The Encounter

"I heard Parusaren has arrived here. The higher-ups want us to assist him," Li Chuan said.

"Parusaren? What is he doing here? Didn't the organization assign this area to us for our mission?" Wang Ji gasped in surprise.

"He has an assassination mission. His target is Yinxue, a genius card maker of Death."

"Yinxue... I've heard of him. Although his strength and card-making skills are inferior to mine, considering his age, I must admit he is indeed a genius," Wang Ji nodded. "It's not surprising the organization sent Parusaren to assassinate him. But why do they want us to assist when he should be able to complete it alone?"

"He failed."

"What?! Even he failed?"

"A few months ago in Shawu City, he orchestrated an assassination, but was blocked by Tomahawk of Death. His subordinates pursued them here and clashed with Yinxue's bodyguards. In the end, Yinxue went missing, and the rest were killed. Parusaren was heavily injured by Tomahawk and has been recovering until now to resume his mission."

"I'm afraid Yinxue is no longer here."

"No matter. We are only assisting him; his success or failure is his own business."

"Understood."

The next evening.

Duhe Gang Headquarters, top floor.

There was a room here called the Council Chamber, or simply the meeting room for the leadership of the Duhe Gang. The room was massive, decorated with many luxurious items whose prices could make many people's eyes turn red. Outside, a defensive energy barrier maintained 24/7, capable of withstanding a single peak level 5 attack, glowed with a faint blue light. In the center of the room stood a long table with twenty-two chairs for discussing important plans. At this moment, there were only two people in the room.

Sitting in the main seat was none other than Cao Jing. The other person sat opposite him, wearing a blood-red mask with bizarre patterns.

"Sanweihe, I didn't expect you to be here. Being the boss of a gang must be more fun than being an assassin," the masked man mocked.

"I don't know what you're talking about. What is Sanweihe? When was I ever an assassin?" Cao Jing looked bewildered. "And who are you? What do you want with me?"

"Stop pretending. Your Scorpion Tail Card might fool others, but it won't fool me. Your Scorpion Tail Card is actually called the Sanweihe Set Card, consisting of three cards combined. When using a five-star energy card, it can only condense purple energy like ordinary six-star Scorpion Tail Cards. But if you have a six-star energy card or above, the scorpion tail condensed will be black. You wanted to hide it, so you only used a five-star energy card. Am I correct?"

"Haha, you're wrong. In truth, I don't have a single six-star energy card left. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in such a tight spot," Cao Jing smiled bitterly, indirectly admitting he was Sanweihe. Since the other party knew so much, denying it was pointless.

"Why did you leave the organization?" the masked man asked.

"None of your business."

"And Luo Bai? Who is he that Li Chuan and Wang Ji had to show themselves?"

"Hmph, your clearance is not high enough to know."

The masked man's eyes flickered. Finally, Cao Jing had revealed a slip of the tongue. Mentioning clearance proved that Luo Bai was connected to the organization rather than being Cao Jing's personal matter, which also meant his departure from the organization was merely a cover.

Seeing that look, Cao Jing knew he had misspoken. But he couldn't be blamed; he was already quite exhausted, and the secret he had kept for over ten years had suddenly been discovered by his opponent, putting him under immense pressure. Now that one more person knew, it didn't matter. Besides, having someone from the organization help during this difficult time would make things much easier. Although the organization had many experts, they were spread too thin, and each had their own missions, so mobilizing them was not a matter of a day or two, while Li Chuan and Wang Ji were lurking like tigers, ready to strike at any moment.

Yesterday, he hadn't understood why the opponents had retreated, but he knew he had lost. The opponents were too strong, while he lacked energy cards. Even if he had enough energy cards, he might not have won against the two of them. The situation was truly dire. Now with Yinxue, he felt a bit relieved. Although he had left the organization, he still maintained covert contact, so he knew of this genius card maker.

The name Yinxue was quite famous within the organization, with a list of glorious achievements. At twenty, he had successfully crafted thirteen five-star cards, three of which were top-grade. Additionally, he had assassinated and eliminated over thirty targets, including several five-star card cultivators, and even card cultivators close to the six-star level, while four-star and three-star card cultivators were too numerous to count. The alias Yinxue was not given for nothing; it was written in the blood of his enemies.

"Actually, Luo Bai is no ordinary person..." Cao Jing began to recount.

Ten minutes later.

"So, we must protect Luo Bai until the research project is completed."

"There is a high probability of failure, but we must still do it."

"Why is such an important task handled by you and not a seven-star card cultivator, or even the leader?"

"How many seven-star experts do you think the organization has? Involving even one would expose everything immediately. Back then, I had just failed a mission, so I used that as an excuse to "leave" the organization."

"Now that the news has leaked, it will be very dangerous without a seven-star card cultivator to protect us here. Have you reported to the organization?"

"I reported it as soon as we were discovered, but no one has arrived. At this time, securing high-level experts is indeed not easy," Cao Jing sighed.

Yinxue also fell silent. The organization's current situation was not good, primarily due to a shortage of manpower. It wasn't that the organization lacked forces, but rather that most high-level experts were tied down by important missions and could not be easily reassigned. The remaining ones were only four-star or five-star. Although they were experts among card cultivators of the same rank, bringing them here would be of little use. Against an ordinary six-star card cultivator, a four-star or five-star would virtually be killed in a single strike, let alone against monsters like Li Chuan and Wang Ji. Even he might not be able to withstand a single blow from either of them.