Chapter 101: Heaven Favors Life
This was a self-built residential building. On this floor, apart from some fanatics who had been subdued, there were also a number of ordinary people who had been bewitched, including the owner of the building.
However, there was no time for questioning now. Since it wasn’t clear whether there were still more fanatics hiding on the upper floors, those confirmed to pose no threat were handed over to the federal police, while the Transcendents led the team upstairs.
They climbed several floors in a row without finding anyone. With only the last floor remaining, just as someone began hoping for an early end to the day, the person in the lead suddenly gave a tactical signal — someone was inside.
A second signal followed shortly: three people.
Just three? That would be manageable.
Wan Luo led the team in. A barrage of gunfire mixed with the noise of Transcendent powers filled the air, and then the room fell silent again.
“These bastards are always up to some disgusting crap!”
A voice filled with disgust came from within. Out of curiosity, Xu Zhi peeked inside.
What she saw made her expression turn a little odd.
This floor had only one large room. Whether by design or coincidence, it had been converted into a large open space — around 260 square meters. There was no furniture, only three fanatics and—
—an eerie and twisted ritual formation etched into the floor using blood mixed with unknown materials.
This formation looked extremely familiar to Xu Zhi.
It was exactly the same sacrificial formation used by the high-rank zealot to forcibly create a new Archbishop.
At the center of the formation was a container — a far more ornate one than she had seen before — filled with dozens of hearts, soaked in blood. Xu Zhi could see they were still faintly pulsing, not yet lifeless.
Compared to the one the high-rank zealot had drawn, this version was clearly more refined and complete. Having observed the formation several times, Xu Zhi could now faintly tell that this was just one part of something larger.
She recalled the red lights she had seen on the top floor and realized this must be just one segment of a grander formation. There could be other sites where the same formation had been carved — and she had no idea how large the overall scale might be.
It was worth noting: any living person caught inside the formation’s range would die. If the ritual’s coverage was large, then this would be an enormous mass sacrifice.
Xu Zhi studied the expressions of the Transcendents present and realized they didn’t seem to be aware of this. They just knew it was some evil ritual — but didn’t know its purpose.
It seemed this sort of thing hadn’t happened in the Federation before. This might be the first time.
Then again, the Federation had more resources — and more living people. The cultists didn’t have to act in a rush like they did in Cloud City; they could prepare at their leisure.
“Contact logistics, get this cursed place dismantled.”
“They’re already dealing with another ritual formation, and there’s a queue. Estimated time of arrival: four hours.”
“Damn it — why haven’t more formation-specialized Transcendents awakened yet?”
None of the Transcendents dared to interfere with the formation. The functions of cultist rituals were often bizarre — acting without full understanding could lead to a deadly backlash. The logistics department had people specialized in this.
Xu Zhi’s attention turned to the only surviving fanatic. He didn’t look afraid — in fact, there was a trace of arrogance in his expression, as if he hadn’t lost at all.
That might partly be because his brain wasn’t functioning well, but still — cultists treat their rituals as lifeblood. If that lifeblood was about to be destroyed, panic would be natural… unless he believed it wouldn’t be destroyed.
Xu Zhi raised an eyebrow and patted Lin Zizhen’s shoulder. When he turned to look at her, she spoke:
“Heaven favors life — and so do I.”
“One thousand high-grade Moth-type cores, and I’ll give you a piece of information.”
Lin Zizhen’s eye twitched involuntarily. Even though he wasn’t the one authorized to approve this, he couldn’t help but want to curse her out.
A thousand high-grade Moth-type cores?
That wasn’t something their city could provide — they’d have to borrow from others.
Across the entire Federation, the total inventory of such cores might only be ten or twenty thousand. She was asking for a full thousand in one breath!
Lin Zizhen had already connected his earpiece to his higher-ups before meeting Xu Zhi, so everything she said was heard on the other end too.
A few seconds later, Xu Zhi added, “Oh, and this information is time-sensitive. Don’t blame me if you miss your window.”
She was confident that, with those words, the Federation would have no choice but to buy.
And if — by chance — they didn’t? That would no longer be her problem.
After all, this wasn’t her territory.
“Eight hundred. How about that?”
Classic haggling — but this time, Xu Zhi didn’t budge. She shook her head.
“I believe this information is worth a thousand.”
After all, the cultists clearly wanted an Archbishop to appear sooner rather than later. This wasn’t likely to be a one-time occurrence. The information had ongoing value.
“Deal. But the Capital’s reserves are insufficient — we’ll need to coordinate with other cities. The cores will arrive within two hours.”
Xu Zhi nodded.
“That’s fine. I trust the Federation won’t cheat me. I’ll provide the information now.”
After all, the moment she shared it, she would once again prove that — in some ways — she knew more than the Federation. It would make Cloud City seem even more mysterious.
The Federation wouldn’t dare ruin this relationship just for one thousand cores.
Besides…
She wasn’t planning to “survive” this time. She couldn’t take the cores back with her anyway — she’d have to come back with a new spiritual body to collect them.
After the deal was confirmed, Xu Zhi pointed to the ritual formation and said, “This thing is just part of a much larger ritual. I estimate the ritual will be activated within the next four hours. You’d best search the Capital for similar formations.”
“The scale won’t be small — and everyone within the formation’s bounds will die. If you can’t destroy it in time, I suggest evacuating everyone within the area.”
She added with a sigh, “You’re really lucky to have met me — otherwise, this would’ve ended very badly.”
As she finished speaking, Lin Zizhen’s face turned grim.
He looked at her and asked for confirmation, “Are you sure? You understand the consequences if this information turns out to be false?”
Xu Zhi nodded, “Of course. Why else would I dare to ask for a thousand?”
“Alright.”
This was no trivial matter. Within minutes of Xu Zhi’s statement, an emergency order was issued to investigate and locate any similar ritual formations in the city. If any were found, the area would be cordoned off and evacuated as soon as possible.
This would consume a huge amount of manpower and resources — all because of one word from Xu Zhi.
If she were lying, the Federation would immediately sever all ties with her, and she would become an enemy. While that might not matter right away, no one could say when Cloud City’s gates might suddenly open.
And besides — she hadn’t even collected her thousand-core reward yet.
That was also why the Federation concluded she was likely telling the truth. Her greed for the cores was real — and pulling a stunt like this would bring her no benefit whatsoever.
