Shen Yuan Ring

Just as Ji Daoyi was about to leave, he immediately turned to Liu Rushuang and said, "Deacon Liu, could you please arrange for someone to secretly monitor this place and see who is coming? Although we killed the evil cultivator, we don't know it from the other party. We can do this..."

Ji Daoyi whispered his plan to Liu Rushuang, then quickly left the courtyard.

As Liu Rushuang watched Ji Daoyi leave, she murmured, "With a son like Ji Daoyi, it's hard for the Ji family not to become a top family. Moreover, he has the connection of being a minister. It seems I should make the most of this opportunity and get to know the Ji family better in the future."

Liu Rushuang then ordered the two men lying in ambush outside the courtyard to clean up any traces of their presence and to monitor the empty courtyard.

Before long, the place became quiet again.

Shijiazhuang

When Wang Yueyue saw Ji Daoyi return, she went up to him and asked, "Daoyi, what did you find? I couldn't find any trace of the man in black robes. It's as if he disappeared into thin air."

“Sister Yueyue, there’s no need to investigate the man in black. He has already been killed by me and the people from the Pill Hall. Moreover, before we killed him, he admitted that he was the one who wiped out the Shi family in Shizhuang, and I also found corresponding evidence in his storage bag.”

Wang Yueyue said happily, "Really? I didn't expect us to complete this task so quickly."

"Although the mission is complete, we cannot announce it to the public yet."

"Why?"

Ji Daoyi did not answer, but took out the letter from the man in black robes from his storage bag and gave it to Wang Yueyue. Wang Yueyue took it and began to read it.

After reading it, Wang Yueyue's face lost its previous joy. "Dao Yi, who else knows about this?"

"Hmm... I guess Deacon Liu, who was with me, probably knows about this in his department by now. But you can rest assured, they will definitely not spread this matter."

Ji Daoyi was quite at ease with Dan Dian. Although he had only known Sun Shang and Liu Rushuang for a short time, he knew from their attitude and the help they had given him that they were trustworthy people.

Afterwards, Wang Yueyue and Ji Daoyi quickly returned to the inner courtyard and handed the letter from the man in black robes to the Grand Steward Ji Yang.

Upon receiving the letter, Ji Yang immediately sensed a sense of crisis and promptly instructed someone to notify all deacons to attend a meeting.

Then Ji Yang said to Ji Daoyi and Wang Yueyue, "Daoyi, Wang Yueyue, you two have made a great contribution this time. You not only solved the murderer who wiped out the Shijiazhuang clan, but also discovered the mastermind behind it."

“We were just doing our job. The main credit goes to Dao Yi. He found and solved the murder, and he also discovered the letter.”

Wang Yueyue dared not claim credit for it, after all, she knew that she had only investigated the shop information and had not provided any useful help.

“Sister Yueyue, we completed the mission together. Without your clues, I wouldn’t have been able to identify the murderer or discover the mastermind behind it all.”

Seeing the two exchanging words, Ji Yang said, "Alright, you both deserve credit, and the family will certainly not let you down."

Then, speaking privately to Wang Yueyue, he said, "Wang Yueyue, you not only had good luck, but you also completed this training mission very well. Group A, under your leadership, made the fastest progress, which makes us very satisfied. So I've decided to give you the mission reward ahead of schedule."

As he spoke, Ji Yang took out a bottle of Breakthrough Pills from his storage bag and handed it to Wang Yueyue, saying, "Wang Yueyue, there are five high-grade Breakthrough Pills in here. That should be enough for you to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm."

Ji Daoyi immediately recognized this as the Breakthrough Pill he had refined for his alchemy mission and stepped forward to stop him, saying, "Grand Steward, Sister Yueyue, we don't lack Breakthrough Pills right now. Why don't you exchange this reward for something else?"

Just as Wang Yueyue was about to reach out and take the jade bottle, she thought to herself, "I need this! With it, I can immediately break through to the realm I've always dreamed of."

However, Wang Yueyue knew Ji Daoyi well and knew he wouldn't betray her, so she withdrew her outstretched hand, chose to remain silent, and quietly waited for the confrontation between Ji Daoyi and the Grand Steward.

Upon hearing this, the Grand Steward knew perfectly well that Ji Daoyi must have embezzled a portion of the pills when refining the Breakthrough Pills. He laughed and scolded, "You little rascal, you even embezzled the family's Breakthrough Pills."

"Grand Steward, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. I've been diligently refining pills for the family and have never embezzled a single pill. If you don't believe me, you can stop asking me to refine pills in the future."

Ji Daoyi lies without batting an eye, as if to say, "Even if you know, so what? I just won't admit it, and you'll have to obediently give in."

"Alright, I didn't say anything to you. You alchemists are just unreasonable." Ji Yang gave a wry smile, clearly having suffered at the hands of other alchemists before.

"Since you don't need the Breakthrough Pill, the family can't leave those who have made contributions unrewarded. So, I'll let you choose a low-grade Xuan-level Yuan artifact yourself. What do you think?"

Wang Yueyue was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Thank you so much, Great Deacon!"

Ji Family Meeting Room

At the summons of the Grand Deacon, all the deacons who were able to attend came to the conference room.

"The patriarch has been in seclusion to break through to the Divine Realm and has not yet emerged. The reason I have urgently convened this meeting today is because I have received some bad news."

The head steward didn't reveal what the news was, but simply showed them the letter Ji Daoyi had given him and asked them to pass it around.

After everyone had finished reading the letter, the Grand Steward spoke again: "I believe everyone knows about the tragic case of the mysterious annihilation of the Shijiazhuang clan not long ago. And what about the incident half a year ago when the patriarch's wife exposed her cultivation level to save her son? Do you all remember that?"

"At that time, the entire family underwent a major purge, and many spies from other forces were caught. Although it severely damaged us, it did not harm our foundation. Moreover, because of Madam, external forces strengthened their cooperative relationship with the Ji family."

"Yes!"

"I never expected that only half a year has passed, and some forces are already getting restless and trying to sow discord between our Ji family and our vassal forces."

Seeing that everyone was feeling the sense of crisis, the Grand Steward reiterated the purpose of the meeting: "So the reason we've gathered everyone here is to keep everyone on high alert but relaxed on the outside, ready to go into battle at any time. Moreover, it was Young Master Ji Daoyi who discovered the clues about the mastermind behind this that discovered the clues, and he has also made contact with the Pill Hall. In other words, we also have external support for this operation."

"The Pill Hall, haven't they always maintained neutrality? How could they possibly help us fight against our hostile forces?"

The Grand Steward smiled slightly: "We have to thank the person behind this. They brought this upon themselves. They colluded with evil cultivators to harm their fellow countrymen. The Pill Hall will not allow evil cultivators to wreak havoc in Daoshu City, so they plan to make an example of them to deter other forces from colluding with evil cultivators."