Mythical Scroll Artist: Starting with the God of Wealth, Zhao Gongming

Chapter 275 Upper-Level Research Institute
At this moment, what seemed like a huge crisis turned out to be another stroke of good fortune.

This gave him a premonition that he was definitely a favorite of the strange and mysterious laws of the abyss.

At this rate, I might one day be able to march into the Heavenly Realm like the great Abyss Demon Lord, attain the Great Dao, and become another true god in this world!
The sinister man grew increasingly excited as he thought about it, his fierce eyes greedily scrutinizing the powerful scroll spirits before him.

Hungry! Hungry! We're all hungry!

As it turns out, he did indeed have a bit of "destiny" on him.

However, the course of this "destiny" was somewhat different from what he had expected.

boom!
The massive, sky-covering hand of King Qin Guang above mercilessly slammed down.

The undead beast was immediately slapped face-first into the dirt.

"Ow—!"

The undead beast, having risen in a disheveled state, roared furiously and bared its teeth at King Qin Guang above.

But then a dazzling light shot out, blinding him instantly.

Immediately afterwards, two golden beams of light roared in, accompanied by a trembling dragon's roar.

Click!

When he recovered from the dazzling light, he saw a surprising scene: "Huh~ isn't that my belly and hooves?"

The undead beast was horrified to realize that it had been decapitated.

Don't panic, don't panic, he still has the "undying spirit" of the great Lord of the Abyss to protect him.

Unfortunately, before the "undying spirit" law could repair his body, a group of necromancer scrolls appeared around him, "beating drums and playing instruments."

It is the professional team, the "Ten Great Yin Marshals".

The soul-summoning banner, the mourning stick, the demon-suppressing bell... all sorts of magical props interacted to form a peculiar power, giving him a sense of inexplicable peace and comfort, and he fell into a deep sleep.

The undead beast's body was gradually exorcised and dissipated, while its primordial spirit contracted and coalesced into a law crystal the size of a walnut.

"Tsk tsk, performing rituals for high-level monsters is quite different!"

The more powerful the monster, the stronger the effect of its undying spirit.

Even with the combined efforts of the ten Golden Scrolls Yin Generals, it took a full ten minutes to successfully "exorcise" him.

Wu Xian held the fragment of divine power in his hand, carefully sensing and experiencing it.

"Wow~ There's even a strand of luck intertwined within the framework of the laws, young man, you're quite something!"

In the midst of the banter, he decisively absorbed that wisp of "luck" into his natal God of Wealth, triggering a spiritual enhancement while the nature of the wealth seemed to undergo some mysterious changes.

【Zhao Gongming, the True Lord of the Mysterious Altar】

Version: Original (with gold embroidered border)

Rank: Crimson Lifeline (Four Life Marks)
Painting Spirit: ★★★★★★☆
Spirituality: 206
Innate Traits: Attracting Wealth and Treasure, Protecting the Body with Wealth, Controlling Thunder and Lightning, Capturing Dragons and Binding Immortals, Sea-Stabilizing Pearl, Golden Dragon Scissors
Not long after, the second brother and sister-in-law, who had noticed the commotion, arrived late.

Seeing that the two were unharmed, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Upon learning what had happened, Xue Zhengying couldn't help but be secretly astonished, "The Abyss Demon Lord is actually trying to win over us humans? To help us modify the necromancy scroll?"

“There’s definitely something fishy about this,” Xue Lingling analyzed. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

But Kun Youniang seemed to be thinking to herself, “It’s not that strange, it’s more like a win-win situation.”

"Huh?" Wu Xian and the other two were puzzled.

“It’s similar to your human’s divine realm,” Kun Youniang analyzed. “The Abyss Demon Lord probably wants to build a divine realm system dominated by himself, encompassing all things, and pursuing higher levels and more comprehensive power.”

Xue Lingling was shocked. "Second sister-in-law, do you mean that you otherworldly true gods also want to create your own [God Realm] system?"

"Although I am very reluctant to admit it, your human divine realm system is indeed a very good idea," Kun Youniang said. "Especially from the perspective of the Three Gods, there are many benefits to building a divine realm."

"Huh? This...this..." Xue Lingling exclaimed in surprise and doubt, "Won't the world of scroll painters be thrown into chaos?"

“Hiss~ It’s probably already started,” Xue Zhengying seemed to have realized something. “I was wondering why the atmosphere in the league had been a bit off lately. So that’s what’s going on.”

After further inquiry, I learned that the league situation has been somewhat chaotic recently, with many lower-level players suddenly rising to prominence. Looking back now, it's very likely related to the Three Gods.

Back at the club, he gathered several gold-ranked players, including Huang Lili and Xue Qingyang, to inquire about the situation.

The situation in the league recently is indeed not quite right.

It's not just the Gold Rank League; even the Bronze and Silver Rank Leagues in various regions are starting to go wrong.

In Yaoyang City, the five long-established clubs that have been loafing around doing nothing have made any moves.

But the lack of activity now doesn't mean there won't be any follow-up activity.

"In the upcoming competitions, we will focus on three types of scrolls: elf-type, ocean-type, and undead-type. Oh, and also rodent-type scrolls," Wu Xian said seriously. "If you find anything amiss, report it immediately."

"No problem." Huang Lili and the others obediently accepted the order.

Wu Xian's feelings were secretly complicated.

I thought the hype surrounding the "Three Gods" had died down, but I never imagined that their impact on the current political landscape was only just beginning.

"Do you think that some people in the various academies might have secretly defected to or sided with the Three Gods?" Wu Xian speculated.

"Possibly," Xue Zhengying sighed helplessly.

Although I am very reluctant to admit and accept it, this is almost expected.

Especially for the new generation of lower- and middle-level scroll painters, the "authority" and "rule" of the Nine Great Halls' divine domain are being undermined.

In the past, if one wanted to rise to power, one had to pursue the Nine Paths Dojo Divine Realm.

Now, there are three more brand new options.

Just as everyone was chatting and discussing, Tang Beng came out of the research room. "Oh, is everyone here? Vice President, the data core has been cracked."

"Really?" Wu Xian was overjoyed. "What's the content?"

"I don't understand it. It seems to be research data on monsters in the Endless Sea." Tang Beng took out a small computer and showed the data he had deciphered to Wu Xian.

The crowd couldn't help but gather around out of curiosity, but unfortunately, they couldn't understand it.

It mainly consists of complex research data and in-depth research on the otherworldly forces in the Endless Sea.

"Where did you get this from?" Kun You Niang asked with a strange expression.

"It was stolen from the Divine Dog Club team during the previous battle against the Deep Sea Demon Whale," Wu Xian said truthfully. "Research data from the higher-ups?"

“No wonder it looks so familiar,” Kun Youniang chuckled. “The higher-ups have been trying to figure out the difference between humans and other beings from another world, and this is their research data.”

Wu Xian suddenly realized, "Strange, why would research data from the higher levels appear in the Endless Sea?"

“It’s not just in the Endless Sea, but in all the other worlds,” Kun Youniang said calmly. “To avoid distortion and pollution, these secret research institutes are located in the various other worlds.”

"I see," Wu Xian said knowingly. "By the way, what's the value of this thing?"

"It's useless to you, but it's still very valuable to the higher-ups," Kun Youniang said with a faint smile.

Upon hearing this, everyone naturally lost interest in the data.

However, based on the principle that we should not let the enemy get what they want, we must definitely target them.

In short, we can't let the upper echelons be comfortable.

A moment later, he dismissed all the irrelevant people in the club, leaving only some of his own people who knew Kun Youniang's identity.

Wu Xian then inquired out of curiosity, "Second Sister-in-law just said that there are secret research institutes like this hidden in various otherworldly realms?"

"Unless they themselves cause problems, it will be very difficult to find them," Kun Youniang thought to herself with a sigh.

"Alright then," Wu Xian said regretfully.

I thought I could get in touch with those so-called upper-class people through these research institutes.

(End of this chapter)