Chapter 646: Great Merits, Special Consultant!
[Ding! The mentality of the Child of Destiny, Xiao Fan, has collapsed. Plundering +9999 Destiny Points!]
[Ding! The mind of the Child of Destiny, Xiao Fan, is unstable. Plundering +9999 Destiny Points!]
…
Xiao Fan had originally thought he could show off in front of Liu Ruyan and An Zhiyue, but he ended up making a huge mess.
At this moment, Xiao Fan, looking utterly disheveled, wanted nothing more than to vanish. He absolutely did not want An Zhiyue to see him in such a pathetic state, so he instinctively tried to hide behind Shen Anyu's taller frame. His tactical gear was shredded, smeared with dirt and his own blood. The proud, unyielding posture of the Super Soldier King was gone, replaced by the slumped shoulders of a man who had been thoroughly and publicly broken.
An Zhiyue's arrival felt like a spotlight thrown onto his failure. He could feel her sharp, intelligent gaze sweep over him, her expression a mixture of surprise and utter astonishment. He didn't need to hear the words; he could see them forming in her eyes, a silent, devastating indictment.
'Xiao Fan, you're a Celestial now. You're the legendary Super Soldier King, the Black Dragon's Fang. How could you be wounded this severely by a mere Half-Step Celestial Master like Yao Qi? How could you be beaten into this state?'
The unspoken question hung in the air, thick and heavy. It felt like contempt. It felt like she was telling him to get out, to leave the team, that his very presence was an embarrassment to the legends he was supposed to embody. The heat rising to Xiao Fan's face was scorching. It was the burn of pure, unadulterated shame. He opened his mouth, a desperate need to defend his honor bubbling in his throat.
'It wasn't that I was weak!' he wanted to scream. 'Yao Qi was strange! He had some kind of dark power that exploded from his body, a force on par with a true Celestial! Something like that Yin-Corroding Demon Lord…'
But before he could stammer out an excuse that would only sound like a coward's plea, Shen Anyu stepped forward, his voice calm and clear, a charming smile playing on his lips as he addressed An Zhiyue.
"Fortunately, we arrived just in time," Shen Anyu explained, his tone casual yet carrying an air of authority. "Yaner here rushed up and finished off Yao Qi in a flash. If she hadn't, I'm afraid Brother Xiao Fan would have sacrificed himself to take down that major wanted criminal…"
In just a few sentences, Shen Anyu had masterfully painted a picture of the entire event. He didn't lie, not exactly. But he framed the truth in the most humiliating way possible. With devastating precision, he detailed how Xiao Fan was hammered into the ground, how he was beaten until he was spitting up mouthfuls of blood, describing with almost clinical detachment just how miserably he had been defeated before help arrived.
An Zhiyue's gaze toward Xiao Fan shifted, growing even stranger. It was no longer just shock; a flicker of pity and disappointment was now mixed in, which was somehow even worse than scorn.
The other powerhouses from the Yanxia Special Department nearby were all too familiar with Xiao Fan's legendary reputation. He was an idol to many of them, a figure of reverence and admiration. Now, their gazes also carried an indescribable quality. The whispered awe that usually followed him had died, replaced by stunned silence and awkward, shifting eyes. They looked from the composed Shen Anyu and the powerful Liu Ruyan to the broken man they had once deified.
'The living legend of the Special Department... a newly ascended Celestial... was actually beaten to within an inch of his life by Yao Qi? He almost died?' The thought was a virus, spreading through the ranks, poisoning their perception of him forever.
Xiao Fan could only stand there, speechless.
[Ding! The Child of Destiny, Xiao Fan, feels stifled. Plundering +9999 Destiny Points!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny, Xiao Fan, is extremely aggrieved. Plundering +9999 Destiny Points!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny, Xiao Fan, has given up. Plundering +9999 Destiny Points!]
…
Xiao Fan had already given up. What could he say? Shen Anyu's words, while twisted for maximum impact, were fundamentally true. If Shen Anyu and Liu Ruyan hadn't appeared at that exact moment, he probably would have been killed by Yao Qi's final, desperate attack. He would have become a laughingstock for the ages.
A dignified Super Soldier King, the Black Dragon's Fang, an expert who had just broken through to the Celestial realm, was actually killed by a Half-Step Celestial Master. No matter what strange power Yao Qi had tapped into, no matter what special circumstances there were, a defeat was a defeat.
Beaten to death by Yao Qi. The thought was a spike of ice in his gut.
Xiao Fan felt a suffocating pressure in his chest, a profound sense of grievance, but he forced it down. Swallowing his pride, he bowed his head slightly to Shen Anyu and Liu Ruyan. "Thank you. Thank you both for saving my life. Xiao Fan will repay this debt in the future."
[Ding! The Child of Destiny, Xiao Fan, failed to show off and was instead suppressed. Plundering +66666 Destiny Points!]
…
"It's nothing, it's nothing. Just a small effort," Shen Anyu said with a dismissive wave of his hand, his smile never faltering. "It was all Yaner's credit, really."
Xiao Fan turned to thank Liu Ruyan again. A bitter irony gnawed at him. He had done the heavy lifting, wounding Yao Qi so severely that he was on his last legs, and Liu Ruyan had merely delivered the final blow. She had stolen his kill, but in doing so, she had also saved his life. He was trapped in a web of gratitude and resentment.
Of course, the reality of the situation was far more complex. As a Child of Destiny, Xiao Fan was constantly enveloped by the ethereal glow of Luck, favored by the world's very will. Had Shen Anyu, the Great Villain of Destiny, not interfered, his fate would have been different. He would never have truly died at Yao Qi's hands. At the critical moment, he might have experienced another explosive power-up, or some long-lost master might have inexplicably appeared to rescue him from the brink. With over two million Destiny Points still buffering his life, how could a mere Yao Qi possibly end him?
But Xiao Fan didn't know he was a pawn in a cosmic game. Oblivious to the currents of fate, his thanks were utterly sincere.
Liu Ruyan, however, didn't claim all the glory. She gave a little snort, a hint of amusement in her eyes as she glanced between the two men. "Half and half," she declared. "I'll accept the part about saving your life. But the credit for killing Yao Qi? We'll split that evenly."
"I've already retired from the service. This kind of credit is useless to me now," Xiao Fan said with a bitter, self-deprecating smile.
"Then all the credit goes to Shen Anyu?" Liu Ruyan's beautiful eyes turned to Shen Anyu, a playful glint within them. "With such a great merit to your name, you could easily become a Special Consultant for the Special Department. Your rank would be even higher than a Senior Consultant, comparable to a regional governor. You wouldn't have any specific duties or power, but your status would be extremely high."
In reality, merely killing Yao Qi wouldn't be enough to warrant such a prestigious title. But Liu Ruyan was well aware of Shen Anyu's other recent… accomplishments. He had helped An Zhiyue take down Alliance Master Yan Lingxiao and the notorious leader of the Blood Skull Mercenary Group, Asura Demon King Chu Yun. Adding this latest feat to the list, that made three major contributions. It was more than enough to qualify him for the role of Special Consultant.
"Being a Special Consultant isn't a bad deal," Xiao Fan agreed, nodding weakly.
Shen Anyu raised an eyebrow. 'What use is a title like that to me?' he thought with disdain. 'It's like the Great Sage Equal to Heaven—a grand name with no real substance. It's not even as useful as a Stable Keeper who actually gets to manage the horses.'
Just then, An Zhiyue spoke up, her voice firm and clear. "Shen Anyu, Ruyan's suggestion is a good one. Becoming a Special Consultant would be of great benefit to you. I know you don't care about power or wealth, but with that status, you would be able to learn many of the Special Department's secrets and gain access to more profound intelligence."
"Well, since you've all put it that way, I suppose I'll reluctantly agree," Shen Anyu said, his expression one of pure helplessness, as if they had twisted his arm into accepting a great burden.
Seeing Shen Anyu's pained acceptance after so much persuasion, the surrounding members of the Special Department felt a surge of envy so sharp it was almost painful. They grumbled internally, their eyes wide with disbelief.
A Special Consultant for the Special Department! Even with no specific duties, the annual stipend alone was in the tens of millions—free money, equivalent to the salary of a top-tier academician. The status was comparable to a provincial governor! And that was just the baseline. If they were ever requested for a mission, the additional rewards were astronomical. Liu Ruyan, as a Senior Consultant, had an appearance fee of five million just to help encircle Yao Qi; the rewards for her success would be even greater.
Beyond money, there were benefits that couldn't be quantified: access to rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures, restricted cultivation resources, and, most importantly, classified information.
And this guy was acting like it was a chore?
The position of Special Consultant was specifically created for monstrously strong individuals who possessed immense power but had no desire to be shackled by rules and regulations. Every consultant was either a Celestial-level existence or had accumulated merits of equivalent magnitude. Their identities were highly classified, unknown to outsiders.
It was also worth mentioning that the ultimate leader of the Yanxia Special Department was none other than Shen Anyu's own maternal grandfather, An Youmin.
Shen Anyu, of course, couldn't care less about the stipends and subsidies. He was more interested in what An Zhiyue had mentioned: the deeper secrets. That was the only reason he agreed to take on the title.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have even bothered to humor them.
Tens of millions in an annual allowance? That was like throwing crumbs to a beggar. First Young Master Shen's pocket money for his women often exceeded hundreds of millions at a time.
Compared to the paltry benefits, the trove of secrets held by the Special Department was the real prize. It was the intelligence agency of a top global power; the amount of confidential information it possessed was unimaginable. Perhaps within its archives lay more secrets about the Xuanhuang World and the true nature of Cultivators.
Even though Shen Anyu was the First Young Master of Yanxia's Shen Clan, and his grandfather was the department's helmsman, it would be inappropriate for him to overstep his authority and demand access to such files. But by becoming a Special Consultant, the gates would swing wide open. He would be able to see everything.
This classified intelligence was invaluable.
Seeing that Shen Anyu had agreed, a rare, genuine smile blossomed on An Zhiyue's beautiful and heroic face. "If the old man knew you also joined the Special Department and became a Special Consultant, he would be very happy."
The "old man" she referred to was her father, Shen Anyu's maternal grandfather, An Youmin.
When Xiao Fan heard this, his expression froze. He whipped his head around to look at Shen Anyu, his face a mask of shock and utter dismay. He was completely, devastatingly stunned…
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