The Demon with Holy Radiance

Once everyone from the Scripture Defector Association had calmed down, they were all buzzing with excitement. Yang An led them to a different location to talk, as it wasn’t safe to linger.

A short while later, they gathered in a dilapidated, abandoned village.

Just then, the Bow Lady finished digesting the soul and memories she had consumed. Yang An smiled at the crowd before him.

"Everyone, we can’t have come all the way to Chongwen State for nothing. Are you interested in pulling a big score?"

All eyes turned to Yang An. They were no fools; they could guess the general identity of the people who had just attacked them.

"He Tou, are you thinking..."

"That’s right. We’ve already killed the new State Lord of Chongwen State. Right now, there are no Zombie Gods at their branch sect here!"

The Bow Lady had already relayed the most critical information to Yang An. Due to a secret mission assigned by the Central Sect, the branch sect originally had more than one Zombie God, not just the State Lord. However, most of them were currently away on that mission.

In other words, the Chongwen State branch sect was at its most vulnerable.

How could they pass up such an opportunity?

That was an entire branch sect. While it couldn’t compare to the Central Sect, it held the resources of an entire State Territory. There was sure to be no shortage of secret manuals, Spiritual Objects, and consumables like Magical Artifacts and Elixirs.

"I thought we were supposed to be avoiding a direct confrontation with the Golden Soul Sect right now?"

White Bird was the first to voice an objection.

"That’s why we have to be quick. We can’t stay for long."

Yang An explained his reasoning. He wasn’t leading them into a confrontation with the Golden Soul Sect. He just wanted to take advantage of the branch sect’s vulnerability to plunder its resources and prepare for the period of hibernation to come.

"From what I know, every Golden Soul Sect branch has a Teleportation Array. If they find out the State Lord is dead, people will quickly arrive through the array to investigate. So, we don’t have much time.

This is risky, but we’ll be safe until the Golden Soul Sect notices what’s happened."

Yang An didn’t make the decision himself, however. He left the choice to the others.

In truth, he wanted to plunder the Golden Soul Sect branch’s resources for their sake. They were too weak and needed to grow stronger quickly. Otherwise, they would just hold him back.

"We can destroy the Teleportation Array first to buy some time, but we absolutely have to be gone in under an hour."

Using the intelligence from the Bow Lady, Yang An had already planned everything out.

"But we don’t know the layout of the Chongwen State branch sect. Just finding where they store their resources will take a lot of time, unless..."

Everyone looked at White Bird. The implication was clear: as a former Saintess of the Golden Soul Sect, would she know where the sect usually kept its cultivation resources?

But to everyone’s disappointment, White Bird shook her head.

In the end, ’Saintess’ was just an empty title that came with status but no real power like a State Lord. She didn’t know such things.

"Stop hesitating! Hesitate any longer and we’ll lose our chance. These aren’t your problems to worry about. Just tell me—are you in or out?"

Seeing them dawdling and wasting time, Yang An hurried them to give a straight answer.

"I know where the Golden Soul Sect’s Teleportation Array is. I also know where the resources are. They’re in the branch sect’s Earth Palace. All you need to do is answer me: are we doing this, or not?"

’You know that, too?’

Everyone stared at Yang An in astonishment. White Bird, especially, felt that her title as the Golden Soul Sect’s Saintess was completely useless compared to him. She didn’t know the first thing about any of this.

"We’ll do it!"

They all answered in unison.

Only then did a satisfied smile appear on Yang An’s face.

’Fortune is found in peril,’ he thought. ’Without a little ambition, how can anything be accomplished?’

This was just a test—a test for these members of the Scripture Defector Association.

’If the Scripture Defector Association was always this timid, achieving their future goal of entering the Central Continent would be incredibly difficult. He had no desire to work with a bunch of dead weight.’

"Good! Let’s move out now!

But I have one condition.

When the time comes, do your best not to involve any innocent civilians."