Fantasy: Starting with a bowl, you can exchange it for endless cultivation.

Beyond a reef in Yuehai County.

In a temporary stronghold set up by a group of powerful members of the Yamamoto family.

Ryuichi Yamamoto's expression was somewhat gloomy as he asked, "Still haven't been able to contact Rinji Yamamoto?"

"No!" a subordinate replied.

Yamamoto Rinji went to test Koichi's abilities half a month ago.

His only goal was to find out whether Shangguan Wuqing had secretly sent a powerful figure to protect Gu Chen.

But after all this time, he still hasn't gotten any results.

To be honest, some time ago, Gu Chen was going to Zhenshi County to help his fourth senior brother Tie Yangtian investigate a case, and Yamamoto Rinji didn't dare to go with him.

this time.

Gu Chen returned to Yuehai County and went to Lihuo Prefecture to take up his post as the head of the Night Watch Division.

They haven't even had a chance to test the waters yet.

I have no idea what Yamamoto Rinji is up to.

And what's even more outrageous is that...

Even though Yamamoto Rinji hadn't actually tested Gu Chen, he had maintained contact with them and reported on Gu Chen's movements.

It can start a few days ago.

Rinji Yamamoto simply stopped reporting to them.

I wonder how things are going on his end.

Have they managed to find out anything about Gu Chen's background?

A fifth-rank expert from the Yamamoto family of an island nation said, "According to reports from our family's other spies outside, Gu Chen left Li Huo Prefecture yesterday and went to the city of Huangzhou. It seems he is going to attend the welcoming banquet for the newly appointed chief of their Night Watch Division. He will be gone for a few days. It is possible that Yamamoto Rinji also secretly went with him."

"There are many skilled Night Watchers in the desolate region. In order to conceal his whereabouts as much as possible and ensure that he is not exposed, he may have stopped contacting us," he guessed.

Upon hearing this, Yamamoto Ryuichi nodded, agreeing that it was indeed possible.

"We've been here for a month, and we haven't established a single new stronghold. As long as this Gu Chen isn't eliminated, we can't establish any strongholds and start buying supplies for the family to transport back again," complained a sixth-rank expert from the Yamamoto family.

They've been waiting for a month.

They haven't yet taken any steps to secretly establish a base.

As for Gu Chen's side, Yamamoto Rinji hasn't managed to glean any useful information yet.

If Gu Chen didn't have the protection of a powerful figure secretly sent by Shangguan Wuqing, they should have acted much sooner.

Can't delay any longer.

"Wait a while longer, until Gu Chen returns from the city of Huangzhou. If Yamamoto Rinji hasn't managed to gather any useful information by then, I'll go personally. Gu Chen must be eliminated. Without him, we'll never be able to establish a base in Yuehai County and launch any operations." Yamamoto Ryuichi's eyes narrowed slightly.

One day later.

The city of Huangzhou.

Gongsun Yuan's residence.

At this moment, Gongsun Yuan, Gu Chen, Tie Yangtian, and Luo Tianxing were all present.

Gongsun Yuan looked at the intelligence sent from Zhenshi County by the Night Watch.

His face looked pale.

Yesterday, news spread throughout Zhenshi County that Gu Chen had destroyed the Blood Soul Cult and the Black Heaven Cult, and had also raided two Japanese raiding dens, uncovering that Liu Xun, the senior brother of the Mining Gang, was a spy for the Drowning Cult.

Even with the help of Tang Meng, the garrison commander, to suppress it, they still couldn't contain it, and it had begun to spread to other counties and prefectures in the desolate state.

This seemingly complimentary and elevating act actually places Gu Chen in opposition to the cult and the Japanese pirates from the island nation.

They portrayed Gu Chen as a great threat to them, making them feel that they had to get rid of him as soon as possible.

"It must have been Chen Lei and his gang who did it!" Tie Yangtian slapped the armrest of his chair and stood up, saying, "They want to push Junior Brother into the limelight and use those cultists from the Mitian Sect to get rid of him."

Gongsun Yuan and Luo Tianxing did not refute his words.

There hadn't been any activity before.

Suddenly, at the critical juncture when the new Chief of the Wilderness Watch of the Wilderness was about to take office.

Gu Chen's continuous investigations into cults and Japanese pirate strongholds, as well as his efforts to eliminate cults, were widely reported.

If it wasn't Chen Lei's group, then who else could have done it?

Other factions within the Night Watch's upper echelons would never get involved in this mess.

It must be that Chen Lei, seeing that Gu Chen's threat was growing, worried that he would be unable to control him in the future, so he wanted to use the cult to eliminate him in advance.

Gongsun Yuan looked at Gu Chen and asked, "Junior Brother, what do you think of this matter?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Chen said, "It seems that someone deliberately did this, secretly spreading information to put me in the spotlight."

"But then again, they weren't wrong. I really did all of these things. Even if no one had revealed them, the Mitian Sect and the Yamamoto family, those Japanese pirates, would have found out sooner or later. Once they found out, they certainly wouldn't let me go. Chen Lei and his group are just revealing these things in advance so that they can deal with me ahead of time."

"If I were afraid of retaliation from the cult, or the Yamamoto family, I wouldn't have provoked them in the first place. I could have just ignored their evil deeds. But since I did it, I'm not afraid of their retaliation," Gu Chen said calmly.

"The Divine Dynasty established the Night Watch to fight against cults and suppress evil spirits and demons in various places. As an official of the Night Watch, I have been doing my duty. If I am targeted by cults and the Yamamoto family because of my righteous deeds, and the higher-ups of the Night Watch do not react at all and do not consider my side, then in the future, which official of the Night Watch in various places will dare to come out and confront the cult head-on?"

"If we discover the cult's whereabouts, expose it, and wipe it out, the cult will retaliate. If no one in the Night Watch will be there to protect me, then who in the Night Watch will dare to deal with the cult in the future? They'll just cower and watch the cult commit evil." Gu Chen smiled faintly.

Looking at Gongsun Yuan and the others, he said, "Senior brother, don't worry about this. You can handle it. It won't be long before experts from the Night Watch headquarters come to protect me."

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Yuan said, "Your influence is growing, and the Night Watch headquarters and the Second Prince will definitely pay more attention to you. This time, you've been put in the spotlight, and the headquarters will definitely send people to protect you."

"This matter involves not only your safety, but also the reputation of the Night Watch. If a rising star like you, with exceptional talent, outstanding abilities, and numerous merits, is killed simply because you dared to act, dared to learn about cults, and dared to confront the Japanese pirates, it would be a slap in the face to the Night Watch and to the official government of the Divine Dynasty," Gongsun Yuan explained.

"Yes." Gu Chen nodded. "So, we don't need to be too anxious about this."

"That's true," Tie Yangtian said at this moment, "but junior brother, you must remember that your strength is still insufficient. Neither the Mitian Sect nor the Yamamoto family are entities you cannot contend with at present. They can easily kill you with just one expert of the third rank. Putting your own safety in the protection of others is never the safest choice."

"If this matter escalates, the higher-ups of the Night Watch might indeed send experts to protect you. But what if the experts they send are weaker than those from the Mitian Sect and the Yamamoto family? What if they make a mistake? You will still be in danger." Tie Yangtian reminded him, "Junior Brother, you are exceptionally talented and will achieve great things sooner or later. In the future, you should always prioritize stability and be cautious."

"Yes." Gu Chen nodded: "Sixth Senior Brother is right. I really can't put my safety in the hands of others. In the future, I should prioritize stability when dealing with certain matters."

of course.

This is based on the premise that his strength is actually only around the late stage of the True Essence Realm.

But his true strength is at the peak of the Transformation Sea Realm.

With a maximum of another month of accumulation, I can reach the early stage of the fourth-grade Core Formation Realm.

It's not something that just anyone can easily master.