Tao Bai pulled the K818C from his storage pouch and checked the notifications—10:50 PM, several messages and missed calls from "Nianqiu."
The phone's battery was nearly depleted.
Tao Bai channeled his spiritual energy, which flowed through the charging port.
Within two minutes, it had charged to 20%.
He then stowed it back in his storage pouch.
He proceeded to Huaxia Bank, summoning the Wind-Devouring Bug within him and conducting a small test using the Soul-Merging Technique.
He discovered that as long as spiritual energy circulated throughout his body, the surveillance cameras couldn't detect him.
A gentleman loves wealth but acquires it through proper means.
Using the 15 bank cards he had gathered, he withdrew a total of 300,000 yuan in cash from ATMs at the four major banks in Gui City.
He then meditated and cultivated on a tree branch until dawn the next day, withdrawing another 300,000 yuan before daylight.
Combined with the nearly 100,000 yuan he'd already gathered, Tao Bai now held close to 700,000 yuan in cash.
In the mortal realm where money was nearly omnipotent, Tao Bai didn't mind having too much of it.
Reaching Foundation Establishment meant truly transcending the ranks of ordinary mortals.
He no longer needed to eat three meals a day like common folk, though he could still indulge his appetite.
His body had developed its own energy conversion system, eliminating the need for bodily functions like defecation and urination.
Since reaching late Foundation Establishment, Tao Bai, brimming with energy and vitality, could go months without sleep, replacing rest with meditation.
Even his genitals had retracted into his lower abdomen—commonly known as "horse-like concealment."
As the saying goes, a real man can retract and extend.
When necessary, he could draw forth that five or six-inch member.
He entered a sparsely populated breakfast shop and ordered a plate of rolled rice noodles and a bowl of Gongcheng oil tea.
"Enjoy your meal, Master Taoist."
The proprietor personally served the steaming rice rolls and oil tea, then lingered with something unsaid before departing with a hint of regret.
Tao Bai glanced at the nearby river before lowering his head to eat.
The shop's entrance faced an unobstructed river, forming a reverse bow formation—a feng shui hazard that inevitably hindered business.
Simply placing a large-leafed potted plant or planting a row of trees in front would fix it.
This was the most basic feng shui issue—something he'd understood since childhood.
But since the owner didn't ask, he saw no point in mentioning it.
After finishing his meal, he pressed a blue-black banknote under the bowl and left.
He headed to a secluded spot, summoned a purple wooden sword, rose into the air, and slowly flew toward Liu City.
An hour later, before eleven o'clock, Tao Bai arrived near Liu City Iron and Steel Group.
He landed on a tree, concealed his form, and flashed white light from his right palm, summoning the Wind-Devouring Bug.
"Three feet of wind stirs chaos in the heavens,
Ten thousand miles of bug-song devours mortal dust.
Five senses shared, penetrating the spirit realm,
My soul and yours become one."
After reciting the incantation, Tao Bai lightly tapped his brow.
With a flick of his sword finger, a sliver of white light shot from his forehead toward the Wind-Devouring Bug.
Instantly absorbed, the bug—no larger than a firefly—fluttered its wings and transformed into a pale golden speck.
It shot toward the towering buildings of Liu City Iron and Steel Group.
The Wind-Devouring Bug was Tao Bai's life-bound bug, concealed within her body for twenty-four years, feeding on her heart's blood.
It was precisely this bug's interference that had prevented Tao Bai from detecting his spiritual root.
Inside the General Manager's office.
A middle-aged man with a protruding beer belly and receding hairline wiped the windowsill with a pair of white gloves, leaving a smudge of dust on them.
"Is this it?"
He sneered coldly.
"You call this clean? Gui Nianqiu, I see you're simply unsuited for this job.
Your skills are lacking, and your attitude is worse.
I'm formally informing you now:
Internship failed.
You need not return this afternoon."
"What?!"
Gui Nianqiu was struck as if by a bolt from the blue.
Her face drained of color, and she muttered softly,
"Mr. Zhao, how can you do this... This wasn't even my job... What about my salary for this month..."
"Salary?"
Zhao Jianchao snorted coldly, a smug smile spreading across his face.
"Company policy:
No pay for failed interns.
You signed the contract yourself—forgotten?"
Only then did Gui Nianqiu recall that during the signing, HR had indeed mentioned,
"Internship wages will be retroactively paid upon successful conversion to full-time status," with the conversion contingent upon "passing the assessment."
But there were no evaluation criteria for an assistant position—pass or fail hinged entirely on a single word.
She'd worked nearly a month, sometimes pulling all-nighters, only to be met with a dismissive "Internship failed."
Before leaving home this morning, Gui Nianqiu had counted her wallet—
Barely three hundred yuan.
Her bank balance was under a hundred, and her 350-yuan rent was due in six days...
Still, there was hope—tomorrow was payday!
But the man before her coldly informed her she needn't return this afternoon.
Tears of injustice welled in her eyes, then spilled down her cheeks.
She was a recent computer science graduate.
When she applied to this company, she intended to pursue a technical position aligned with her major.
But HR stated the company had no openings for technical roles—
Only an assistant to the general manager position is available.
The internship paid 2,400 yuan a month, 1.5 times the salary of a technical position.
After HR kept painting a rosy picture, Gui Nianqiu hesitated but ultimately agreed to join.
Gui Nianqiu wore a pair of thin-rimmed silver glasses, her clear eyes peering out from behind the lenses.
Her fair skin and features weren't strikingly beautiful, but she possessed a kind of quiet charm that grew more appealing the longer one looked at her.
Like her older sister, Gui Sixia, she carried an innate, quiet scholarly air.
When Zhao Jianchao, in his thirties, first laid eyes on Gui Nianqiu, his gaze lingered intently. At the time, she simply assumed he was appreciating her professional capabilities.
By her third day of the internship, Zhao Jianchao began steadily testing her boundaries.
Pretending to offer work guidance, he'd come dangerously close;
Circling her chair from behind, his hand would casually brush her shoulder;
At night, he'd invent excuses to keep her working late, claiming young people needed the practice;
He even repeatedly invited her to accompany him to social events, insisting young people needed to broaden their horizons...
That morning, Gui Nianqiu once again firmly rejected Zhao Jianchao's physical advances.
His repeated rebuffs left him thoroughly annoyed.
He began deliberately making things difficult for her, assigning her to clean the office.
He then nitpicked at the work she'd painstakingly completed over nearly two hours, forcing her into submission.
After all, Zhao Jianchao knew Gui Nianqiu's file inside out.
"Little minx, just wait and see how I'll handle you this time!"
"Tonight, you'll crawl obediently into bed and lick me clean!"
"Xiaoqiu,"
Zhao Jianchao sighed, his tone solemn,
"Alright, I'll give you one last chance.
Tonight, I have a business dinner.
You'll accompany me.
I'll overlook your minor work slip-up today. How does that sound?"
The moment Zhao Jianchao finished speaking, the surveillance in the office was silently severed by the Wind-Devouring Bug using his Wind Feather Blade.
Gui Nianqiu kept her head bowed, her small fists clenched tightly.
Tears streamed down her neck, leaving wet trails on both sides of her collarbones.
Her gaze drifted unintentionally to the windowsill Zhao Jianchao had just inspected with his white gloves.
An extreme thought flashed through her mind.
If I jumped from there, I probably wouldn't hit anyone, right?
"Here's the deal. Come with me to dinner, and I'll give you an extra thousand yuan. You have three minutes to think it over."
Seeing Gui Nianqiu hesitating to speak, Zhao Jianchao dangled the bait once more.
"A thousand yuan? Tsk tsk tsk, Mr. Zhao sure is generous. That reward sounds tempting even to BenZuo. Why not let BenZuo accompany you to the banquet?"
A sudden voice cut through the air, followed by a yellow paper umbrella materializing before Zhao Jianchao.