Zhang Yu had barely returned to his apartment when a message from Xiong Haohan came through.

Xiong Haohan: Thanks, Zhang Yu. The seeds you recommended this time are top quality. The company is already processing your reward—it’ll be transferred today.

Soon after, Zhang Yu received a 100,000 commission. His heart lifted.

With the hard-earned income from yesterday added in, his savings had climbed back up to nearly 300,000.

Still, there was no response from Yu Xinghan, which made Zhang Yu sigh. "I was hoping to talk more about the Spiritual Realm with him, but the guy gets sucked into work and disappears. No wonder he's a Gold Core Disciple—he really works like one."

Several hours later, a message from Yu Xinghan finally arrived.

Yu Xinghan: Zhang Yu! This gig is actually profitable—and it helps with cultivation too!

Zhang Yu muttered, "This guy better not be getting addicted. Am I setting him on a bad path?"

Fu Ji said, "He had to pass this trial eventually. Selling protein for money beats spending money and still needing to donate protein, doesn’t it?"

Zhang Yu took the chance to bring up the Spiritual Realm.

Yu Xinghan's reply was characteristically straightforward: Small matter. I’ll give you half off tomorrow’s Spiritual Realm session—consider it a thank-you.

Zhang Yu could feel the manic excitement in the guy’s text.

Before he could reply, Yu Xinghan followed up: Don’t say no. Just a small amount. Give me a sec.

Yu Xinghan: Done. I’ve already earned enough for the half-price fee.

Zhang Yu raised an eyebrow and thought, "This guy… his potential on the Immortal Path is getting scarier."

After agreeing on a time to log into the Spiritual Realm the next day, Zhang Yu turned his thoughts to the upcoming Evil God hunt and took a deep breath.

He’d already decided—unless he was absolutely sure, he wouldn't make a reckless move. Still, he couldn’t help feeling tense.

"Did you finish prepping all the fake intel we’re going to leak through the Spiritual Realm tomorrow?" he asked.

Fu Ji replied, "We've gone over this a dozen times. Of course I’m ready."

"But Zhang Yu, there’s something you won’t like, but I have to say it."

"It’s about Bai Zhenzhen… Are you really going to keep the Evil God stuff hidden from her?"

Zhang Yu frowned and said coldly, "You’re still trying to rope Ah-Zhen into your ritual?"

Fu Ji said matter-of-factly, "Why not?"

"We're partners now. Why would I harm you?"

"The ritual boosts potential. It's a great deal. If you gave Bai Zhenzhen this chance, do you think she’d pass it up?"

"A top student like her, given the chance to massively improve her scores? She’d absolutely jump on it."

"And it’s not like she’d betray you. With how close you two are, that’s not even a question."

"This is a massive opportunity. It could hugely improve her odds of passing the Foundation Establishment exam."

"And for you too. With Bai Zhenzhen helping during this hunt, our success rate would go way up."

"It’s a win-win. I don’t see why you’re so hesitant."

Zhang Yu had his reasons, of course.

Because according to Fu Ji, boosting someone’s potential required completing a Ritual.

And the Ritual—by its very nature—demanded the fulfillment of an Evil God’s desires. That was baked into the rules set by the Evil God Kings. Even Fu Ji couldn’t alter them.

Meaning once Bai Zhenzhen underwent the Ritual and awakened her potential, she too would be bound by it.

Zhang Yu asked, "What if you made her fulfill a few easy wishes right after the Ritual—so it’s over and done with on the spot?"

Fu Ji sighed. "If I could do that, I would."

"But just like sigils, a Ritual has a lot of rules built in. You can’t just change them."

"Each time a wish stirs, it gets sensed by the Evil God Kings."

"If I casually burned through all of a contractee’s wishes, it’d be seen as slacking off, sabotaging company profits. Both Bai Zhenzhen and I would suffer Ritual backlash."

Zhang Yu’s brow furrowed deeper. If what Fu Ji said was true, undoing the effects of the Ritual was even messier than he’d thought.

Fu Ji continued, "Zhang Yu, I’m always by your side. What are you so afraid of?"

"If you fail the hunt without Bai Zhenzhen’s help, she’ll be in trouble too, won’t she?"

"Besides, this is her best shot at getting into the Ten Great Academies. Shouldn’t you let her make her own choice?"

The mention of the Foundation Establishment exam made Zhang Yu sigh inwardly.

It was precisely the pressure from those high-ranking Immortals and the looming second-round exam two months away that pushed him into launching this Evil God hunt.

But even if he raised his potential—what about Ah-Zhen? Could she, in her current state, overcome those elite Xiandu candidates and pass?

If she’d been born into a prestigious Songyang clan, her talent and power alone would’ve gotten her in without even needing the Foundation License.

But she was poor…

Zhang Yu couldn’t bring himself to decide for Bai Zhenzhen. After thinking it over, he left the choice up to her.

…

That night, under the bridge.

After hearing Zhang Yu’s rundown on Evil Gods, Bai Zhenzhen said with surprise, "Evil Gods? I thought they were just urban legends. They're real?"

Fu Ji, perched on Zhang Yu’s neck in plushie form, said, "Of course they’re real. I’m the one who unlocked Zhang Yu’s potential."

Staring at the talking plushie, Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes went wide in shock.

After a round of explanations—and confirming that Zhang Yu wasn’t under mind control and the Evil God in front of her wasn’t immediately dangerous—her eyes began to blaze.

She looked at Zhang Yu like she was thinking, "So you’ve been juicing this whole time and didn’t tell me? I even let you borrow my Zhen Spirit Root!"

Fu Ji asked, "So if you had the chance to unlock your potential through a wishing Ritual, would you do it?"

Since taking the Foundation Establishment exam, Bai Zhenzhen had felt a crushing pressure chasing her.

No matter how fast she advanced, how fiercely she improved—it never seemed like enough.

Now, hearing Fu Ji’s offer, her eyes gleamed with determination. "Of course I would! I’d give anything to boost my potential right now."

Zhang Yu sighed internally—just as he expected. Still, he warned her, "Once the Ritual is done, you’ll have to grant her three wishes. Her first one to me was asking for a thousand more. These Evil Gods are never up to anything good."

Bai Zhenzhen looked him in the eye. "But you’re keeping her in check, aren’t you?"

"Yuzi, I have to get into the Ten Great Academies."

"If there’s a way to increase my chances—and it’s free—then taking some risks? I’m fine with that."

"This is my decision. If something happens later, it’ll be my price to pay."

Zhang Yu gave a small nod. "Got it."

Bai Zhenzhen turned to Fu Ji. "So? Can we start now? Is this spot good enough? Let’s get my potential up already."

Fu Ji chuckled awkwardly. "I’m too weak right now. Can’t do it."

"Before I can boost you or Zhang Yu, we have to hunt another Evil God first."

…

The next day.

Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan logged into the Spiritual Realm and arrived once again at Dao-Seeking Hall.

Meanwhile, in a run-down apartment…

An old computer flickered to life, lines of data scrolling across the screen—all of it intel on Zhang Yu.

A scruffy man wandered over, drawn by the display.

His name was Li Quan, a high school graduate in his fifties. After being laid off by his company, he now worked as a top-tier delivery driver.

But in secret, he was also an Evil God follower.

The Evil God he’d signed with was currently sitting in the corner, in the form of a plush bear, absorbed in a video game.

Li Quan turned to him. "Master, we just got a report from the Shadow Parasite Song Xu planted."

The bear barely reacted, nodding. "Mm-hmm."

Li Quan pressed on, "What’s our next move?"

The bear sighed and paused the game. "Was it routed through puppet relays?"

Li Quan nodded. "Three layers deep. They probably don’t know where we are."

The plushie let out a long breath. "Ugh, so annoying. Song Xu is just too damn hardworking. What’s he trying so hard for?"

This bear-shaped Evil God was called Huoshan. Unlike Fu Ji, who was always chasing promotion and freedom, Huoshan preferred to chill in Layer One.

Why grind? In the end, the Evil God Kings just raked in all the profits.

Huoshan liked things just the way they were. No office jobs. No temp work. If he needed money, his followers would earn it for him. Chores? Same deal.

If anything was missing? His believers would get it.

It wasn’t luxury, but a life of lounging around eating and playing games suited him just fine.

To Huoshan, that beat slaving away trying to climb the Evil God ladder.

That’s why he’d spent so long recruiting only the working-class—couriers, deliverymen, construction laborers. They earned money, drew little attention, and were easy to fool. If they died, no one cared.

Everything changed when he recruited Song Xu.

"That guy’s just too intense…"

"Ugh, maybe we should drop this whole 'colleague hunt' thing. It sounds like a pain. What if it goes south? Life’s pretty good right now, isn’t it?"