Scourge Messenger

Chapter 418: Incapable of Accomplishment

In the main hall of the Thieves' House, the thieves sat in their seats awaiting judgment.

The most important objective, the Crystal Dream Pearl, could be said to have been brought back, but it could also be said that it wasn't. As a key item in the Gathering Gold Ceremony, the Crystal Dream Pearl had become one with Ying Rushi, and there was no longer a Crystal Dream Pearl in the world, yet it was indeed brought back by Ying Rushi.

No one could have imagined this situation. From the Bingzi Pepper Forest in the first case, the Yitian Sword in the second case, the rare iron in the third case, to the Glazed Dream Pearl in the fourth case, their targets were all extremely hard and indestructible.

In their view, either the theft succeeds or it fails; there is no third possibility.

The mission objective was fused by the thief? Yan Qing was a planner for Thieves' House, not Yu-Gi-Oh!, so fusion summoning was not within his scope of consideration, and he didn't know how Thieves' House would judge it.

Are we finally going to lose this safe haven?

He looked up at the stained-glass skylight on the ceiling of the hall and thought that this place was indeed not suitable for his status. There were no windows, no bathhouses, no teahouses or restaurants, no romantic tales, only a simple single room. With his current strength, even if he didn't live in the palace, he should be living in a great secret realm, with dozens of people serving his daily needs, hundreds or even thousands of people at his beck and call. A frown from his brow could cause many to panic, and a word of praise could move people to tears of gratitude... This was the life of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

But Yan Qing couldn't help feeling a little melancholy.

For him, Thieves' House was more than just a safe house. Thieves' House was his past, his present, and he once thought it would carry him into the future... In this unfamiliar world, Thieves' House was an unchanging anchor point... and his home.

"Yan Qing," the pharmacist suddenly said, "Come to the Zhou Kingdom."

"Huh?" Everyone was taken aback.

"Master Suolong will prepare a secluded retreat for you. You won't have to do anything to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the Yaoshi family and receive offerings from all over the country," Yaoshi Yuan said. "How about it?"

Shang Xinlei immediately reacted: "No, come to Liang! You can become the foundation of my Shang family, and you'll have everything you want. Besides, Liang has far more delicious food and fun things to do than that mountain village of Zhou!"

"Come to Qi!" Ying Rushi immediately joined the battle.

"What right do you have to invite him?" the pharmacist said bluntly.

"I'll go back and seize power from the court right away." Ying Rushi said without hesitation, "I have the [Pillow of Red Dust] and am a Foundation Establishment True Person. I am also the only bloodline of the Divine Martial Emperor. Who in the Qi Kingdom would dare to oppose me? Yan Qing, come to the Qi Kingdom. The Qi Kingdom is vast and rich in resources, and the number of secret realms far exceeds that of the other two countries. Didn't you want to destroy the secret realms and seize the karmic power of natural disasters? No problem, I'll help you!"

Not long ago, she told Shang Xinlei that they would be thieves for life, but when it came time to split up, she wouldn't back down an inch. Or rather, she could compromise on everything else, but she would never give up on Yan Qing!
Yan Qing watched as the beautiful girls blushed and began vying for him, feeling a little secretly pleased, but mostly amused. Because they had been working together for so long, he had forgotten that they came from three different countries. One major reason they were initially wary of each other was because they had discovered the other thieves were from enemy nations.

Now that the Thieves' Clan is about to disband and their partnership is coming to an end, they immediately remembered their identities. "Right, I'm the daughter of the Duke of Jin/Prince of Lanling/Prime Minister. Even if I don't care about the country, I should think about myself. I need to quickly tie this wild Foundation Establishment cultivator, Yan Qing, to my chariot! I can't let those other two little bitches steal Yan Qing away!"
Even disregarding the fact that Yan Qing is the master of the Treasure Pavilion and a descendant of the Heavenly Calamity, his [Epitaph] alone allows him to crush any other nation he joins. Unless the [Epitaph] is deciphered, any Foundation Establishment cultivator encountering Yan Qing is essentially nonexistent—who could withstand that?

Even if Yan Qing doesn't actively provoke a war, even married couples sleeping in the same bed have disagreements, let alone three countries? When a conflict arises, if Yan Qing plays the "Epitaph" card, won't the other two countries have no choice but to back down?
They weren't against unification itself, but rather against a country that wasn't theirs unifying the Central Plains. Although, given their power, they would inevitably be the ruling class no matter which country unified the Central Plains, why couldn't it be their own country?
Most importantly, what if Yan Qing goes to the enemy and they attack, and their teachers, family, and friends insist on resisting? Bringing Yan Qing to their side would eliminate this worry.

"Yan Qing, what do you have to say?"

"Where are you going?"

"You're not allowed to go to their area!"

Seeing them all questioning him, Yan Qing, unable to continue watching the drama unfold, broke out in a cold sweat. This was far more terrifying than a battlefield of love and hate. Ordinary battlefields of love and hate were merely emotional entanglements, but this was a battlefield of national interests. No matter which side he chose, it would mean betraying the interests of millions of people in the other two countries.

"Can I think about it first?" Yan Qing asked cautiously.

“Sure, but you have to choose a place to go, right? Nightless City or Swallow Town? Murong Hui and I can both entertain you.” Ying Ru was going all out, even bringing up Murong Hui.

“The Duke of Jin’s mansion in Chang’an is also open to you,” Yaoshi Yuan said. “Why don’t we invite the Rabbit Girl over too? Let’s all get together.”

"I, I," Shang Xinlei stammered, her face flushed. Of the three, she was the only one still living with her family. "I have a carriage! It can accommodate two people!"

Yan Qing is no longer melancholy; she only feels that with greater ability comes greater responsibility.

At this somber moment, a curtain of light descended from the ceiling before everyone. They tensed, their hearts pounding as they examined the crime report with trepidation.
The Theft of the Crystal Dream Pearl

"Task Difficulty: Relatively Difficult"

"Task Completion: Inadequate (Evaluations from lowest to highest are: Insignificant, Inadequate, Hard Work, Extraordinary, Outstanding)"

"Quest completion reward: 20 Thief Points"

"Thief points can be accumulated and can only be used at the Thieves' House. They cannot be traded. Once you lose the right to enter the Thieves' House, your thief points will be reset to zero."

It's actually 'not up to their capabilities'? In other words, the Thieves' House believes they've completed the mission! Although the mission reward has been reduced from 30 points to 20 points, at least they've accomplished it.

Yan Qing's spirits lifted, and he continued reading:
Yellow Dog's Mission Completion List

"Damaged Crystal Dream Pearl: -30 points"

"Kill two Foundation Establishment Messengers: +30 points" "Kill Flame Queen Tanuki: +10 points"

"You gain an additional 10 thief points."

Yan Qing looked around and found that everyone had very few points. He had 30 points, Yao Shiyuan had 34 points, Shang Xinlei had 65 points, and Ying Rushi only had 61 points. You should know that when the third case was settled, Ying Rushi still had 41 thief points left. Now she had only received the most basic task reward!
Noticing everyone's gaze, Ying Ru said with a wry smile, "I got 10 points for acquiring the Glazed Dream Pearl, 20 points for killing Ying Le, and 30 points were deducted for destroying the Glazed Dream Pearl. So, with one plus and one minus, I'm back to zero."

"You only got 20 points for killing Ying Le?" Shang Xinlei asked in surprise. "We only killed some of the Hundred Guards and got 40 points."

“You’re at the third stage of cultivation, we’re at the Foundation Establishment stage. The criteria for judging us in the Thieves’ House are different,” Yan Qing said. “I don’t get any reward for killing Bai Bao.”

"I know you guys are amazing." Shang Xinlei pouted.

Yan Qing raised an eyebrow and made a gesture of rubbing his hands together like a fly. Shang Xinlei blushed to her ears and instinctively protected her Mid-Autumn Festival. She first looked away, but then gave Yan Qing a defiant glance.

"So, as long as the mission objective is successfully obtained, even if it is damaged later, it can still be considered as completing the mission?" The pharmacist tapped the stone table with his fingertips: "And it's just that the task was not completed, not the worst and not worth mentioning."

“We still have room to go down!” Shang Xinlei was very excited. Her tone was like a college student who found out that he had scored 65 points and still had a full 5 points of room for error.

At this moment, the glowing disc on the ceiling of the Thieves' Hall opened, and five items descended.

"Based on the thieves' quest completion status, the Thieves' House has selected five items from the treasury as rewards. Because the Crystal Dream Pearl has been damaged, the magical artifact Crystal Dream Pearl has been removed from the rewards."

"Foundation Pill for Mountains and Rivers"

Grade: Rare

"Requirement for use: Level 39"

"Effect: Foundation Establishment success rate is 70%. Taking this Foundation Establishment Pill in a scenic and strategically important location will immediately increase your Spirit by 1-20 points."

/
"True Martial Foundation Building Pill"

Grade: Rare

"Requirement for use: Level 39"

"Effect: Foundation Establishment success rate is 70%. Taking this Foundation Establishment Pill will immediately increase your Qi and Blood by 1 to 20 points, depending on the messenger's martial arts breadth and depth."

/
"Order to Establish a Gang"

Grade: Rare

"Effect: Create a player team and randomly grant them a team skill."

"Comment: For the League!"

/
"Summoning and Gathering Stone"

Grade: Rare

Available uses: 10

"Effect: Designates a secret realm and issues a conscription invitation to all eligible messengers to form a team to conquer the realm. During the realm conquest, all messengers receive a temporary bonus of 10 points of Enlightenment, the realm's drop rate is increased by 1%, and the team mode is fixed as [Unbreakable Alliance]. Messengers who accept the invitation will be directly teleported to the realm and will return to their original location after leaving the realm."

"Comment: Remember, if you can't win, you always have one last resort—call for backup."

/
"A Masterful Pen"

"Rank: Fourth-tier Common"

Equipment Requirements: 200 Spirit Points

"Equipment Requirements: Conflicts with any tokens that have reconnaissance effects."

"Effect: Magic Pen: You can ask the Magic Pen Fairy three questions each day, including but not limited to the weaknesses of demons, flaws in supernatural powers, and the origin of tokens. The more information you provide, the more accurate the Magic Pen Fairy's answers will be. However, be aware that if you ask a question you have no knowledge of, the Magic Pen Fairy is very likely to make it up. You need to use the Magic Pen to write down the questions, and each word costs one spirit essence."

"Evaluation: The Magical Brush is the latest achievement of the Calculating Demon Sect, attempting to create an 'omniscient token' capable of stealing heavenly secrets and answering all questions. However, according to their observations, the Magical Brush, in order to maintain its omniscient image, will give false answers even when it doesn't know the answer."

(End of this chapter)