Chapter 31: Speedrun! Three-Minute Enthusiasm!

“So that’s how it is.”

Huan Caiyi nodded slightly.

If the martial artists here really were targeting the Demonic Abyss’s demonic cultivators, then it truly wouldn’t be easy for them to establish an outpost.

Her delicate brows had already drawn together as she sank into thought, trying to figure out how to solve this.

She had to admit, this task was a bit troublesome.

They had to stabilize their own people, sort out the tangled web of interests among the nearby martial factions, avoid alarming the local government and righteous sects, and then use distant alliances and near suppression, subtle influence, slowly advancing step by step.

Just thinking about it already gave her a headache.

Sure enough, this task wasn’t simple at all.

No wonder the demonic cultivators in the Demonic Abyss hadn’t wanted to take it.

After listening to Shi Shangpin’s report, Xu Gu could only shake his head.

He had no background at all, a complete nobody, and he’d managed to survive and thrive in the Demonic Abyss.

Yet these people, with the Demonic Abyss at their backs, had actually let themselves get bullied by a bunch of mortal martial gangs.

Truly useless to the core.

No wonder the demonic path had declined to this point.

“This is a serious matter. Should we think long-term on this?”

Shi Shangpin shrank his neck and raised his head to glance at Xu Gu, asking timidly.

Huan Caiyi also gave a small nod.

This really wasn’t something they could rush.

They should investigate first.

She was just about to ask Xu Gu for his opinion when she saw him clutch the Netherworld Demon Staff, summon several evil spirits, and give a direct order:

“Go. Wipe out the most lawless martial factions in the area.”

This was, of course, the Golden Core–grade magic treasure that Elder Xiaobitian had given him.

The evil spirits he summoned were the Golden Core demonic cultivators who had been refined on the spot back then.

The staff had restrictions on it.

It couldn’t unleash its full power, and its effects were constrained to match Xu Gu’s current cultivation, mainly so he wouldn’t rely too much on external tools.

Even so, when powered by Xu Gu, the evil spirits it summoned were still equivalent to mid-stage Foundation Establishment experts.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

The evil spirits swept up gusts of yin wind, rolled up one of the demonic cultivators to act as their guide, and then shot off.

They streaked away at frightening speed, heading straight toward the most lawless martial gangs nearby.

“Uh…”

Everyone was stunned.

No one had expected Xu Gu to be so impulsive.

They wanted to stop him, afraid he’d suffer a crushing defeat and also alert the enemy—

But all of them were cowed by Xu Gu’s aura and didn’t dare speak.

Huan Caiyi, on the other hand, trusted Xu Gu completely.

She even looked relaxed, her expression almost lazy.

With Senior Brother Xu around, no problem was really a problem.

It wasn’t long before the evil spirits returned, rolling in several severed heads whose faces were twisted with unwillingness and terror.

“From here on, I don’t need to teach you what to do, right?”

Xu Gu said calmly.

“Take these heads and go pay a visit to every martial faction in the area.

“Tell them they picked the wrong people to mess with.

“If they don’t want to end up like these heads, they’d better get lost.”

The Demonic Abyss feared many things, but mortal martial artists were not one of them.

“T-this… how is this possible!”

All the demonic cultivators stared dumbly at the heads of the martial gang leaders who had just been opposing them.

They couldn’t help swallowing hard, eyes filled with shock.

Resolved just like that?

“So fast,” Huan Caiyi murmured, a little surprised herself.

She’d thought establishing the outpost would be a major headache.

She hadn’t expected Xu Gu to be so swift and decisive, resolving it almost instantly.

“Let’s go.”

Xu Gu waved his hand and smiled lightly at the still-stunned Huan Caiyi.

“Were you really planning to eat here?”

“Ah?”

Huan Caiyi yelped in surprise.

She stood up reflexively and touched the chair she’d just been sitting on.

The seat wasn’t even warm yet.

And the mission was done?

“This is really enough?”

She hesitated for a moment, voicing her worry through a cautious sound transmission.

“Once we leave, won’t the outpost get retaliated against?

“After all, a few martial factions have just been wiped out out of nowhere.”

The surrounding demonic cultivators looked terrified as well.

“The matter is already resolved,” Xu Gu said, shaking his head.

He patiently explained:

“The nearby martial factions aren’t demonic forces, true, but the things they do are just as vicious and lawless.

“Even if they’re wiped out, they’re not going to run to the righteous sects or the authorities for help.

“These martial factions aren’t unified either.

“Before this, they joined forces to oppose our Demonic Abyss outpost because all they had to do was flap their lips, so they could afford to stand on the same side.

“Now that the largest few factions have been annihilated, the rest won’t risk extermination just to keep resisting us.

“As for those factions, they may lord it over this place, and each of them has some sort of backing behind them, more or less.

“But they’re mortals in the end. Grass at the roadside.

“No matter how strong their connections, there’s a ceiling.

“The forces behind them cannot possibly be tougher than the Demonic Abyss.

“Taking these heads around to the other martial factions is simply telling them that what we have behind us is beyond their imagination.

“They won’t be stupid enough to seek death.

“So you can be completely at ease.

“It’s fully taken care of.”

Xu Gu spelled it out clearly: the matter was settled, and there would be no future trouble.

Huan Caiyi lifted her head to look up at him, her eyes full of admiration.

With every point Xu Gu made, the light in her gaze grew brighter.

The demonic cultivators also had expressions of sudden enlightenment and utter shock.

So Xu Gu’s move just now wasn’t simple brute force?

He’d actually calculated everything?

He’d seen through the situation at a glance, weighed all the pros and cons, and then cut through the Gordian knot in one stroke?

Hiss—

Just what was this young “envoy’s” background?

“We can go now, right?”

Xu Gu smiled at Huan Caiyi.

“O-oh.”

She laughed sheepishly, trotting a few steps to walk closer to him, face full of bright delight.

Going out on missions with Senior Brother Xu really was easy—

Eat, drink, play cards, and somehow everything just got done without needing to use your brain.

“Please wait.”

Just as Xu Gu and Huan Caiyi were about to leave, Shi Shangpin, who had been hesitating for a long time, suddenly gritted his teeth and spoke up when he saw Xu Gu about to walk out.

“Please, Envoy, give me a chance!

“I don’t want to just muddle through life like this.

“I want to accomplish something big.”

Xu Gu stopped, his voice calm.

“What kind of chance?”

“As long as the Envoy can stir up some turmoil in Zhao Gully, I’m confident I can gain complete control of Zhao Gully’s underworld!”

Shi Shangpin’s fighting spirit was blazing, his blood boiling.

What Xu Gu had done today had completely shaken him.

So demonic cultivators could be like that—

With a few words and a laugh, they could steer the entire situation and hold everything in the palm of their hand.

He no longer wanted to rot away doing nothing.

He wanted to set himself on fire and do something earth-shaking.

“Oh.”

Xu Gu nodded slightly, his expression hardly changing at all.

That counted as an answer.

Then he turned and walked away.

“Thank you, Envoy, for granting me this chance!”

Shi Shangpin was overjoyed.

He hadn’t expected to actually receive permission!

The other demonic cultivators were excited as well, already starting to imagine their future lives as grand, legendary overlords of the demonic underworld.

“You just agreed like that?”

Once they were out the door, Huan Caiyi still looked confused.

Underground forces might not be tolerated by the righteous path, and it wasn’t such a big deal if the Demonic Abyss took them over.

With them acting as demonic moles inside, it was even beneficial.

But wasn’t that asking for trouble?

Stirring up turmoil in Zhao Gully was no simple matter.

If they screwed it up, they might get caught by the authorities or silenced by other demonic factions.

The implications were huge and not something people at their current level should casually meddle with.

Xu Gu chuckled.

“Agreeing doesn’t mean we actually have to do anything.

“Relax—

“They’re all three-minute enthusiasm types.

“Once they lie down in bed, they’ll flop over, and by the time they roll onto their other side, they’ll have forgotten all about it.”

“Is… is that really how it is?”

Huan Caiyi scratched her head.

Thinking about it carefully, it really did seem that way.

She was once again impressed by how well Xu Gu grasped human nature.

“Come on, let’s go find our master chefs.

“We’ve already wasted quite a bit of time, so let’s hurry.”

Xu Gu didn’t pay much attention to her amazement.

To him, this was just common sense.

“Ah?”

Huan Caiyi’s eyes went wide, her peach blossom eyes blinking with a complicated expression.

They’d wasted a lot of time?

Hadn’t he just resolved the outpost problem in an instant?

Sure enough, there really was a gap between people.

She’d always thought she was a peerless genius—

Until she met Senior Brother Xu.

(End of this chapter)