When the outside world was shrouded in night, the sky above the courtyard where Liang Yi resided was similarly a serene nightscape sprinkled with the sparse light of the moon and stars. Not far away, the sea of clouds glowed under the moonlight, revealing a majestic beauty starkly different from the daytime, prompting one to think of the ancient poem "The moon rises above the sea." In the courtyard where the three of them were, it wasn't dim at all; instead, under this moonlight, it was as bright as day, yet softer than daylight. After hearing Liang Yi's question, Wan Tinggui fell into deep thought, absentmindedly holding his teacup and savoring small sips. Liang Yi didn't rush him, instead pouring another cup of tea for himself and his junior sister, waiting quietly for Wan Tinggui's response. "Abnormal People... will they join?" When Wan Tinggui came back to his senses and looked up again, Liang Yi found the answer in Wan Tinggui's response. Honestly, when Wan Tingguo heard Liang Yi's question and seriously considered it, he was truly tempted. The Abnormal People's undying nature and their innate penchant for causing trouble were ideally suited for the Shadow of today. Being undying meant a complete disregard for the enemy's threats, and should they be discovered, the Abnormal People, with their formidable capabilities, still possessed the ability to commit suicide, thereby significantly reducing the possibility of intelligence leaks. Their natural inclination for causing mayhem made them perfect to be thrown into the enemy's rear in the Abyss, following the newly learned Devouring Spirit Scripture; the more havoc, the better. However, what made Wan Tinggui hesitate was the Abnormal People's unpredictable temperaments. Originally, they were mortal enemies with the Devouring Spirit Sect, with the Sect's millennium-long plans utterly thwarted by the hands of Liang Yi and the Abnormal People. Even now that they have broken away from the Devouring Spirit Sect to become a new "Shadow," could those vengeful Abnormal People really set aside past grievances and choose to join them? Most of the Shadow's members were formerly just simple intelligence agents of the Devouring Spirit Sect, almost never taking action, placed as spies within various Sects solely to gather information. These individuals had also almost never had conflicts with the Abnormal People because they were lucky enough not to be seen through by them. As for those who were seen through by the Abnormal People, naturally, they are no longer here. "You don't need to worry about this. Now that you are neither Abyss Cultivators nor Devouring Spirit Sect Cultivators, getting the Abnormal People to willingly help under these two conditions is very simple." Liang Yi said with a smile, revealing part of the truth. Players naturally do not only help those in the Mystical Mechanism Continent; if the rewards are sufficient, the Abyss or Mystical Mechanism are the same to them. However, from the first appearance of the Abnormal People in front of the Abyss, they were perceived as a highly troublesome presence, no Abyss Cultivator could possibly communicate with these madmen who took their own explosive deaths as lightly as eating and drinking - when their own perish, they get plundered as well. So inherently, Abyss Cultivators placed these crazed individuals on the opposing side, which means, in the eyes of the players, the Abyss Cultivators are seen as naturally aggressive red-named mobs like the Devouring Spirit Sect used to be. There were once players who attempted to make contact with the Devouring Spirit Sect to act as subservient spies for profit, but their end was rather tragic - they were killed off before they could even speak, exhausting their resurrection counts. Though players may seem carefree and easy-going, deep down, they harbor a slight sense of superiority. Because they are players, here to play the game - to them, everything in this world is merely data. Accepting quests is a courtesy - if you don't appreciate it and even kill me, then it's a mortal grudge! Since then, no player has attempted to go against the grain, seeking to trigger quests from red-named monsters. "If the Abnormal People really have such intentions, then that would be most excellent." Wan Tinggui, having firsthand knowledge of how troublesome the Abnormal People can be, happily agreed. "The Abnormal People are extremely profit-driven; as long as the benefits are right, they are willing to do almost anything, you can handle this part yourself." Liang Yi nodded, Wan Tinggui's choice was exactly as he had expected. Facing the Abnormal People who could resurrect and had astounding potential, no force would be indifferent. However, neither Liang Yi nor Wan Tinggui raised a core issue that both had in mind, which was what direction the force known as Shadow should take after the war ended. Although the people of Shadow have detached from the Devouring Spirit Sect and even actively helped Mystical Mechanism to crush the Abyss, it does not change the fact that those led by Wan Tinggui are not cultivators of the Righteous Path. Wan Tinggui had never considered himself a cultivator of the Righteous Path. His current assistance to Mystical Mechanism was merely because the Devouring Spirit Sect was backed by the Abyss, and with their strength, they had no chance of causing any disturbance. That being the case, to shatter the Abyss required using someone else's hand, and that hand was Mystical Mechanism. Crushing the Abyss meant the downfall of the Devouring Spirit Sect as well. As for post-war actions, Wan Tinggui did not say anything, and Liang Yi could not bother to ask - it was enough that everyone stood on the same line for now. "Thanks for the reminder." Liang Yi's timely advice was very much appropriate, because Wan Tinggui had not had much contact with the Abnormal People; previously, the Devouring Spirit Sect was more concerned with why the Abnormal People could see through their disguise. Now that there was an intention to recruit the Abnormal People, how to deal with these unpredictably temperamental people was very important. Wan Tinggui had indeed heard of some whimsically temperamental Abnormal People who would suddenly attack their own on a whim. "It's no trouble, but you don't have to hand over all of the Devouring Spirit Scripture to the Abnormal People at once, just carve out the part that allows them to hide their identities." Liang Yi smiled, these pieces of intelligence were the basis of cooperation and were not considered rare information. Su Youyi was holding her teacup, only revealing a pair of gemstone-like bright eyes, quietly watching her senior brother converse with Wan Tinggui. She wasn't clueless about such matters; she just couldn't be bothered to think about them, finding reliance in having her senior brother beside her, there were many things she didn't need to ponder over. Moreover, her brother, seemingly ever steady in his thoughts, found himself endearing to her. "Hmm, I've considered this already, you two may take a look." When this was mentioned, a flash of spiritual energy in Wan Tinggui's hand materialized a thin booklet into her delicate and pale hands. Curiously, Su Youyi reached out to take the booklet passed by Wan Tinggui and leaned her head in together with her senior apprentice brother. White Tiger, seeing the two of them so close together, straightened up with a tiger-like curiosity wanting to see as well, but was unfortunately pressed down firmly by Liang Yi's ruthless hand. "I did worry too much, not expecting you to be prepared already." Liang Yi set down the booklet in his hand; it contained just a very small part of the new version of the Devouring Spirit Scripture, covering exactly the portion that could conceal identity without affecting subsequent cultivation. Wan Tinggui smiled elegantly, although the Black Tortoise Envoy Ling Dongsheng and Aunt Wen were not like the astonishingly brilliant Banished Immortal who had refined the Devouring Spirit Scripture, after all, as Great Cultivators at the Great Perfection of the Eighth Realm, simplifying it somewhat was no issue after they obtained the new version of the Devouring Spirit Scripture. "Although I hadn't thought about recruiting Abnormal People before, I did consider expanding our manpower a bit, so it turned out to be a blessing in disguise." "That's fine, I will also help you spread some messages among the Abnormal People group later on, as for how and what to recruit that will be your own decision." Liang Yi nodded in satisfaction, knowing that when dealing with players, one must never give all the benefits at once, that would be overestimating the players' integrity. Wan Tinggui looked a bit surprised and gratefully thanked Liang Yi. Given her status and position, it wasn't proper for her to personally promote Shadow, but if she didn't, those Abnormal People would also be unaware of their existence. With Liang Yi willing to offer his assistance now, the effect would be much greater than if Wan Tinggui had done it herself. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽 Liang Yi accepted the thanks naturally and then discussed in detail with Wan Tinggui the specific operations to take place, and by the time their conversation completely came to an end, both Liang Yi and Wan Tinggui were very satisfied. Wan Tinggui received Liang Yi's help, and in return, Liang Yi received a wealth of intelligence that Wan Tinggui had gathered in the Abyss and battlefields in recent days; both sides were overjoyed. Liang Yi held the jade tube given to him by Wan Tinggui, only to be startled by the dense intelligence inside after a brief scan with his Divine Sense. "Even we know little about the Abyss, so in order to quickly deepen our understanding of the Abyss, we can't afford to be picky at a time ." Wan Tinggui sighed after taking a sip of tea. "That makes sense, Mystical Mechanism Continent understands too little about the Abyss." After careful thought, Liang Yi agreed, considering the long time they had been fighting against the Abyss without even knowing the actual situation inside it. Every time war broke out, countless Abyss Cultivators swarmed out from the Abyssal Rifts like locusts. Abyss Cultivators are also human, need to cultivate, and have parents too. So what exactly is the world on the other side like, is it a world similar to that of Mystical Mechanism Continent? Without a clear understanding of the Abyss, how could one devise a plan to target it? After all, any viable plan must be based on a wealth of accurate intelligence. This was a point where the usually insightful Liang Yi was helpless, as his understanding was limited to Mystical Mechanism Continent and did not extend to the other side of the Abyss. "This intelligence has come at a crucial time, thank you." Liang Yi was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of this intelligence, which would finally provide a glimpse into the hidden aspects of the Abyss. Wan Tinggui was also happy to see Liang Yi so satisfied. Actually, Liang Yi owed her nothing; since the beginning of their cooperation, he had been taking risks by trusting her. Although the two shared common goals, Wan Tinggui, speaking with conscience, felt she had not helped Liang Yi much; she had only provided him with some insignificant intelligence. Whether Liang Yi sincerely helped her or merely incidentally, the powerful Four Spirits of the Devouring Spirit Sect, nearly all were dealt with by Liang Yi alone. Grand plans of a millennium collapsed in an instant, and after hiding for ten thousand years, they had no choice but to join the Abyss with their tails tucked in to preserve themselves. What Liang Yi had done far exceeded Wan Tinggui's expectations, even if not for Liang Yi leading the Devouring Spirit Sect into such a situation, she herself would not have had the opportunity to break free from it. Although Wan Tinggui did not voice it out loud, she was always quite grateful to Liang Yi in her heart. Liang Yi had helped her a lot behind the scenes, and he had never made any unreasonable demands. If Liang Yi had not had a love interest, Wan Tinggui wouldn't have minded if something happened between them; such an outstanding man would stir anyone's heart. But unfortunately, Liang Yi already had a Su Youyi, whose exterior and talents were both astonishing to her. Watching Su Youyi, whose eyes only seemed to hold Liang Yi, Wan Tinggui couldn't help but sigh at Su Youyi's devotion and marvel at her luck in meeting a man who only had eyes for her. And she, Wan Tinggui, was not the type of woman who is content to share with others, nor did she deign to destroy others' happiness. Wan Tinggui drained the tea in her cup, taking a deep look at Liang Yi and Su Youyi, then greeted them and departed with a natural elegance. Such a couple should not be surrounded by battlefields; they should be happily living a fairy-tale life in a secluded paradise! Thus, she would think of every possible way to end this war, allowing these two to carry her blessings and depart to sweetness sooner!