An Qiao and the others put their strength into burying Chen Fan, Luo Bufan, and the rest.
Looking at the corpses scattered all across Haishi Village, Qi Yuan showed a look of heartbreak in his eyes.
"So many dead people—think how massive the funeral feast would be! What a pity... I can't eat it!"
A notification that the mission was complete had already arrived; they were about to leave the task world.
Qi Yuan looked at Haishi Village, now reduced to ruins, his expression calm.
"If there's ever a chance to come back in the future, I'll eat then."
Right then, An Qiao walked over. She looked at Qi Yuan, her face filled with respect.
"Brother Qi, once we get back, I'll give you the captain's relics."
Generally speaking, if a newcomer successfully completed their first task, they would return to the stronghold where the veteran who had taken the mission was stationed.
"Right. What's the place you're returning to called?" Qi Yuan couldn't help asking.
An Qiao's pupils still seemed slightly dazed, but she answered, "The Death Qi World, but... we prefer to call it... the Yellow Springs World.
"Living within the Yellow Springs World is a group of people who are already dead, or perhaps, people on the verge of death who haven't quite died yet."
"Oh, then let's call it the Yellow Springs World. I'm patriotic; I support domestic goods," Qi Yuan blurted out without missing a beat.
His words completely stumped An Qiao and the others.
"Now that the task is complete, we can't remain here for more than an hour. If you silently chant 'return' in your mind, you can go back to the stronghold," An Qiao explained to Qi Yuan.
"All right."
Qi Yuan glanced over at Xiao Mei not far away and waved.
With that innate marriage-prone physique of hers, he just hoped she wouldn't have gotten married a bunch more times the next time he saw her.
*Return!*
Qi Yuan chanted silently in his heart.
In an instant, he seemed to sense time and space turning upside down. In his ears, he heard countless wails and murmurs.
This sensation lasted for less than a breath before dissipating completely.
When his vision brightened again, he found himself standing in a low, cramped stone chamber.
The stone chamber wasn't large, roughly thirty square meters.
In the southern part of the room stood a stone table. On it rested a stone lamp, its shade holding a single candle that cast a dim yellow glow.
This was also the sole light source within the chamber.
"Hmm... free housing?"
Qi Yuan surveyed his surroundings, quite intrigued by everything before him.
This room appeared to have been carved out of a single monolithic boulder, and the stone table was seamlessly connected to the floor.
Qi Yuan pushed open the stone door, only to discover that he was currently standing on a sheer cliff.
In other words, the entire stone chamber had been hollowed straight out of the precipice.
"If the apocalypse arrives and zombies run rampant, I could stockpile some supplies and hide here. The zombies definitely wouldn't be able to get in."
Had this been when he was a kid, Qi Yuan would have absolutely loved a stone room like this and treated it as a secret base.
Now, however, he was an adult, so his heart only fluttered a little.
Scanning the surroundings, he noticed many stone chambers similar to his own along the cliff face.
Beneath the cliff lay a valley filled with a heavy floral fragrance. Taking a deep breath of it made one feel somewhat dizzy and lightheaded.
Qi Yuan followed the stone steps down the cliff.
"Brother Qi, over here!" Not far away, An Qiao waved at him.
The current An Qiao looked no different from how she had appeared in the task world, still clad in the Demon Suppression Division's black martial uniform.
However, in this stronghold, Qi Yuan still spotted quite a few men and women dressed in styles reminiscent of the modern world.
At that moment, a wizened old man sidled over. He sniffed at Qi Yuan, looking somewhat anxious. "A newcomer? What was your task reward? Was it a Body-Tempering Blood Pill?
"If it was, do you want to make a trade with this old man?
"See that? Those gorgeous women and handsome men on that bamboo pavilion over there? As long as you give me the Body-Tempering Blood Pill, those three beauties and handsome hunks are yours to play with however you like!
"Hmph, ordinary people wouldn't even get the chance. It's only because I took a liking to your talent and wanted to befriend you that I'm offering this!"
Qi Yuan glanced over. On the bamboo pavilion not far away sat three men and three women.
The men were handsome, and the women were gorgeous.
Their attire varied as well.
The women wore ancient Qin dynasty robes, a republican-era qipao, and a modern short skirt with stockings, respectively.
The men were dressed similarly, each representing the styles of different eras.
"Lin Yeshan, stop trying to scam people! Brother Qi isn't the kind of newcomer you think he is!" An Qiao strode over and glared at Lin Yeshan.
"He is Lin Yeshan, and he specializes in swindling newcomers in the stronghold.
"Body-Tempering Blood Pills are extremely precious. They can boost your strength considerably, and with almost no side effects.
"Why would anyone waste a Body-Tempering Blood Pill just for a romp in the Cave of Ecstasy?"
An Qiao exposed Lin Yeshan without the slightest hesitation.
Lin Yeshan gave a sheepish laugh, a trace of strangeness in his eyes.
An Qiao was considered a decent martial artist herself; why was she addressing this newcomer as 'Brother Qi'?
"Heh heh, looks like this newcomer performed pretty well on your mission." Seeing that his trick wouldn't work, Lin Yeshan added, "I know all the girls in the Cave of Ecstasy. If you want, I can arrange it for you."
An Qiao shot Lin Yeshan a glare, clearly displeased.
"Brother Qi, let's go. I'll take you to the captain's place." An Qiao led Qi Yuan away.
Lin Yeshan froze for a moment, then blurted out, "Where's Chen Fan?"
Lin Yeshan knew Chen Fan had always been a loner whose dwelling almost never allowed outsiders in.
What did An Qiao mean by taking Qi Yuan to Chen Fan's place?
"The captain... is gone." An Qiao's voice sounded somewhat dejected.
Perhaps this would be her ultimate fate as well.
Lin Yeshan was startled. He turned his gaze back toward Qi Yuan, his eyes filled with mixed emotions, and said nothing more.
An Qiao guided Qi Yuan through the valley and toward another cliff face.
"People around here are quite good-natured. If I saw correctly, that man just now was at the mid Jade-Blood Realm.
"You barked at him like that, yet he was so mild-tempered?" Qi Yuan asked casually.
"He's an... Old Martial Artist.
"In the stronghold, he has the strength of the Jade-Blood Realm, but once inside a task world, he's left with only mid Qi-Blood Realm strength.
"So..."
An Qiao didn't finish her sentence.
Qi Yuan understood as well.
On future missions, they might end up taking assignments together.
Inside a task world, Lin Yeshan's strength was comparatively weak.
Most importantly, advancing in the Jade-Blood Realm was vastly harder than in the Qi-Blood Realm.
Therefore, Old Martial Artists like Lin Yeshan held a status that was a full cut below the others in the stronghold.
Before long, under An Qiao's guidance, Qi Yuan arrived in front of Chen Fan's stone chamber.
"The safest place in the stronghold is inside a stone chamber.
"Without the owner's permission, no one else can enter.
"Before the captain left, he granted me entry privileges.
"Three days from now, with the captain's passing, this stone chamber will become an unowned room."
At the mention of this, An Qiao's eyes reddened slightly.
She stepped into the chamber, her gaze settling upon a stone box.
"These are the captain's relics. He told me to hand them over to you." An Qiao opened the stone box, revealing a wrapped bundle inside.
Qi Yuan took the bundle with a clear conscience.
This was his reward for the side objective; he'd be a fool to refuse it.
"Blood-Calming Pills?"
"Golden Bell Cover?"
"Thousand-Severing Whirlwind Saber?"
Inside the bundle, Qi Yuan found several Blood-Calming Pills, along with a number of cultivation manuals.
None of these manuals were of high grade.
Even so, Qi Yuan found them quite intriguing.
These techniques were all New Martial Arts, capable of boosting his combat prowess.
Among them, a stone token caught Qi Yuan's attention.
"What's this?"
Carved onto the token was the character for 'Heaven.'
The hidden information Qi Yuan's eyes could see only stated the token's material and refining method.
"That is... the entry token for the Genius Alliance.
"There are many strongholds in the Yellow Springs World, and naturally many factions as well.
"The Genius Alliance is a major power that specifically recruits geniuses.
"The captain's talent was actually extraordinarily high, or else he wouldn't have caught the Genius Alliance's eye.
"However, he always had an emotional knot in his heart, so he never went to the Genius Alliance on the eastern coast."
"Oh, seems decent enough. I'll keep it."
Having collected the relics, Qi Yuan bid An Qiao farewell and left Chen Fan's room.
An Qiao remained behind in Chen Fan's chamber, seemingly intending to pack up everything inside.
After all, these were the only traces Chen Fan had left behind in this world.
Back in his own stone chamber, Qi Yuan retrieved the Body-Tempering Blood Pill.
"Comparable to several dozen drops of demon essence blood... mere mosquito meat."
This reward was quite excellent for anyone else.
After all, they didn't possess the Devouring Primordial Physique and couldn't recklessly devour demon essence blood the way Qi Yuan did.
Even with a Body-Tempering Blood Pill, there were limits on how many one could consume.
"Mosquito meat is still meat. System, add stat points!"
Qi Yuan provided his own voiceover once again.
After slaying the Sea God, the number of drops of demon essence blood on Qi Yuan's person had reached three hundred once more.
With these three hundred drops, he planned to cultivate the three martial techniques obtained from Chen Fan to perfection.
*You consumed fifty drops of demon essence blood and began cultivating the Golden Bell Cover.*
*The key to the Golden Bell Cover lies in gathering, in hardness, and in deflecting force.*
*Consuming a portion of demon essence blood, you entered the novice level of the Golden Bell Cover.*
*Consuming a portion of demon essence blood, the Golden Bell Cover reached the second layer.*
*...*
*The Golden Bell Cover reached great mastery. Demon essence blood was consumed, yet you could advance no further.*
*A sudden inspiration struck you, and you applied the concepts of the immortal dao to the martial path.*
*Consuming demon essence blood... Golden Bell Cover... perfected.*
In a single breath, Qi Yuan pushed the Golden Bell Cover technique all the way to perfection.
During the period spent consuming demon essence blood, Qi Yuan had made gains of his own.
All paths lead to the same destination.
The martial art's Golden Bell Cover was actually similar to the defensive spells of the immortal path.
Though similar, the differences were vast; Qi Yuan possessed a deep understanding of both paths.
And such understanding was something Qi Yuan had in spades.
His eyes could perceive hidden information, and when it came to understanding the immortal dao, his accomplishments were truly peerless.
After perfecting the Golden Bell Cover, Qi Yuan consumed more demon essence blood, pushing the Thousand-Severing Whirlwind Saber to perfection in a single go as well.
As for the martial technique resembling a storage pouch, Qi Yuan practiced it briefly, constructing a space inside his body to stockpile supplies.
"This Heavenly Yang Finger isn't bad either. Should I practice it first?"
The Heavenly Yang Finger was a martial technique provided by the Genius Alliance. Anyone who achieved great mastery in the Heavenly Yang Finger could use the token to enter the Genius Alliance directly.
*You consumed one hundred drops of demon essence blood and began cultivating the Heavenly Yang Finger.*
*Heavenly Yang Finger: initial mastery... second layer... great mastery.*
"Not enough?"
*You consumed another fifty drops of demon essence blood. Heavenly Yang Finger... perfected.*
At this moment, relying solely on his martial arts cultivation, Qi Yuan could thoroughly overwhelm his former self.
Martial techniques provided an enormous boost to combat prowess. In particular, after perfecting the Golden Bell Cover, blood-martial qi would gather across his entire body in battle, making his skin as hard as iron.
Even if an ordinary demon slashed Qi Yuan with a blade, he would remain completely unharmed.
With hard qigong protecting him, he was suited best of all for charging the enemy lines.
"All right, time to return to the real world and participate in the Martial Arts Tournament."
Qi Yuan was different from the other residents of the Yellow Springs World.
He hadn't entered upon dying.
His situation was unique.
Consequently, he enjoyed relative freedom; whenever there were no tasks, he could stay outside at will.
Of course, others didn't have Qi Yuan's good fortune.
Chen Fan, for instance, had appeared in the outside world barely a handful of times over these past several centuries.
"Whoa, five days have passed already?
"Looks like time in the game world is about the same as in reality."
Before entering seclusion to break through, Qi Yuan had specifically instructed the hotel staff not to disturb him.
Thus, when he returned to reality, the room's furnishings remained exactly as they had been.
Even if someone lacked the sense to try barging in, they wouldn't have been able to disturb the room's setup.
Before entering seclusion, Qi Yuan had long since laid down an array.
"It's still better here. In the game world, I was... far too weak."
Upon entering the task world, his immortal dao cultivation was suppressed, causing his realm to drop by a whole tier.
This had caused him to act with utmost caution and discretion throughout that first task. He hadn't even slept well at night, terrified of running into some horrifying great demon.
Luo Bufan had suffered bitterly in the game, but Qi Yuan had suffered bitterly as well.
Among all living beings, everyone had their own hardships.
For instance, some were born without parents, reduced to orphans.
Qi Yuan was equally pitiful: he hadn't had a mother-in-law since he was small.
Nobody loved him, nobody cared for him, nobody protected him, and his cultivation had even dropped a realm. He had spent his time in the game on tenterhooks, terrified of being discovered by a great demon.
Fortunately, cautious and prudent as he was, he had still passed the task to perfection.
Back in reality, with the strength of the perfection of Foundation Establishment, his confidence was restored.
"Looks like... it's time for me to form my Origin Core."
Qi Yuan looked at the sun hanging in the sky, lost in thought.
Soon, an extra sun would appear in the sky.
Forming his Origin Core would slowly pull the Stellar Golden Core into alignment.
The first star to be drawn over would be the one where Ning Tao resided—which was also Qi Yuan's first Golden Core.
"Commence... breakthrough!"
...
Inside a military camp, several thousand uniformed soldiers were conducting drills, their resounding roars echoing without end.
The rumble of starting engines sounded like rolling thunder.
Artillery shells were unleashed in wild bursts.
Yet inside a steel building, absolute silence reigned. The soundproofing was exceptional, keeping all exterior noise from intruding.
A potbellied man in uniform picked up a teacup, took a light sip, and fixed his gaze upon the man before him. He spoke up.
"Little Huan, this matter has already drawn the attention of the Seven Martial Stars.
"By doing what he did—sending a coffin to Marquis Blue Sea—he's put us in a very difficult spot.
"Although Marquis Blue Sea's actions were somewhat out of line, his motive, after all... was for the country, for Qinyuan.
"How about this: I'll have Marquis Blue Sea go apologize to him in person, and we'll let the matter rest?"
A chilling aura of lethality ran through the uniformed man's words.
Not long ago, the annihilation of the Guiran Barracks had set off a massive uproar.
The upper echelons of the Qinyuan Kingdom had turned their attention toward Qi Yuan.
Whether out of personal greed or on the instructions of certain high-ranking figures, Marquis Blue Sea had attempted to covertly hack Qi Yuan's phone and computer to extract more information.
Who could have guessed that these underhanded maneuvers would be detected and intercepted by Zero-One?
As a result, Qi Yuan instructed Zero-One to deliver a coffin to Marquis Blue Sea.
And that was how today's scene had come about.
Carnival dared not meet the uniformed man's gaze. Lowering his head, he said, "Chief, I have no standing to interfere in Lord Qi's affairs!"
"Whether you have standing or not doesn't matter; you must deliver our words to him.
"Otherwise, if he dares send a coffin to Marquis Blue Sea today, won't he dare murder someone from the Seven Martial Stars' families tomorrow?
"He is very powerful, yes, but our Qinyuan Kingdom's Eye of the Sky is no toy.
"Beneath the Eye of the Sky, not even a deity can survive!
"However, we wish to sue for peace and avoid stirring up conflict needlessly.
"As long as he shows goodwill and forgives Marquis Blue Sea, everything can continue to be negotiated."
The uniformed man's expression carried an unmistakable threat.
Regarding an unpredictable figure like Qi Yuan, intense disagreement raged among the upper ranks.
Some favored recruiting him; others favored eliminating him.
At present, the faction advocating recruitment held the upper hand.
Even so, recruitment required proper methodology: they had to suppress him a bit first, or else... the other party wouldn't know who held the real power.
"This..." Carnival's expression turned troubled.
At the Guiran Barracks, he had witnessed Mr. Qi's formidable power firsthand, revering him like a celestial being.
Yet no matter how strong Mr. Qi was, could he truly stand against the Qinyuan Kingdom's supreme national weapon, the Eye of the Sky?
Back when the Can Star invaded, the primary reason the Arch Star had managed to maintain its independence and avoid annexation was precisely the Eye of the Sky.
At this moment, Carnival couldn't help but worry for Qi Yuan.
He knew Qi Yuan's character: once Mr. Qi did something, he never went back on it.
If they spoke to him politely, that would be one thing, but... this blatant, politicized attempt to suppress him was something Mr. Qi would hold in utter contempt.
"I..." Carnival stammered, unable to speak.
Seeing this, the uniformed man understood roughly how things stood.
Although the recruitment faction currently held the advantage, the hawkish faction was constantly making petty moves in the shadows.
"Carnival, your grandfather and I were comrades-in-arms. Since you don't wish to speak to him, don't get involved in this matter any further." The uniformed man decided to have Marquis Blue Sea go meet Qi Yuan personally.
If Qi Yuan refused the apology, then things would be handled differently.
By saying this, he intended to set Carnival aside so he wouldn't be dragged into the vortex.
"Chief, the fault in this matter lies with Marquis Blue Sea..." Carnival tried to argue further.
Yet the uniformed man cut in, "Little Huan, you're not a child anymore; you should think of your family. After you head back, act as though nothing happened. Or perhaps... just stay here and lodge with us for a while."
His meaning was clear: house arrest for Carnival until the matter was resolved.
"I..." Carnival struggled desperately inside, feeling both helpless and enraged.
He worried deeply for Qi Yuan.
From what he knew of him, Qi Yuan would never compromise.
Once he set his mind on something, nothing would change it.
What was he supposed to do?
His mind was in utter turmoil.
After an unknown amount of time, he walked out of the steel building.
Two guards tasked with 'looking after' him followed close by his side.
For some reason, the sun felt extraordinarily glaring today.
He suddenly noticed that many soldiers seemed to be looking up at the sky.
He raised his head to look as well.
When he saw... an extra sun hanging in the sky, his eyes went wide, and realization seemed to strike him.
A curse burst from his lips unbidden.
"Fucking Seven Martial Stars—they aren't even worth a pile of dog shit!"
Chapter 323