Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 734: 431, Melee

In the Inner World.

Some Taboo items remain mysterious, but some have been catalogued.

A thousand years ago, during the last epoch of human civilization, Hu’s Information Agency made its fortune off these very things.

At that time, Hu’s Information Agency was just a small organization. An elder known as Hu Shuo founded several orphanages, selected some individuals from among them, and taught them the way of cultivation.

This elder named Hu Shuo was the intelligence chief for a consortium in those days. After the consortium fell, he took his orphans and returned to his old trade.

In the records.

Hu Shuo had close relationships with many of the world’s strongest. He was a lifelong friend to the saviors Ren Xiaosu and Qing Zhen, with Li Shentan, the demigod who once single-handedly held off a million-strong artificial intelligence army, being his grandchild.

During the last disaster humanity faced from the artificial intelligence crisis, Hu Shuo entered the fray alone, with his Twelve Flying Swords dazzling like planets beyond the stars.

And he survived in the midst of a million enemies.

Therefore, many people actually know that the ultimate path of Hu’s Information Agency’s lineage should be the Twelve Flying Swords. But so far, cultivators on this path can only begin nurturing their Heart Sword at A-Class, and many spend their lives managing to nurture merely five or six, finding it incredibly hard to reach Hu Shuo’s peak.

Back then, aside from selling intelligence, Hu’s Institution’s main source of income was compiling dossiers on Transcendents into pamphlets, selling them to the public for one dollar each as juicy news and scandals to read…

This tradition has been maintained. To this day, Hu’s Information Agency still has its own official APP, where spending ten dollars a month grants access to the latest Transcendent intelligence.

Just like a magazine…

In the APP, one can also spend extra money to purchase a catalogue of Taboos.

Hu’s Information Agency serially listed all the Taboo items that had appeared. ACE-001 to ACE-0338 were all ranked by them.

In this catalogue, Zheng Yuandong vividly remembered the function of Taboo ACE-019, the Puppeteer, which was to control others.

Furthermore, this item… was taken into containment by a certain Knight in Taboo Land 002, just to prevent this malevolent object from seeing the light of day again.

Zheng Yuandong silently watched from above. The Puppeteer had indeed reappeared, so Qing Chen’s identity as a Knight had finally been confirmed.

Before this, his judgment of Qing Chen’s identity had all been speculation.

Although he was confident in his intuition, he never had any proof.

Now he did.

Qing Chen must have known he could guess, yet still chose to reveal this information right under his nose.

Was it because he had already come to trust Kunlun?

Zheng Yuandong pondered quietly.

Lu Yuan turned to his boss, “Shouldn’t we intervene?”

Zheng Yuandong smiled, “It’s okay, let’s wait and see.”

Lu Yuan muttered, “Did Qing Chen pull this off too? Why do I feel like Li Yi is acting drunk?”

This time, Zheng Yuandong did not respond.

However, he was also curious about what Qing Chen was really up to.

Although Qing Chen’s identity as a Knight was confirmed, Zheng Yuandong always felt something was missing.

It was as if there should be another clue out there.

Only with this could the whole chain of clues be completed to explain Qing Chen’s current actions.

…

…

In the exhibition hall on the first floor.

Qing Yuan was blending into the Matrix squad, watching Li Yi in the crowd with a cold gaze.

The moment Li Yi spit at Chen Sui, Qing Yuan was dumfounded.

He could never have imagined that the normally seemly Li Yi would do such a thing, and with such accuracy…

For Qing Yuan, Bright Commune and his own biological father, who had traveled through time with him, were his greatest reliance in the Shadow competition.

And now, the actions of Li Yi and Wang Zhenbei had severely undermined his interests.

If Bright Commune became an outcast that everyone wanted to strike down, and if members left due to this fabricated charge, how could Qing Yuan keep competing for the Shadow? How could he deal with other Shadow Candidates?

Qing Yuan’s gaze swept through the crowd. He began to suspect that another Shadow Candidate was scheming against him, but he had no proof.

Moreover, the most urgent issue was how to mitigate the impact of this event.

It seemed that Li Yi and Wang Zhenbei must become the scapegoats, to prevent them from staining Bright Commune’s reputation.

Qing Yuan felt a bitter taste in his heart. After arriving in the 10th city of the Inner World, his intention had been to ally with Zheng City’s local Time Traveler for support. But it turned out the Longhu Commune was not a helping hand; they were a hindrance.

“Should I just kill Li Yi now, to stop him from dragging Bright Commune down with him?” Qing Yuan contemplated.

“No, if I kill him in front of all these witnesses, I won’t be able to escape implication. Thankfully, up until now, Li Yi hasn’t dragged Bright Commune into this,” Qing Yuan thought.

However, just at that moment, Li Yi suddenly declared, “What can you all do to me? I have the backing of Bright Commune, you know. Do you know who Bright Commune’s second boss is? It’s one of the Shadow Candidates, Qing Yuan. If you dare to touch me, just wait for my retribution in the Inner World!”

Having said this, Li Yi looked around defiantly, apparently fearless.

Qing Yuan was instantly alarmed, crying out internally, “Damn!”