Their true boss was still Fang Che, while he was only a puppet leader at best. However, he knew that practically speaking, this was the best arrangement. With Fang Che acting outside of their group, they would be able to look out for one another on an independent basis, ensuring that they would never be completely wiped out. If someone wanted to target Fang Che, then they would have to be wary of his four companions and the four major clans behind them. Likewise, if someone wanted to target the four of them, then they would have to constantly watch their back for Fang Che. Hence, Yu Zhongge had no complaints about his status as a puppet leader. In fact, he reveled in this status. The grand finals continued over the following three days, but not much attention was being paid to the matches. Instead, a certain black-robed young man sitting in the White Cloud Warrior Academy section of the spectator stands had stolen the show, even though all he did was sit and watch. All of the top prodigies of the top-ranking academies knew that he was an inevitable hurdle that they would have to face over the next four years. Even as a first-year, his powers were already unmatched even among all of the second-year prodigies. The top brass of all of White Cloud Warrior Academy's rival academies were cast into a state of despair. White Cloud Warrior Academy had already fielded an incredibly talented five-man first-year team, yet it turned out that they had been hiding a ruthless demon all this time! Everyone knew that as long as he didn't suffer a premature demise, a paltry event like the World Academy Tournament would already be far beneath him in four years. At the same time, the Guardians received an important report. "The Parasite Ascension Project of the Church of the Self-Righteous has concluded, and two particularly noteworthy prodigies have emerged, the first of which is Yan Beihan, granddaughter of the second-in-line deputy pope of the main church, Yan Nan. However, an even more concerning prospect is Night Demon of the One Heart Church. He claimed over thirty thousand kills to claim the top spot in the project, shattering the historic record kill count! “He possesses immense potential, potentially enough to claim a spot on the Cloud Weapon Archive someday! Night Demon, 178 centimeters in height, square face, bushy eyebrows, thick beard, strong and stocky build. No One Heart Church prodigy of this physical description has appeared on our radar in the past, so we have reason to suspect that this may not be his true appearance. “According to our sources, not only did he kill Generals of the subsidiary churches, he even killed many Generals from the main church. Given his tremendous potential, our suggestion is to mark him down as a high-priority target of eradication!" That was a verbal report that had just been delivered in a meeting between the top brass of the Guardians. Dongfang Sansan was holding the meeting, but Bing Qianshan and Xue Fuxiao were both absent. This was a work meeting, not a battle meeting, but Dongfang Sansan had to be present, particularly considering the topic of discussion. This report was the focal point of the meeting, and everyone was clearly very concerned. A kill count in excess of thirty thousand was sufficient reflection of both his power and ruthlessness. If he were allowed to grow into his full potential, then that would be nothing short of a calamity for the Guardians! At the moment, he was only a General but as he climbed up the ranks, both in cultivation base and the enemy hierarchy, he would become more and more potent a threat. Given Duan Xiyang's recently attained status as the number one warrior on the continent, he would most likely play more of a passive role from now on. However, for an up-and-comer like Night Demon, he would surely be eager to show off his usefulness at every possible opportunity in order to reach greater heights, and the best way to display his worth would be by killing Guardians and Protectionists! "Master Nine, this Night Demon must be eradicated as soon as possible! Otherwise, he'll be sure to grow into a thorn in our side!" This plea was echoed by all of the two dozen or so high-ranking Guardians attending the meeting. The threat posed by Night Demon was evident, and Dong Fangsansan was carefully reading through the report with a concerned look on his face. "This is indeed a problem," he sighed. "While it's true that if left unchecked, he'll be sure to turn into a potent threat, but I think it's short-sighted and unnecessary to target him now." Everyone was bewildered to hear this. "Are you suggesting that we could perhaps recruit him to our side?" "Of course not!" Dongfang Sansan chuckled. "He's already taken part in the Parasite Ascension Project, so there's no way we could convert him. Having said that, I also don't think it's a good idea to go after him. Don't forget the nature of our enemies. Their cruelty and ruthlessness are normally a huge headache for us, but those are traits that we can use to our advantage under the right circumstances." "Please enlighten us, Master Nine." Everyone knew that Dongfang Sansan's wisdom was unmatched, and clearly, he had seen something that they hadn't. "You can't just rely on me for everything," Dongfang Sansan said in an exasperated manner. "All of you are leaders of your respective departments. You have to learn to think and make decisions on your own. What if I'm no longer here someday? Will you solve all your problems by resorting to killing them? Why can't you consider this problem from another perspective?" Everyone continued to listen in silence, waiting for Dongfang Sansan to elaborate. None of them saw any shame in losing to Dongfang Sansan in a contest of intelligence. Instead, they saw it as an honor to be able to witness the masterful tactician at work. These people all possessed great intelligence and strategic acumen in their own right, but whenever they were in Dongfang Sansan's presence, they would completely lose the ability to think, choosing to always defer to his better judgment. In their words: "Just throw your brain away when you're with Master Nine because you're not going to need it!" This was a very frustrating phenomenon for Dongfang Sansan, but no matter how he encouraged these people to think for themselves, they simply refused! Hence, despite Dongfang Sansan's best efforts, everyone at the meeting was still staring at him like expectant idiots, waiting for him to elaborate on his master plan. In the end, Dongfang Sansan could only heave a disappointed sigh as he explained, "Right now, Night Demon is a prodigy of the One Heart Church, and he has the blood of many of his peers on his hands, but he's only a General. His feats in the Parasite Ascension Project will definitely have attracted the attention of the main church, so what do you think will happen if we kill him now?" "The main church will be sure to retaliate." "Most likely by killing our prodigies." "And how optimistic are our chances of warding off their attempts at retaliation?" "That depends on who they send." "Alright, in that case, who do you think they'll send to carry out the retaliation if we kill a prodigy of theirs with such immense potential?" "There's a very good chance they'll send people from the Cloud Weapon Archive." "What are our chances of stopping them then?" Grim looks appeared on everyone's face as the reality of their situation dawned on them. "Do you think it's worth losing potentially tens of thousands of future prospects just to kill Night Demon?" "Then why did you suggest killing him?" "But... But if we don't kill him, are we just supposed to let him grow unchecked?" "When did I say we're going to just watch him grow unchecked?" Dongfang Sansan snapped. "An enemy prodigy of Night Demon's caliber must be eliminated as soon as possible!" Everyone was completely stumped. So what are we supposed to do then? We have to ensure that he dies as soon as possible, but we can't kill him?! "Like I said earlier, we have to take advantage of certain traits of our enemies when the right circumstances arise. We can't actively target Night Demon, but that doesn't mean he'll be left to grow unchecked. Take a good look at the report again and tell me what things you see on there that we can use to our advantage." Everyone began carefully studying the report, and after some time, someone asked in a hesitant manner, "Is... Is it that he's killed even Generals from the main church?" "Yes, that's one of the key points," Dongfang Sansan replied. "According to my knowledge, the Parasite Ascension Project is the only official path of ascension in the Church of the Self-Righteous, so even the children of all of the top brass of the main church must take part in the project once they reach the right cultivation base. “Think about how many of them must've perished by Night Demon's hands. Do you think the clans of the deceased will simply accept their losses? According to my knowledge, a total of 163,612 Generals took part in this edition of the Parasite Ascension Project, and only 35,463 returned alive. That means 128,1249 people died in there! This is the highest death count in the history of the Parasite Ascension Project!" Everyone drew a collective sharp breath at these shocking statistics. "So how many people did Night Demon kill?" Dongfang Sansan asked. "Doesn't the report say his kill count was over thirty thousand?" "Wrong!" Dongfang Sansan declared with a smile. "He killed 128,149 people!" ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel·fire·net