Realm Walker

White Dragon stood on the steps in her racing suit, looking down at Zhang Yuanqing with a teasing grin. "Kid, if you land in another S-rank dungeon this time, you'll come out strong enough to take down Li Xianzong for sure."

Green Vine rolled her eyes with exaggerated charm. "Don't jinx it!"

Another S-rank dungeon? I'd rather face Li Xianzong again, Zhang Yuanqing thought as he waved the concern away. "I asked Wang Tai about it. He said that based on all the data he's collected, nobody has ever been thrown into an S-rank dungeon three times in a row."

Big Muscles blinked. "There's data on that? How come I've never heard about it?"

It's public information, man. Anyone can look it up—oh wait, you're a Fire Sage. Zhang Yuanqing returned a polite smile. Never mind.

Tang Guoqiang sighed. "It's a real shame we didn't finish Li Xianzong off at Pingtai Hospital. Yuanshi, watch yourself over the coming days. I've got a feeling he's plotting something. We'll keep up the manhunt and try to deal with him for you, but you know how it is. Tracking down a Spirit Realm Walker in a sea of people is no easy task."

"Be careful whenever you go out these next few days," Green Vine added gently. "Make sure you're not being followed."

After the last incident, the captains were terrified that Yuanshi Tianzun, who hadn't yet grown into his full potential, might get ambushed and gutted by Li Xianzong in some back alley. That would be an enormous loss.

The general mood was sour because of the missing squad members, so after a few brief exchanges, the group dispersed.

Zhang Yuanqing returned to the dining room and resumed wolfing down his meal. Guan Ya, meanwhile, had only eaten half her steak before setting it aside, and was nibbling on a piece of honeydew melon instead.

"You're done already?" he asked.

She smiled dreamily. "I didn't get much exercise today, so I don't need to eat too much."

Zhang Yuanqing scraped the remaining half of her steak onto his own plate without ceremony.

The mixed heritage beauty didn't seem to mind at all. "If Jingwei were here and you tried stealing her food, she'd jump up and smack you senseless." She paused, then added, "I'll be entering a dungeon soon too, actually. A multiplayer one."

Zhang Yuanqing chewed his steak and grinned. "Maybe we'll get matchmade into the same dungeon. If Wang Tai were here, he'd say, 'According to my data analysis, the odds of that are lower than spotting a girl you like on the street and finding out she happens to like you back.'"

Guan Ya batted her eyelashes. "Wouldn't those odds be lower than pricking someone and drawing first blood?"

This open-minded lady... Zhang Yuanqing lowered his head and focused on his food.

Being in the same city would improve the matchmaking odds slightly, but with the sheer number of Spirit Realm Walkers and dungeons out there, the probability of two acquaintances landing in the same instance was vanishingly small. If it ever actually happened, you could only call it fate.

***

After lunch, Zhang Yuanqing pulled on a baseball cap and face mask, used the Disguise Ring to assume Wang Tai's appearance, then activated Night Wandering to slip out of Fu Family Bay.

He sprinted several hundred meters in one burst, casting Night Wandering twice more along the way before finally letting himself become visible. Then, he secured a shared bicycle and pedaled home at an unhurried pace.

He hadn't been to campus in ages. He'd treated a few classmates to dinner and asked them to mark him present at roll call. He'd have dropped out already if it weren't so hard to explain things to his family.

Next year, once I've saved up enough money, I'll tell them I'm withdrawing to start a business. Grandma and Grandpa probably won't object. As long as those two are on board, that's all that matters.

As for his mother's opinion, Zhang Yuanqing couldn't care less. She hadn't spent a single yuan on him in all these years anyway.

He pedaled along, letting his thoughts drift lazily through his mind.

Back home, he took a nap and woke at dusk. He spotted Little Goofball on the bedroom floor pushing his uncle's wallet around, then crawling back and forth while balancing it on his head.

Lately, his aunt had been washing her underwear more frequently, either hanging it on the balcony or tucking it away in the wardrobe. Since Little Goofball couldn't reach either of those spots yet, the infant spirit had settled for the next best thing and often brought his master some money instead. Zhang Yuanqing pulled out three crisp red hundred yuan bills as usual, then sent Little Goofball off to return the wallet.

While waiting for dinner, he booted up a game. Little Goofball perched on top of his head, clutching a controller in both tiny arms, eyes glued to the TV screen, pretending he was playing too.

Zhang Yuanqing played absentmindedly as he mentally reviewed the dungeon strategy guides he'd been studying recently. His goals for the near future were crystal clear: practice combat, study multiplayer Transcendent-tier dungeon guides, and stay alert for any sign of Li Xianzong tracking or hunting him.

As dinnertime approached, he heard the security door open, followed by his aunt's voice.

"Mom, I'm starving! Is dinner ready yet?"

Grandma's reply drifted in faintly from the kitchen. "Give it a few more minutes."

A dozen seconds later, the bedroom door swung open and Jiang Yu'er poked her head in. When she saw her nephew playing video games, her face lit up and she slipped inside, closing the door behind her.

"Let me play, let me play!" she exclaimed as she plopped down cross-legged beside him and snatched the controller off his head. "Why do you have a controller sitting on top of your head?"

Zhang Yuanqing sensed an immediate wave of indignation and hurt radiating from Little Goofball, but within seconds, the infant spirit forgave her. He slid down Zhang Yuanqing's back, crawled over to his aunt, and hugged her thigh, resting his little head against it as he continued to watch the screen.

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. Even an infant spirit craves a mother's warmth.

That was when his aunt lowered her voice, eyes shifting with suspicion. "I've been thinking about something lately."

"What?" Zhang Yuanqing asked, his eyes fixed on the screen, fingers working the controller.

"Your superpower is invisibility, right? That day you just appeared right in front of me out of nowhere."

"More or less," he replied.

His aunt continued to mash the buttons on her controller. "Well, it got me thinking. Have you been stealing my underwear?"

Zhang Yuanqing's scalp prickled. He turned to stare at her, feigning outrage. "How dare you make such baseless accusations! I am a senior operative of a superhuman task force, a paragon of justice and righteousness. How could I possibly stoop to stealing my own aunt's underwear? What kind of animal do you take me for?"

His tone was deadly serious, as though he'd been deeply, personally wounded. Besides, would I even need to turn invisible to steal your underwear?

His aunt gave him a sidelong look. "Oh. I guess I overthought it then. My bad."

Suddenly, she tossed her controller aside and lunged for his wardrobe.

Alarmed, Zhang Yuanqing displayed reflexes sharper than anything he'd shown in combat training, kicking off with both legs and tackling her to the ground. Jiang Yu'er hit the floor with a smack. A brief wrestling match ensued, which she lost decisively.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed as she lay on the floor, huffing and puffing. "It was you all along, you ungrateful little thief! I can't believe you're stealing your own aunt's underwear."

"Mom!" she hollered toward the door, "Yuanzi's been stealing my... mmph... mmph..."

Her final words were muffled as Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly clamped a hand over her mouth. "It really wasn't me. Look, just tell me what you want."

Jiang Yu'er mmphed twice and nodded, and he let go.

"First, you tell me more about the superhuman stuff," she said to her nephew. "Second, give me my underwear back. Third, from now on, you're paying whenever we go shopping. Your auntie's been buying you things for years. Time to pay me back."

Zhang Yuanqing shot her an accusatory look. "You've had your eye on my savings for a while now, haven't you? What kind of elder behaves like this?"

"What kind of nephew behaves like this?"

***

After dinner, Zhang Yuanqing did some shadow boxing barefoot in his bedroom for half an hour, then flopped into bed without washing his feet.

He summoned Little Goofball and offered him a stern lecture. "Stop stealing Auntie's underwear. If you do it again, I'll spank you until you can't sit down."

Little Goofball crawled aimlessly around the bed, giving no indication he'd heard a word.

Just then, Xie Lingxi called. He paused his parenting session and picked up the phone. Her voice came through the speaker, bright and sweet.

—Bro Yuanshi, it's been almost a month since we left Jinshui Amusement Park. You must be due for another dungeon soon, right? I'm about to enter one too, but my next one is a Musician-exclusive dungeon, unfortunately.

She sounded disappointed that she would not be able to adventure alongside him.

"It should be any day now," Zhang Yuanqing replied casually. "It could even be tonight. Hard to say. I've been reviewing dungeon guides lately. So what did the Palace Master do to you that day?"

Xie Lingxi's voice grew aggrieved.

—She strung me up. For hours. But she's gone up to the northern frontier on business, so she won't be back for a while.

"What's she doing up north?"

—She tracked down some leads about what happened to the Chu family. Apparently she's been killing quite a few Bing Zhu Sect members. I just hope she doesn't run into one of their Heavenly Kings.

Despite being bullied by the Palace Master regularly, Xie Lingxi's concern for her was genuine.

"How terrifying are the Heavenly King Enchanting Demons?"

Xie Lingxi's tone grew serious.

—The Bing Zhu Sect's Heavenly Kings are on par with the Five Elements Alliance's elders. Every single one is a formidable figure. As far as I know, over the past few decades, only two or three Heavenly Kings have actually been killed by official forces. More of them have died in Spirit Realm missions than in real world operations.

—The strongest Heavenly King in the Bing Zhu Sect is known as the Fear Heavenly King. I've heard the Great Ancestor say that even if the Fear Heavenly King encountered the Alliance Chief himself, he could still escape unscathed.

Then how terrifying must the Bing Zhu Sect's Asura be? Zhang Yuanqing thought uneasily. "I remember Li Xianzong is a trusted subordinate of the Demon Eye Heavenly King. What's that one like?"

His clearance level wasn't high enough to access files on individuals at the level of these Heavenly Kings.

Xie Lingxi thought for a moment.

—Hmm, the Demon Eye Heavenly King has a nickname. I think it's the Angry Youth Heavenly King? That should be right. Bro Yuanshi, that's about all I know.

She sounded rather uncertain.

—Are you worried that killing Li Xianzong will cause the Demon Eye Heavenly King to go after you? Tell you what, I'll go ask the Great Ancestor for you. Even if I have to throw a tantrum and roll around on the floor, I'll get you the information.

Zhang Yuanqing thanked her and ended the call.

I hope the third Spirit Realm dungeon opens soon. I need to get stronger. I can't keep being this passive. He pulled his cooling quilt over himself and tried to coax himself to sleep.

Suddenly, a faint crackling noise startled him awake. He recognized it at once. The Cat King Speaker was about to play another recording. After days of silence, it was finally acting up again.

He hadn't dared carry it around lately, because the item had a habit of playing audio at the worst possible moments, and it was all too easy to offend someone when it did. Lines like "always looking so weak and pathetic" tended not to go over well.

He placed the speaker on his desk, ready to activate Night Wandering in case it suddenly started broadcasting the Demon Lord's bedroom escapades.

The crackling faded, replaced by a low, raspy voice. "I heard from a senior Walker that the Fallen Holy Grail warps the mind. It amplifies the darkest urges buried in your heart, and the longer you hold it, the less you resemble yourself. No, that's not right. It doesn't change you. It completely unleashes you.

"Cat King Speaker, you were the first item I ever obtained. I need you to record my words, my experiences. If I start losing myself someday, I can listen to these recordings and find the person I used to be."

At this point, Demon Lord must have only recently fallen under Ghost Eye Judge's control. His mind hasn't been twisted yet. Zhang Yuanqing thought of the man the Demon Lord eventually became, and felt a quiet wave of sympathy.

The Demon Lord had been a Nocturnal Specter, which was a Lawful class. Given the Spirit Realm's selection criteria, anyone who was given a Lawful class couldn't have been entirely rotten to begin with.

"The Guild Token is a valuable tool. If I can build my own crew, my chances of hunting down Ghost Eye Judge will improve significantly. Unfortunately, I missed an opportunity to obtain one.

"I've been growing more and more isolated, more and more distrustful of strangers. That mindset won't work in confrontation-type dungeons. Even if you clear the dungeon, you can't earn a Guild Token that way. You have to lead. You have to earn your teammates' trust.

"Today I cleared a dungeon called Yin Yang Town. Spirit Realm number 2273. After reviewing every detail of the run, I realized I missed a hidden mission. If I'd resisted the temptations of lust and bloodshed, I might have triggered it and obtained the item the Yin Yang Hermit left behind. What a waste. Once you've cleared a Spirit Realm, you can never enter it again."

Spirit Realm 2273, Yin Yang Town. Zhang Yuanqing mulled it over for a few seconds, and the corresponding file surfaced in his memory. It was an A-rank multiplayer PvP dungeon that constantly changed. The two opposing sides were typically one of Lawful alignment and one of Evil alignment.

The official database contained seventy-six strategy guides for Spirit Realm 2273, yet every single one described a different experience. It was a deeply strange and punishingly difficult dungeon.

Then again, any A-rank dungeon would be.

Another burst of static crackled from the speaker, and Demon Lord's voice faded. After a few seconds, a new recording began to play. It was again Demon Lord.

"Hey, I made contact with the Aphrodite Society's agent stationed on the mainland today. Her name is Dael, a Level 4 Saint, and an absolute feast for the eyes. She has ocean-blue irises, gorgeous blonde hair, an athletic figure, and the biggest backside I've ever seen on a woman.

"She told me the Spirit Realm is divided into three major zones, each with its own Lawful and Evil factions. Walkers from different zones never encounter each other in dungeons."

His voice took on a questioning tone. "That's strange. Why would the Spirit Realm be divided into three zones? And why exactly three? It makes me even more suspicious that the Spirit Realm isn't simply a supernatural phenomenon. Also, even though Walkers from the three zones never meet inside the Spirit Realm, in the real world, all the official organizations are allied, or at least on friendly terms. That makes it nearly impossible for evil organizations to ally with foreign official organizations against their own region's Lawful factions.

"Dael also mentioned that the Nocturnal Specter class is special. She doesn't know the specifics, but the president of the Aphrodite Society once instructed her to recruit Nocturnal Specters whenever possible."

A tinge of excitement colored his voice. "She invited me to her room tonight for drinks and conversation. I understood the implication. I could see the desire in her eyes. She wanted me."

The recording ended, and only static remained.

During the first recording, the Demon Lord was probably still at the Transcendent tier. But by the second, when he made contact with the Aphrodite Society, he was clearly a Saint already.

He'd shown no deference or wariness toward a foreign Level 4 Walker, and his eagerness to bed a foreign beauty was palpable. His confidence had grown, and his mind had been further twisted.

As Zhang Yuanqing sat there in contemplation, the Demon Lord's voice returned. This time, it seethed with fury and regret.

"Damn it! I never should have slept with Dael. Whatever you do, never sleep with a woman from the Aphrodite Society. Never."

Zhang Yuanqing was baffled by the sudden reversal. Weren't you the one salivating over her? Didn't you say she had the biggest backside you'd ever seen? Did she pull out something bigger than his?

Besides, that's not how you acted later on. You went on to sleep with another Aphrodite Society woman, over and over, and called her an irresistible temptress.

The Demon Lord's enraged voice continued to blast from the speaker. "Sleep with her once and you have to grant her a favor? What kind of garbage ability is that? Is the Love and Desire class just the Spirit Realm's version of a prostitute? I refuse to pay the tab! I will never agree to do that thing for her. Damn it. Damn it all!"

Zhang Yuanqing gradually pieced the puzzle together. Women of the Love and Desire class possessed an ability that allowed them to forcibly collect payment after the act. Any man who slept with one was compelled to fulfill a single demand. The Demon Lord had been too young, too reckless. He'd waded into deep waters without first checking the depth, and had walked straight into the trap.

The recording ended amid the Demon Lord's cursing, and no further recordings followed.

Zhang Yuanqing put the Cat King Speaker away and settled back to sleep. He was drifting somewhere between waking and dreaming when he jolted awake again. This time, it wasn't the speaker. It was the familiar chime of a Spirit Realm notification echoing in his ears.

【Ding. Spirit Realm map loading. You will enter the Spirit Realm in 60 seconds. Your designated Spirit Realm is "Yin Yang Town," Number: 2273.】

【Difficulty: A-rank】

【Type: Multiplayer (Death Type)】

【Main Mission: Reach the central plaza of Yin Yang Town. Defeat the enemy.】

【Note: Non-Spirit Realm items cannot be brought in.】

【Spirit Realm #2273 Introduction: It is said that the founder of Yin Yang Town was a highly accomplished cultivator known as the Yin Yang Hermit. In his later years, the Hermit sought a breakthrough and built Yin Yang Town, hoping to comprehend the great Dao and achieve immortality. Sadly, he failed.】

***

In her apartment, Guan Ya lay on her side in a pink T-shirt and soft joggers, breathing evenly in her sleep.

As an experienced Spirit Realm Walker, she knew that in the days before a dungeon call might arrive, you never slept in lace or silk nightwear. One never knew if the Spirit Realm would come for them at night, and entering a dungeon in something revealing would be a terrible idea, especially when she was acutely aware of just how attractive she was. Therefore, for the past several nights, Guan Ya had gone to sleep fully-clothed, only kicking off her shoes before jumping into bed.

Without warning, she snapped awake. The familiar chime rang in her ears.

【Ding. Spirit Realm map loading. You will enter the Spirit Realm in 60 seconds. Your designated Spirit Realm is "Yin Yang Town," Number: 2273.】

"Yin Yang Town? An A-rank dungeon." She clicked her tongue. "This is going to be trouble."

Her brow furrowed as she snatched the phone from under her pillow, preparing to report to Li Dongze.

***

Li Xianzong slept lightly inside his hotel room. The curtains were drawn tight, and the darkness was absolute. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. The Spirit Realm notification chimed in his ears.

【Ding. Spirit Realm map loading. You will enter the Spirit Realm in 60 seconds. Your designated Spirit Realm is "Yin Yang Town," Number: 2273.】

"Yin Yang Town. An A rank Spirit Realm." A slow smile spread across his face. "Looks like even the heavens want me to power up before the large-scale slaughter dungeon opens."