Chapter 294
Because the road was rough and the RV was about to take another detour, Tang Yu’an decided to fly ahead with Zhou Qi to meet up with Old Mo and Gan Lin directly.
He hadn’t expected, however, that they would arrive just in time to witness an assassination attempt.
Seeing that the ability-users were about to go on a killing spree, Tang Yu’an quickly messaged Old Mo. After gaining ownership of the territory, he immediately opened a new shop—
Peace Grocery Store, Branch No. 21, is officially established!
As a result, the six ability-users from Flame Dragon Fortress were blocked out by the “Unwelcome Guests Repelled” aura, and with the Shadow Umbrella lifted, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi were able to save Old Mo and the believers just in time.
By the time the light in Tang Yu’an’s hand faded, the entire altar plaza was filled with kneeling followers.
All those who had been wounded in battle were completely healed.
They looked up at the cloaked figure floating in mid-air, eyes filled with awe and fervor.
A god! This was truly a god!
The priest and the holy son hadn’t deceived them—the God of Commerce did exist! And He had sent an envoy to save them!
“God of Commerce!”
“God of Commerce!”
“God of Commerce!”
What started as a few voices quickly grew into a thunderous chorus, shaking the heavens.
Floating in mid-air, Tang Yu’an listened to the surging wave of chants and looked down at the believers prostrating themselves before him. He couldn’t help but feel a rush of emotion.
He raised his hand and made a simple downward gesture. Instantly, the chants ceased.
All eyes were on him, filled with reverence and eagerness.
It was a strange feeling.
But perhaps because he had mentally prepared himself long ago, Tang Yu’an didn’t lose composure when the moment came.
The altar fell silent. Everyone was waiting for him to speak.
A calm, clear, and gentle young voice rang out.
“I am the envoy of the God of Commerce. You may call me—Silverlight.”
“Lord Silverlight!”
“Lord Silverlight!”
The cheers rose again. Tang Yu’an raised his hand once more, and the waves of sound quieted once more.
“The God of Commerce has granted His blessing. He will protect you. Anyone who harbors ill will toward the God of Commerce or His priests will no longer be able to enter this land.”
Though his voice was warm and gentle, it carried an undeniable authority.
“From this day forth, this branch will be officially renamed—Flame Dragon Settlement.”
His voice softened again:
“I hope you will treat this place as your true home, and build it into a prosperous and strong haven with your own hands.”
“If you pass the trial set by the God of Commerce, I will activate a Protective Barrier over Flame Dragon Haven.”
“Within the barrier, you will be shielded from natural disasters and mutant creature attacks.
Everyone will be able to live peacefully and safely, to rest, recover, and thrive.”
At the same time, both Old Mo and Gan Lin received system notifications.
Old Mo’s message informed him he had been transferred to Peace Grocery Store No. 21, while Gan Lin received a recruitment offer.
After Gan Lin accepted, they both got a mission:
[Congratulations! You’ve triggered the elite mission: “Boost Store Popularity”]
[Mission Objective: Raise the popularity of Peace Grocery Store No. 21 to 10,000.]
[Rewards: Unlock Protective Barrier and other functions.
Tip: Attract new customers and generate profitable transactions to increase store popularity.]
Given the threat from Flame Dragon Fortress, Tang Yu’an didn’t bother assigning gradual missions to Old Mo and his people.
Once the store’s popularity hit 10,000, he would immediately upgrade Store No. 21 to Level 1, unlocking functions like the Protective Barrier, Night Lodging List, and more.
There were many successful experiences from Desolate City Haven that they could share later on.
“Gan Lin, go complete the mission.”
Gan Lin quickly responded and stood to face the followers.
After a few months of playing “Holy Son,” his performance and leadership skills had improved significantly. Facing this large crowd, he showed no fear.
“We must complete the trial given by the God as soon as possible, so—Everyone, listen up! Return to your posts immediately. Assign more manpower to mining flame stones. I want them brought back by nightfall!”
Though they didn’t know the exact nature of the trial, no one dared defy Gan Lin’s command.
After saluting, they dispersed.
Of course, before leaving, many still took one last glance at the two divine envoys—whispering among themselves only after they were some distance away.
“What happened to those Flame Dragon people?”
“Did the envoy send them straight to hell?”
“He’s amazing! I got stabbed several times by that metal-user, and now I don’t even have a scratch!”
“Do you think that Protective Barrier Lord Silverlight mentioned is real?”
“Shut up and get to work! His Holiness the Holy Son is glaring again…”
As the followers were led away by Gan Lin, Tang Yu’an slowly descended from the air and walked once again to Old Mo.
Old Mo was a lean, weathered old man, his skin darkened by years of sun exposure, his face deeply lined.
He stood upright and solemn, his demeanor calm and composed—only when Tang Yu’an landed did a glimmer of emotion flash in his eyes.
Overall, he was just about what Tang Yu’an had imagined.
Smiling, still maintaining his Silverlight persona, Tang Yu’an said softly:
“A pleasure to meet you, my examiner.”
Old Mo’s eyes shimmered faintly in response.
So… the mysterious merchant who had given him the mission was Silverlight all along?
And the one who had been communicating with Gan Lin in his dreams—was also him?
With this thought, he couldn’t help but bow and prepare to greet him.
However, halfway through the gesture, a hand, covered with pure white velvet gloves, stopped him.
“No need for such formalities.”
The young man’s gentle voice sounded again. “Once the Protective Barrier is activated, I will fulfill my previous promise and grant you an oasis.”
“Have you decided on the location for the oasis?”
Old Mo couldn’t help but grow excited. Although he had doubted it before, after seeing the divine figure in person, he felt a sense that—what Silverlight had said might indeed be true, and he really had the ability to make it happen!
“It’s been decided, it’s been decided!”
Tang Yu’an nodded, not continuing the topic for now. Instead, he looked towards Flame Dragon Fortress.
“What do you plan to do with those people from Flame Dragon Fortress?”
Old Mo froze for a moment, then respectfully replied, “I’m not sure where they are now?”
“They’re outside the territory.”
Tang Yu’an looked at the map, where the six glowing dots representing the ability-users of Flame Dragon Fortress still lingered just outside the edge of the Protective Barrier.
However, only four of the dots were green, and two had already turned red.
He couldn’t help but show a strange expression.
This situation felt too familiar to him; he had encountered it twice before, so he could immediately tell what had happened.
Those high-level ability-users were prone to uncontrollable backlash, and his unexpected interruption of their abilities and sending them away had undoubtedly acted as a trigger…
Those two red dots were probably the high-level ability-users who had been mutated into creatures, right?
While asking Old Mo, he also relayed this information to Zhou Qi.
After hearing Silverlight’s question, Old Mo pondered for a moment before answering, “I think… if possible, we should just let them go.”
Tang Yu’an was a little surprised by his response.
“They tried to kill you.”
And they had already attacked—if they hadn’t arrived in time, Old Mo would probably have perished here.
“We just have different stances, there’s no personal grudge,” Old Mo said. “Flame Dragon Fortress doesn’t understand the God of Commerce Church, that’s why they acted this way.”
Of course, Old Mo wasn’t saying this out of compassion, but rather because…
“Flame Dragon Fortress has a population of a million; it’s an enormous market, so… it’s better to resolve conflicts than to create them.”
When the first conflict occurred, the God of Commerce Church had also wounded many soldiers from Flame Dragon Fortress. Since no one had died this time, it could be considered settled.
“Not bad, you have foresight.”
Tang Yu’an nodded and said, “Go help Gan Lin complete the mission, we’ll take care of those people.”
“Yes!”
Old Mo respectfully acknowledged and then walked down the high platform. Now that he had the protection of the god, he could finally stand tall!
Watching him leave, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi also concealed themselves under the Shadow Umbrella.
“Brother Qi, maybe you should stay back?” Tang Yu’an was really worried he might get into trouble again.
Zhou Qi, however, stared in the direction of the ability-users and thought for a moment before replying, “I want to give it a try.”
He believed he could control the situation.
After all, he had mastered four types of rules, and the only thing missing from the Five Elements was Metal. If he could absorb a Metal-type spiritual insect, perhaps he would be complete?
Tang Yu’an sighed. “Alright then.”
It seemed like they had been through so much already; this time probably wouldn’t be any different.
“The two of them are running in! Let’s go!” Tang Yu’an quickly said as he noticed the changes on the map.
Due to the insufficient level and shop popularity, the Night Lodging List couldn’t be activated yet, and the Protective Barrier was still unavailable. Therefore, only the unwelcome people couldn’t enter, while dangerous creatures weren’t obstructed.
When Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi arrived, they saw two giant scorpions attacking the guards of the God of Commerce Church.
Telekinetic Placement, Immobilizing Marble!
Telekinetic Placement, Sadness Marble!
The two marbles were fired almost simultaneously, and the two giant scorpions were immediately restrained.
Although they were both scorpions, their attributes were different.
One was Fire-type, and the other was… Metal-type!
Tang Yu’an nervously looked at Zhou Qi, who wore a mask, making it impossible to see his expression. This made him uneasy.
However, at this moment, Zhou Qi reached out and patted his shoulder.
“I’m fine.”
“You weren’t controlled?” Tang Yu’an asked, somewhat surprised.
In fact, under the mask, Zhou Qi’s eyes had turned red, but he had managed to maintain his rationality.
Spiritual insects were products of incomplete rules, and rules… were a form of power.
After years of cultivation, he had gradually dismantled the original spiritual insect that entered his body. While he couldn’t fully control it, he was no longer easily manipulated.
Zhou Qi flew towards the two giant scorpions, first extracting the spiritual insect from the Fire Scorpion and sealing it in his palm.
Then, he placed his hand on the other scorpion.
Its body was covered with a thick layer of mutated metal, resembling a true steel beast. However, in Zhou Qi’s hands, it showed no resistance.
Soon, a golden insect was pulled out.
Tang Yu’an nervously watched Zhou Qi, who then absorbed the golden insect into his palm and looked at him: “Send these two back.”
Hearing him speak normally, Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
He lifted the two unconscious ability-users, waved goodbye to the kneeling guards, and headed toward the ability-users from Flame Dragon Fortress.
The four of them had been trying to break in, but they always ended up turning back halfway. This repeated over and over, which was very strange.
“Captain, I wonder how they’re doing?” After once again turning in circles, one of the teammates said with frustration.
“The possibility of regaining consciousness after backlash is low…”
“So what’s going on now? Why can’t we enter the God of Commerce Church’s territory? And what was the force that sent us here earlier?”
At this moment, an unfamiliar voice came from above them.
“It is the protection of the God of Commerce.”
The four ability-users were startled and looked up, only to find two cloaked figures had quietly appeared above them.
“Who are you? Stop with the tricks!”
The cloaked figure wearing a silver mask threw down two people.
“Is that… the captain?”
The four ability-users hurriedly reached out to catch them. “Great, they’re still alive!” “Who are you people?”
“We are the messengers of the God of Commerce. You can also refer to us as the mysterious merchants.”
The silver-masked figure raised his hand, and a bright light shone from his palm. He gently waved his hand, and the light enveloped them.
When the warm light faded, their previously dying teammates had actually woken up, their faces filled with confusion.
However, when their eyes met the black-masked figure floating in the air, they suddenly trembled, their eyes filled with intense fear.
“Captain? What’s wrong with you?”
Their teammates quickly realized something was wrong. When had their strongest team member, the captain, ever shown such an expression?
The captain of this small team was called Qin Jianping.
He gazed at the black-masked figure floating in the air, and for some reason, he felt an unprecedented pressure, making him want to submit…
And at that moment, the black-masked figure spoke.
His voice had a cold, heavy tone, and even in the hot desert, it chilled their hearts.
“The God of Commerce Church and Flame Dragon Fortress are not enemies.” He said indifferently, “If you wish to join the God of Commerce Church, we welcome you.”
Who would want to join such a cult?
The four ability-users were about to retort when they heard their captain’s trembling voice.
“Y-Yes, I’ll… I’ll join…”
“???”
