Chapter Fifty-Nine: Unexpected Change

The Knowledge Interlayer, this secret realm, was much smaller than the Snowfield Desert on the other side. After clearing out the entire secret realm here and handling several dense areas of minor monsters, Yi Shen found it did not take him very long. So, during this period, he was not constantly hunting monsters. From time to time, he would return to Blue Star to check on the situation in the Jingmen Safety Zone.

The posts on the forums remained scattered and infrequent. Yi Shen still mainly relied on Zhu You and Bai Hongjiang to help him keep an eye out for information. Since Battlefish announced its joining the task force, the most immediate effect was a significant improvement in the security of the entire Jingmen Safety Zone. Subsequently, exploration of the Dimensional Land gradually resumed. By the second day, many small guilds had their shuttle services running as usual, returning to their former routines.

The events of the past month had been significant in some ways, but minor in others. After all, Jingmen Safety Zone was home to several million people, most of whom were ordinary folks busy with the daily grind. The defeat of Peachblossom Hollow left an impression, but for most, it was just a topic for casual conversation. Moreover, the main commercial groups of Peachblossom Hollow continued to operate normally, which made the incident seem even less significant to the public.

As for Yi Shen, over these three days, he was able to confirm that no one had discovered his whereabouts. According to Bai Hongjiang’s reports, after Zhao Zhilong’s death, Peachblossom Hollow swiftly appointed a new acting district leader to handle the aftermath. This district leader was not someone from Anqing but a high-level mage named Song Tianshu.

Song Tianshu had originally been a combat member of the Second Regiment of Peachblossom Hollow. This time, he had been lucky enough to escape from the Land of Moonlight and was one of the few members who knew the details of the battle there. After the attack in Peachblossom Hollow’s East Third District, it seemed that several new voices had emerged within the organization, and Song Tianshu was among the factions opposing Anqing.

In addition, two other curious incidents took place.

The first was that after Yi Shen entered the secret realm to avoid detection, several more “Dark Mages” appeared one after another in the Jingmen Safety Zone, launching attacks on Jianghe and even some industries of Jingbei Industries. Originally, “Dark Mage” was the label for lawless criminals, but now the term was gradually evolving into a symbol—a sign of resistance against the monopolies of the major guilds.

The second event was that Bloodslaughter issued a statement, declaring they would accept any members transferring from Peachblossom Hollow unconditionally and would treat them all equally.

Bloodslaughter even played the sentiment card, claiming that many of their founding members came from Peachblossom Hollow and had lent their support during the early days, fostering a sense of shared roots and kinship—thus igniting a recruitment battle. Because Bloodslaughter was itself a guild formed by the merger of many different groups, jokes and banter about this abounded on the forums. If Peachblossom Hollow’s members joined, they might even form their own division within Bloodslaughter. Conversely, the rigid structures of Jingbei Industries and Jianghe made it difficult for them to absorb such a wave of new members.

To Yi Shen, it seemed that Bloodslaughter had been planning this for quite some time. Their previous collaboration with Zhao Zhilong included elite training exchanges and poaching of talents and squads. Bloodslaughter’s hunger for talent was practically written into their charter, selecting the most driven through a kind of survival-of-the-fittest process to form the core group.

Originally, Yi Shen had intended to continue consolidating Peachblossom Hollow’s resources or, perhaps, to "explore" the warehouses of various guilds under cover. Rather than letting Peachblossom Hollow’s stored resources fall into others’ hands, it would be better to disassemble and study them himself.

But what he had not expected was that, on his second day back in the Jingmen Safety Zone, Bai Hongjiang—the round-faced, chubby man—brought him a piece of extremely important news!

...

For the past month, Bai Hongjiang felt his life had been even more turbulent than the ten-plus years since he’d come to the Jingmen Safety Zone.

Originally not a native of Jingmen, he had settled here for his wife’s sake. After a gradual climb, he joined Peachblossom Hollow and, thanks to some connections and his somewhat intimidating size, ended up in charge of a certain KTV and nightclub.

Although it was nightlife business, with Peachblossom Hollow’s name on the door, no one dared cause trouble. Even if there was conflict, his imposing figure alone was usually enough to settle things.

He had thought his life would be spent quietly, looking after his wife and children and working for Peachblossom Hollow. Yet, in just one month, he lost both his KTV and nightclub, was assigned by Zhao Zhilong to watch over the Yi family, almost got killed by Yi Shen and dragged out to an unfinished building on the outskirts, and then realized just how terrifying Yi Shen’s strength really was, making him wary of any reckless moves.

Later, when he got in touch with his wife and children, he found his wife’s job had suffered as well. For safety’s sake, he brought his family to his side, officially boarding Yi Shen’s pirate ship, so to speak.

During this time, Bai Hongjiang’s feelings about Yi Shen shifted from initial anxiety to outright astonishment with the appearance of the “Dark Mage.” He knew Yi Shen’s age; he hadn’t even started at the martial academy—at most, he was only twenty.

The first time he met Yi Shen, the young man had easily bested him. Not only that, Yi Shen was apparently a mage, but Bai Hongjiang distinctly remembered him using healing spells as well!

A few days earlier, when Yi Shen wanted to deal with Zhao Zhilong, Bai Hongjiang had provided plenty of information. He had thought Yi Shen was just seeking information about his father or targeting Zhao Zhilong alone, not expecting such a major upheaval, let alone the emergence of a Dark Mage and the return of Battlefish after years of silence.

Now, the rumors outside claimed the Dark Mage was a high-level powerhouse from another safety zone, at least level sixty or above. Bai Hongjiang could only listen in silence, feeling that he was one of the few who actually knew the truth. In these past few days, he had come to sense a certain resemblance between Yi Shen and Yi Qinfeng.

With Yi Shen now in the picture, and himself more or less working for him, Bai Hongjiang inexplicably felt this might be his chance, so he applied himself to his tasks with renewed commitment.

Since Zhao Zhilong’s death, Bai Hongjiang had felt much more at ease. After all, his previous dealings had all been with Zhao Zhilong, and few people really knew him.

During this period, he kept an eye on the Peachblossom Hollow group chat, constantly updating Yi Shen with any news.

What he did not anticipate was that today, someone in the group revealed that several factions within Peachblossom Hollow were in negotiations.

Negotiations were to be expected. With an organization as large as Peachblossom Hollow, it was impossible for it to collapse in a single day. Bai Hongjiang figured that, over time, other guilds would slowly foster their own influence within Peachblossom Hollow and gradually take over.

What shocked him, however, was that this time, a figure who had long been absent appeared at the negotiating table.

Yi Shen’s mother, Lin Grape, had actually shown up at the talks!