinates were taken away, and soon after Chen Li and others met their demise."

He feigned hesitation and whispered: "I discovered that suddenly ten subordinates died, and Peng Dahai refused to respond. Upon investigation, the reports were unclear. But the disciples reported that..."

"There are no outsiders here, what are you afraid of? Speak boldly!"

"Yes! The disciples reported that Chen Li and his group’s deaths were suspicious, after all, Qihan Mountain has many arrays and restrictions prohibiting any fighting behavior. If a disagreement occurred halfway, it wouldn’t lead to all deaths.

Additionally, ten subordinates died, but only the gambling leader Peng Dahai survived, more like he gave away his subordinates willingly. You must know, when Peng Dahai set the gambling table, never did a gambler take all the subordinates away.

Yet strangely this time the rules changed, and this time all perished. When I asked Peng Dahai to clarify, he only replied once, saying... it was the Immortal Master’s will, telling me not to interfere.

I didn’t know who the Immortal Master was then and thought he was fooling me. But soon enough, another batch led by Lady Yu oddly died in Qihan Mountain."

The reputation of Qihan Mountain was well known; Qi Baijun knew the rules there. He quietly rubbed his fingers, turning the truth-detecting magical treasure towards Yang Sansi, and asked: "Peng Dahai said the ten subordinates being taken was the Immortal Master’s will?"

This item can only be used for one cup of tea’s time each time; choosing to open it during the narration makes it easier to capture any false information.

After all, a person wanting to lie will have a meticulous reply at the beginning of the conversation. After some chatting or interrupted rhythm, it’s easiest to reveal inconsistencies.

[Detection of lie-detecting magical treasure locked on, aura fluctuation blocked, ensuring no abnormalities will be detected]

Meanwhile, a bold-fonted message popped up in Jiang Yuan’s vision.

He secretly praised that the system was reliable and continued fabricating without panic: "Yes, Peng Dahai said it was the Immortal Master’s will, telling me not to interfere. Then it was Lady Yu and the disciples’ deaths.

She thrived in Qihan Mountain with her glib tongue and gathered many subordinates, Peng Dahai being one of them. Led by Lady Yu, more than thirty disciples successively met their end, leaving only Peng Dahai from Qihan Mountain’s disciples, of course I suspected him!"

No abnormalities found with the magical treasure, indicating Yang Sansi reported truthfully without lying.

Qi Baijun showed no change on the surface, gestured him to continue speaking, but internally wondered who the Immortal Master mentioned by Peng Dahai truly was?

Disciples beside the Protector were collectively referred to as Immortal Master; if someone really sought disciples in the Protector’s name, Peng Dahai would be eager to obey. Otherwise, why would he send his subordinates away?

Peng Dahai’s leading merit was achieved with cooperation from subordinates unless there was a greater benefit, convincing him to abandon the Money Tree subordinates.

The death list showed Peng Dahai and the Deputy Director Qian Lang died not long apart.

Qi Baijun observed the young human cultivator coldly, who narrated the events clearly and logically, the reasoning aligned with the current clues.

Overall, Yang Sansi was among the few of the motley crew with courage and wit, being a small Incense Master seemed a bit underutilized.

"Do you think their deaths were related to merit competition?"

Jiang Yuan was deeply involved in the role, nodding: "I can’t think of any other conflict, the Deputy Director Qian Lang’s merit accumulation was too slow, Peng Dahai was catching up, surely making Qian Lang displeased.

It’s my fault too, at the time I only thought to quickly investigate Peng Dahai’s situation. Killing among the same sect was strictly forbidden, I thought anything else, but as the Deputy Director, Qian Lang surely had moderation, even if they didn’t agree, nothing should have happened. Who would’ve thought... he never returned, only then I found out they both died."

"Following that, over a hundred subordinates perished in a few hours, you nearly lost your life too. What happened?"

"This is a strange case." Jiang Yuan thought, let me make up a story for you.

Ugly Slave had explained that the Merit Token was a magical treasure crafted by artefact refiners, the higher the level, the more permissions it had.

At his level, he could freely check disciples’ situations and send encrypted messages others couldn’t detect. Since Ugly Slave said he had nearly equal authority to the Protector, the newly appointed Great Protector could do the same!

So don’t blame me if I throw this black pot over, Qi Baijun hated the nepotistic Great Protector the most.

"Shortly after Qian Lang and Peng Dahai’s fall, my Merit Token received an order." He showed an innocent face: "The content was to gather all subordinates together to meet the Protector heading for the Northern Territory, specifying the time and place.

I knew with the Merit Token, only higher levels could issue orders to lower levels.

At that time, I thought the loss of subordinates alarmed the Protector, he was coming to inspect the disciples for harming their own kind. So I believed it, handing the task to the newly promoted Deputy Director Feng Xunan."

Jiang Yuan deliberately paused, then whispered: "After conveying the order, I found the previously received order disappeared!

This incident is bizarre, unseen before, but regarding the Protector, I dared not mention it. When the gathering arrived, I kept a secret watch, then a very tall, heavily wrapped compatriot arrived.

I saw his aura light and just wanted to inquire, when suddenly something happened with whether it was a divine artifact or a magical treasure, suddenly the gathering place turned pitch black, and spiritual power was shackled!

Thereafter, I’m not sure what exactly happened, it seemed like blood, spiritual power, and life were torn away from my body. I struggled to escape, in the chaos using a teleportation treasure, exerting all my efforts to get away.

It was nighttime, I escaped to a nearby human settlement, discovering my body couldn’t go on. Luckily my divine soul could emerge, fortune smiled upon me as I found a young human with a spirit root but unaware of his cultivation capability, and possessed his body."

Jiang Yuan extended his arms and displayed helplessly: "The new body is decent; unfortunately, unaware of the spirit root he possessed. My divine soul suffered damage, hid for a period, and still hasn’t officially cultivated."