3 Arc 1.1

Shen Jiyu opened his eyes abruptly. The first thing he felt was incredible weakness. He had never felt anything like this before: it was as if his arms were made of jelly, extremely feeble.

What kind of lifeform was this? He took a deep breath and almost threw up. The air was heavy as if mixed with heavy, impure chemicals, completely unsuitable for his consumption.

He was lying on a small and hard bed that made it difficult for him to stretch his legs, not to mention that the bed also had a musky smell that irritated his nose.

"What on earth is this?" he asked as he stood up from the bed. When has Shen Jiyu been in this kind of environment?

His name, Ji Yu means the rain has stopped. From this, one could only imagine how much his parents wanted a child. His birth means the continuation of the divine lineage of Baihu, the white tiger and it could be concluded that from when he was born Shen Jiyu's legs have not touched the floor.

The very air he breathed was supposed to be the most pure, the most concentrated with spiritual energy–when had such filthy air passed his nostrils?

He frowned, gritting his teeth. To think that Wei Mu Chen would use the ancient oath the Shen family had made to the Imperial family to make him go on this mission he wanted nothing to do with.

But just as he was cursing the Crown Prince to the heavens, a thought soon flashed in his mind. What would be the expression of the Heavenly Emperor when he heard his beloved son had used what the Wei Clan had kept close to their chest for thousands of years to save Feng Mian?

The image of the Heavenly Emperor's contorted face made the terrible environment a tad better.

"Realm Master! Realm Master! Did you arrive safely?"

The bangle that Wei Mu Chen had given him glowed and a clone of an immortal appeared in the middle of the room.

The young man looked around the room and flinched, "Sorry, Realm Master. This was the nearest host I could find on such a short notice. I did not do a background check on him. Ah! So poor."

Shen Jiyu unscrupulously sized him up and down. He looked a bit young, with white fluffy hair and leafy green eyes. From the informal way he spoke, he was the ascended immortal that was sent to help.

"Are you the member of the Bureau of Monitoring that betrayed the Imperial Princess for the Crown Prince?"

During his task here, he needed to stay clear of the Bureau. The Chief of the Bureau of Monitoring was Wei Ruo Xi who detested Feng Mian and the only person she hated more than her younger brother might just be him.

A smirk appeared on Shen Jiyu's face. He felt no remorse for his actions against that insufferable b***.

"I did not betray the Chief." The youth hurriedly said, waving his hands as if it would make him look more sincere, before he quietly added, "I was kicked out of the Bureau. My name is Xiao Shu."

"Kicked out? But you still have the cultivation technique of transmigrating through your divine soul. It was not wiped clean?" Shen Jiyu asked curiously. Normally Ruo Xi and her subordinates were much more thorough.

Xiao Shu looked around awkwardly and then made a poor attempt to divert the conversation, "Realm Master, don't worry. I have transmigrated to over 100 worlds and solved various missions. You would not find anyone more qualified than me to aid you in this noble mission."

"Great." Shen Jiyu said, already getting bored of the conversation. He took a good look around the room. There were a lot of posters and newspapers littered around the room. The walls were old and their colour was fading away. He was a little curious about how the colour came about—were the walls meant to be coloured?

As he studied the room, there were suddenly several loud knocks on the door.

"Lu Yan! Lu Yan! I know that you're here. Open the door." The voice of a middle-aged woman sounded outside the door.

"Lu Yan? Is that the name of this temple?" Shen Jiyu asked as he glanced at the translucent clone.

Temples were special existences favoured by the Bureau of Monitoring. Some called them hosts, but traditionally they were known as temples- bodies of mortals that could host an immortal's soul without exploding.

"I am not sure. My true body is still waiting for the masters of the Moon Augur sect to read the fate of your host and relay it to us. But from experience, I say that it is the name of the host body, probably."

"Relay the message that I will give them two hours at most to send me the necessary information."

Shen Jiyu decided to give them more time since it was their first time doing something like this. He took another breath of the strange air and frowned, a scowl forming on his face. However, if they took more than two hours, he would go back to the Heavenly Capital, beat them up, and descend again to continue this unwanted task.

He reached the door and pulled it to no avail.

"Realm Master, you need to turn it this way."

Shen Jiyu followed Xiao Shu's instructions and the door opened to reveal a stout woman with red hair who glared at him.

"You f**king twat. Did you not hear your name being called?" She shouted, spittle flying everywhere.

Shen Jiyu backed away in disgust but it seems to make the woman more angry.

"Get out of my house. If you don't have the rent for this month, then pack your things and go."

"You.."

"Don't bother begging me. If you can't find a job then you should go to a shelter. Do I look like some kind of philanthropist to you? If you don't have two thousand yuan with you, get out."

Shen Jiyu? raised an eyebrow as he watched the madwoman rave and scream.

"Is she shouting at this Lord?" Shen Ji Yu asked curiously.

Beads of sweat appeared on the forehead of Xiao Shu's divine sense. "Realm Master, please don't kill her. If you kill her before her time, it will cause an anomaly, and the Bureau will send officers to investigate."

"What a foolish mortal woman!" Shen Jiyu intoned. "I will forgive you this once. Leave and let this lord continue on his business."

He suddenly missed his ever-present spiritual power. Couldn't he blast this woman to another realm for her actions this night?

The landlord opened her eyes, shocked at the words that had left his mouth. Was this the normal Lu Yan who was quick to get on his knees to beg her for an extension? Did searching for a job turn him crazy?

The woman had a quick and rude mouth and she was quite cautious. Lu Yan was an able-bodied young man and she had heard stories of how dangerous one could be if one snapped.

Under Shen Jiyu's watchful and curious eyes, she backtracked, hurriedly taking out her phone and calling the reliable three digits number.

***

An hour later, Shen Jiyu was standing outside the one-storey building, a bag in his hand.

"What just happened?" he wondered to himself.

As if to answer him, the thunder overhead grew louder and rain pattered onto the ground as it began to fall in earnest.

Xiao Shu watched as the Realm Master stood in the middle of a deserted sidewalk, drenched by rain. This was definitely not a sign of the start of a great mission.

Thinking of the Penglai Realm and the Shen Family, Xiao Shu shivered; he should not have taken this job.