Chapter 72: Divine Temple Arc (Part 1)

Facing Yun Xueqing’s request, Fu Mi merely shook his head. “Although this brush isn’t a divine artifact, sorry, but due to my own concerns, if you’re unwilling to tell me the reason, I might not be able to hand over the brush with peace of mind.”

Yun Xueqing took Fu Mi’s words to heart and knew this was just the other party wanting to understand the true reason behind his abnormal reaction after facing the Mountains and Rivers Brush.

But Yun Xueqing couldn’t reveal even a hint of it. He simply shook his head. “Then forget it.”

Fu Mi gave a light smile and didn’t press further. “Then let’s hurry and leave this place.”

San Zhi interjected as if reminding them, “We’re just leaving like this?”

Fu Mi smiled faintly. “You haven’t forgotten about that, have you?”

He then took out the Mountains and Rivers Brush, lightly waved it in the air, and wrote a few words. A black hole immediately appeared before them.

“Let’s go.”

Yun Xueqing stepped through the black hole, leaving the Weird Domain for the first time in such a safe manner.

The three of them emerged, but the black hole did not vanish in place.

Fu Mi turned to look at the black hole, his gaze deep.

He suddenly extended his hand toward the mouth of the black hole and said, “Oracle: Binding.”

The moment he finished speaking, the black hole’s entrance disappeared. Fu Mi’s rosy face instantly turned deathly pale, as if all his vitality had been drained.

His entire body went limp, and he collapsed to his knees, propping himself up on the ground in a wretched state.

San Zhi, who had suffered greatly on the road to find the Mountains and Rivers Brush, gloated upon seeing Fu Mi like this. “How pathetic. This Oracle must have drained all your Spirit Energy, huh.”

Fu Mi ignored his cold mockery and sarcasm. He struggled to prop himself up, stood from the ground, and patted the dirt off his hands. “Naturally, it’s not as good as you.”

Yun Xueqing’s attention was entirely on that black hole. “What did you just do?”

A faint smile appeared on Fu Mi’s pale face. “I merely reinforced a seal to prevent Weirds from escaping through the black hole. No need to worry.”

Yun Xueqing didn’t know much about Oracles, but he recalled that Fu Wuxuan had once used “Binding.” It shouldn’t be anything harmful. He even kept an eye out but didn’t press further.

San Zhi stretched lazily. “Now we should head back to Strategy God Heavens, right?”

Yun Xueqing looked at him. “I can’t go with you?”

San Zhi raised an eyebrow. “Young man, no martial virtue. Changing your mind so quickly again.”

Yun Xueqing shook his head. “I will definitely go to Strategy God Heavens later to meet the rumored leader of Strategy God Heavens, but right now, I have something more important to do.”

Fu Mi’s face still bore that harmless smile. “You’ve suddenly changed your mind because I no longer pose a threat to you now, or is it because…”

His gaze shifted downward, landing on the Mountains and Rivers Brush in his hand.

Yun Xueqing also looked at the brush in his hand. “You’re right. Not only do I want to leave, but I also want to take the Mountains and Rivers Brush with me.”

San Zhi’s eyes widened. “How are you taking it without giving anything in return?”

Yun Xueqing shook his head. “I’m just borrowing it for half a month. I’ll return it on time.”

San Zhi scratched the back of his neck in headache. “Fu Mi, you should have some backup plan left, right? You can still fight? I don’t want to fight alone; it’s tiring.”

As the saying goes, the soft fear the hard, the hard fear the reckless, and the reckless fear the desperate. Fighting someone desperate like Yun Xueqing was the most troublesome.

Fu Mi smiled at San Zhi, his gaze gentle. “No backup plans. If you need to borrow the Mountains and Rivers Brush, here you go.”

With that, he handed the brush over.

San Zhi, who had been shocked countless times that day, nearly popped his eyes out. “After all our hard work, you’re just giving it to him so easily?”

Yun Xueqing had thought it would take some effort, but Fu Mi was so cooperative. He bowed to him. “In half a month, I will come to Strategy God Heavens to meet your leader and return the Mountains and Rivers Brush.”

Fu Mi replied in his own style, “I hope you keep your word.”

Seeing Yun Xueqing really leave, San Zhi, who had been bristling a moment ago, immediately relaxed. “What scheme do you have now?”

Fu Mi smiled. “Everything has its own arrangement.”

He pointed to the sky and added, “This is also what the leader hoped for—handing the Mountains and Rivers Brush to Yun Xueqing.”

“The leader had us bring Yun Xueqing along to find the Mountains and Rivers Brush on the surface, but the ultimate goal was to give it to him?”

An intrigued expression appeared on San Zhi’s face, though he said, “I really can’t understand what you riddle-brained people are thinking. Boring. It’s still more fun to go into a Weird Domain and toy with a couple of people.”

Fu Mi pointed to where the black hole had been, his tone leisurely. “You can’t enter now.”

San Zhi sneered, as if looking down on his hypocrisy, but a bloodthirsty smile appeared on his face. “I almost forgot about your little trick. The Weird Domain inside must be a living hell now. You tricked him good.”

He deliberately tried to scare him. “If he finds out, he definitely won’t let you off.”

Fu Mi’s smile deepened. “So what?”

San Zhi fell silent for a moment before replying, “Nothing. After all, we’re people of Strategy God Heavens.”

While Yun Xueqing was being dragged by Strategy God Heavens’ people to forcibly search for the Mountains and Rivers Brush, Fu Wuxuan wasn’t idle.

In fact, he was extremely busy—busy being chased down by Divine Temple people.

The Divine Temple folks were like flies. After getting wind of Fu Wuxuan’s trail at the Degeneration Abstinence Institute, they came straight for him.

But this time, Fu Wuxuan didn’t hide. He allowed the Divine Temple people to take him away.

Leng Yin, upon hearing from his subordinates that they had succeeded, was overjoyed for three days and three nights, fantasizing countless ways to torment Fu Wuxuan.

But on the fourth day, he learned from his subordinates that Fu Wuxuan had escaped again—and stolen an important treasure from the Divine Temple.

Leng Yin knew he’d been played by Fu Wuxuan once more. He specially dispatched most of the Divine Temple’s forces to hunt Fu Wuxuan down overnight.

But Fu Wuxuan was exceptionally skilled at hiding. Several days passed without a trace. Leng Yin flew into a rage and issued several bounties to capture him.

Although the Divine Temple said nothing about Fu Wuxuan stealing the treasure, no walls are airtight. The news eventually leaked out.

Groups of Oracles inevitably gathered to gossip about it.

“Though the Divine Temple has been wanted posters for Dong Jun for a while, this is the first time they’ve gone all out like this. That treasure must be something special.”

“It could be a divine artifact. We haven’t heard of the Divine Temple having one, but they might be hiding it from us. Those Divine Temple guys are sneaky; they wouldn’t share good stuff with outsiders.”

The discussion shifted from schadenfreude to the treasure, and some couldn’t help fantasizing. “If we catch Dong Jun first and get that treasure from him…”

Someone shattered the fantasy. “Get real. With our low-tier abilities, one casual attack from him would wipe us all out.”

“Anything’s possible. Dong Jun’s being chased by the Divine Temple; his Spirit Energy must be depleting fast. Maybe we can pick up the scraps.”

A man in a trench coat nearby suddenly spoke up. “Picking up scraps probably won’t be your turn. Even if Dong Jun stood right in front of you, you might not recognize him.”

The fantasizing crowd fell silent and looked at the speaker.

They realized this man was dressed quite mysteriously: a hat covered the upper half of his face, and the lower half was hidden in his trench coat collar—completely incognito.

Even without seeing his face, he had a tall, slender build, excellent demeanor, and his exposed hands were fair and slender. He was probably a handsome guy.

Whether he actually was, who knew—it was all imagination.

Someone couldn’t help sighing. Even in the chaotic end times, some people dressed so flashy.

The one whose fantasy was burst felt unhappy but couldn’t deny the trench coat man’s words were true.

They really didn’t know what Dong Jun looked like. The Divine Temple wanted to hunt him but wouldn’t release portraits or photos—it was like they were joking around. Some even suspected Leng Yin was playing hard-to-get.

The trench coat man seemed uninterested in talking more with the group. He shoved his hands in his pockets and left the scene.

The people on site were still muttering, “Who was that trench coat guy?”

Fu Wuxuan adjusted his hat as he exited the alley, confirmed no one was paying attention, then swaggered back into the crowds, blending into the flow of people.

Fu Wuxuan had his own plan. Taking the previous High Priest’s item from the Divine Temple was his first step. The second step was coming up soon, but he hesitated.

Fu Wuxuan looked up through the brim of his hat at the foggy sky and murmured to himself, “So many days have passed. Should I go to Strategy God Heavens and bring back that chuunibyou?”

“Though that chuunibyou went to Strategy God Heavens on his own, anyone with a brain knows he did it to avoid dragging me down.”

Fu Wuxuan sighed. He muttered to himself alone, uncaring of the strange looks from those around him.

“After all, I’m not heartless—I’m especially kind-hearted. On the way to handle that matter, I’ll first go rescue him.”

His tone was light and airy, without much conviction, as if he’d casually decided on a whim.

Even if his current situation left him stretched thin, once decided, he would act.

He recalled, “I hope I don’t run into that old guy Shen Le; that would really be trouble… How do I get to Strategy God Heavens again?”