A Cultivator in the World Dominated By Awakeners-Chapter 52: Fire Ghost

"Hmm..." Oliver narrowed his eyes as he looked at the figure inside the VIP dining room.

What he saw was human—at least technically—but his entire body was made of fire, looking extremely dangerous. It reminded Oliver of when he used Void Body Transformation, except this was fire, not void.

He couldn’t make out the man’s real appearance and only assumed he was a male cultivator.

It seemed like the man was using a transformation technique similar to his own. And even though his body was completely aflame, he appeared to control it so well that no heat radiated from him.

Oliver had no doubt the man was powerful, even though he believed he hadn’t yet reached the Earth Master Realm. Perhaps he was in the Tenth Stage of the Spiritual Master Realm, with a Will that had broken through into the Earth Master Realm.

With that kind of condition, if he couldn’t break through, it likely meant his understanding of his scripture wasn’t yet sufficient.

What confused Oliver, though, was why this figure remained in his fiery form even outside of combat.

Murphy approached the flaming man before the door to the VIP dining room was closed behind him.

The table was laid out with luxurious food, complete with high-quality wine.

Murphy bowed respectfully to the figure made of fire before sitting across from him.

"Mr. Fire Ghost, I need your help," Murphy said, his voice low but barely concealing his deep-seated anger.

"Seems like you’re just after revenge," Fire Ghost replied, even chuckling lightly.

His voice sounded like any other man’s.

"Just tell me who the target is. You don’t need to explain why you hate him so much," he added.

Murphy nodded and pulled a photo from his shirt pocket.

It was a picture of Oliver and Ivy crossing the street after leaving the bar and heading toward the hotel.

He hadn’t expected that they would’ve been photographed.

Murphy then began explaining who Oliver was.

"That guy. But he’s a student of the Chairwoman of the Manchester Cultivator Association. I’ve already asked the police for help, but they backed off in fear of his teacher. Even other strong figures are scared, including those more powerful than you. Out of all the people who take assassination jobs, you’re the only one who never cares who the target is—even if they have a powerful background. I just want to know if you’re willing to take this mission. I want you to kill him and bring me his corpse. If you agree, I’ll help you get access to over a hundred death-row inmates scheduled for execution this year. After all, my uncle handles them—and last time, you failed to kidnap them."

"That’s surprising!" Fire Ghost said after hearing Murphy’s words.

"If I had to guess, you don’t actually gain anything from this revenge, do you?"

"No..." Murphy nodded instinctively, though it wasn’t the whole truth. He just didn’t want to talk about it with anyone.

"No benefits, huh? So this is purely emotional. I didn’t expect you’d go this far just on impulse. Did he steal your girlfriend and sleep with her in front of you?" Fire Ghost chuckled.

"You—!" Murphy clearly hadn’t expected Fire Ghost to say something like that.

Though it wasn’t true, the jab stung. It was a crude joke, and he found it deeply insulting.

Still, he was too embarrassed to explain the real reason behind his hatred for Oliver.

If it were just about losing a hand or being kicked twice, he wouldn’t hold such a deep grudge. But the White Goose King Egg—an incredibly valuable item that could’ve drastically boosted his strength—was lost. He hadn’t been able to sleep since then, constantly thinking about it.

3,000 Special Proteins—when consumed, gave someone the physical strength of a Seventh Stage Cultivator of the Spiritual Master Realm or an Awakener at Level 14.

The combination of physical power and superpowers would have produced devastating combat potential.

He had lost that opportunity and was now certain that Oliver had devoured the entire egg.

In the end, he believed that only Oliver’s death would give him peace. And he wanted the corpse because he could still extract some of the Special Protein—at best, a third, or about a thousand units. Still an immensely valuable amount.

He didn’t dare get angry at Fire Ghost. Aside from being stronger, Fire Ghost was notorious for his total lack of fear—even toward people stronger than himself.

The main reason? Somehow, Fire Ghost possessed the ability to create manifestations of himself, despite not having reached the Earth Master Realm.

More astonishingly, the power of his manifestations was equal to his true body.

To this day, no one knew his real appearance, as his manifestations were perfectly designed to leave no trace of his identity—just a humanoid figure made of fire.

He had built his own cultivator group using only his manifestations.

The manifestations had been destroyed multiple times—but they always came back not long after.

At this point, Oliver finally learned who Fire Ghost was and what he was capable of—because while watching him, he had sent a message to Lisa asking about him.

Evelyn had told him that if he ever wanted to know about a certain figure, he could just text Lisa, as she had access to the intelligence gathered by the Cultivator Association.

"What’s your answer, Mr. Fire Ghost?" Murphy asked again.

"Of course I can take the job. But I want the prisoners first," Fire Ghost replied.

"Not all of them. Just a third," Murphy answered instantly—he wasn’t stupid enough to trust him completely.

He was also paying his uncle for the access, and losing a third was the maximum loss he was willing to risk if things went south.

"Sure, that’s fine." Fire Ghost didn’t object.

"When will you act?"

"I won’t rush it. I need to observe him first so I can kill him cleanly. He’s the disciple of that woman, after all. It’s better if no one knows I’m the one who did it."

"You’re right." Murphy agreed—he didn’t want to be exposed as the one who had paid for the hit either.

Unfortunately for them, neither realized that Oliver was watching everything.

He was thankful he had Void Sense, which was incredibly useful for surveillance. Without it, he’d be in serious trouble.

Even now, knowing all this didn’t make him feel like he could handle it easily.

"What should I do?" Oliver wondered.

He had relied on his teacher’s name before to scare people off. But this time, that clearly wasn’t going to work—unless he directly asked her for help.

The problem was, he hesitated to do that. He still had a sense of pride.

If he did, he’d feel like a spoiled child running to his parent whenever he got into trouble of his own making.