Father Was a Spirit Realm Walker

An auditory hallucination? Zhang Yuanqing froze in place, his face stiff. His immediate reaction was that he was hallucinating—that the whisper in his ear wasn't real, but an auditory hallucination brought on by some external influence. After all, it was impossible for an outsider to know his father's name. The most likely explanation was that the whisper originated from deep within his own heart. Yet why would it be Father's name? If a power akin to illusion arts had affected him, it would surely stir whatever he desired most in the depths of his soul. He didn't crave paternal love, and he had only a vague impression of his father, who had passed away so many years ago... While Zhang Yuanqing was lost in bewilderment, Fu Qingyang ahead noticed his abnormality and spoke in an unusually solemn tone: "Don't stop. Keep walking!" The Centurion's voice carried an authoritative power that commanded obedience. Zhang Yuanqing's head cleared, and his distracting thoughts vanished at once. He held his breath and focused his mind, paying no further heed to the whisper. Striding forward, he followed the white-suited figure toward the Zoo's main gate. "Zhang Zizhen, you're leaving again, you faithless villain..." The whisper in his ear suddenly turned shrill and mournful, like an abandoned, resentful woman. Zhang Yuanqing tensed every nerve and chanted inwardly, If the mind is clear as ice, the sky falling brings no surprise. Quickening his pace, he finally stepped through the Zoo's main gate right behind Fu Qingyang. Instantly, the whisper vanished. Zhang Yuanqing dared not linger, nor did he dare look back. He headed straight for the luxury car. Only after the vehicle started up and drove a good distance away did he dare glance back. Night hung heavy. The silhouette of the Zoo loomed faintly in the dark, quiet and eerie. "Phew!" Zhang Yuanqing exhaled a long breath of relief. Elder Gou's Zoo was far too bizarre. Fu Qingyang sat upright on the wide leather seat, his eyes holding a mix of surprise and gravity. "What did you hear?" Zhang Yuanqing carefully phrased his reply. "A name that shouldn't have been mentioned. Centurion, I suspect I was caught in an illusion. I just don't know who cast it on me." Fu Qingyang picked up his half-smoked cigar, lit it, and exhaled a thick cloud of white smoke. "The foundation of illusion arts is detonating emotion, targeting the most vulnerable spot in a person's heart. Was the name you heard a crack in your mind?" The core ability of an Illusionist was steering and stoking the target's emotions, discerning inner weaknesses at a single glance—hence Saint-stage Illusionists were known as Dream Masters. Zhang Yuanqing's expression froze for a moment, then he slowly shook his head. Fu Qingyang puffed on his cigar. "Then it wasn't an illusion." Not an illusion... Zhang Yuanqing's suspicion had been confirmed, yet he felt no joy whatsoever. He asked in a low voice: "If the voice I heard wasn't an illusion, th-then who was speaking to me? Could there have been Zoo staff or an animal hiding nearby just now?" Fu Qingyang rejected the idea once more. "No. There was nothing around us." That was the judgment of a Scout. Zhang Yuanqing fell silent. Fu Qingyang took a deep drag on his cigar, drawing it forcefully into his lungs before exhaling dense white smoke. "Excluding the staff and the animals, and excluding Elder Gou, who was speaking is actually quite obvious." He looked at Zhang Yuanqing, his tone uncharacteristically low: "The Zoo is a rule-based item—an item that possesses self-awareness." With things spelled out so plainly, it was impossible for Zhang Yuanqing not to understand. The one whispering in my ear was the "Zoo" itself? It knows my dad? My dad was... a Spirit Realm walker?! Zhang Yuanqing lowered his head to hide his contorted expression. This conclusion struck him with tremendous shock, leaving him unable to process it for a time. If my dad was a Spirit Realm walker, then he didn't die in a car accident back then. How could a Spirit Realm walker die in such an ignominious way? The Zoo knows him, so he had ties to the Zoo during his lifetime. Could he have been this rule-based item's previous owner? Then his level must have been extraordinarily high... The Zoo's whisper in my ear clearly mistook me for my dad. It got the wrong person? How did it judge that I was Zhang Zizhen? Appearance? Aura? Bloodline? Character card? Appearance can be ruled out first; it's impossible for my dad and me to look completely identical. The character card belonged to the Demon Lord, and the Demon Lord and my dad weren't from the same era. Is it bloodline? The Zoo is an item of the Wood Demon class, and Wood Demons govern reproduction and life-related abilities. Identifying someone by bloodline makes sense... Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts grew clearer. At the same time, he recalled his headaches for which no medical cause had ever been found; it was only after meeting Mr. Bill that he learned the root cause was soul trauma. Yet as an ordinary mortal back then whose world and the Spirit Realm were parallel lines that never crossed, what right or reason had he to suffer such an injury? Now he understood. Although he still didn't know the reason behind the injury, it proved he had never been entirely disconnected from the Spirit Realm. Within his family background, there was a Spirit Realm walker. What about my mom? Is she a Spirit Realm walker too? Zhang Yuanqing recalled how his mother had looked anxious and helpless when he suddenly fell ill. If she were a Spirit Realm walker, she wouldn't have appeared so panicked and helpless. Yet she soon procured pills to heal soul trauma for me, meaning she had channels. So even if she isn't a Spirit Realm walker, she knows of their existence and has even made some connections... By connecting the details, Zhang Yuanqing pieced together the contours of the matter bit by bit. Moreover, it suddenly struck him: as the current owner of the Zoo, could Elder Gou have had some connection to his father? "Centurion!" Zhang Yuanqing pulled back his thoughts. "How did Elder Gou acquire this rule-based item? Do Dominators have one rule-based item apiece on average?" Fu Qingyang flicked the cigar ash, always answering questions from his trusted subordinate: "An elder's information is not something I have clearance to investigate. As for having one apiece on average..." Fu Qingyang glanced at him. From the Centurion's placid yet extraordinary, kingly disdain, Zhang Yuanqing found his answer. The luxury car continued forward. Midway through the journey, Zhang Yuanqing sent a message to Little Green Tea, arranging to meet the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter at their usual spot. Then he asked Fu Qingyang for a cigar. He didn't smoke it, just held it between his fingers and zoned out in silence, taking a puff only when the ember was on the verge of dying out. *** At four in the morning on the street, Zhang Yuanqing wore a mask and a peaked cap, the sound of his footsteps echoing lonesomely. Across the street from the security bureau, the cafe doors were open. Bright light spilled through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the pavement, making it the only shop open on the entire block. Familiar with the way, Zhang Yuanqing pushed open the cafe door and saw the slender, red-gowned silhouette standing behind the counter. She was brewing coffee with single-minded focus, and said softly, "Go sit over there for a bit. Give me a few minutes." Why does this sound so familiar... Zhang Yuanqing muttered under his breath and picked a table at random. Before long, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter carried two cups of coffee over. Setting them on the table, she rested her chin on her palm and gazed at him, smiling playfully. "You've been looking for me more and more often lately. Did you miss me?" Why does she always like flirting with me... Zhang Yuanqing lifted the cup, took a sip, and immediately knitted his brows. "Pure black?" He hated black coffee most; it offered nothing but bitterness and acidity. The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter gave a crafty smile. Zhang Yuanqing sighed. "Palace Master, you're just like this cup of coffee." "What do you mean?" Her eyes twinkled as she chuckled. "Though bitter, thoroughly enchanting?" "No, neither sweet nor milky!" Having set the stage, Zhang Yuanqing delivered the verbal sting, seizing the chance for petty revenge. The smile on the Palace Master's lips froze, and behind the mask, her eyes glared at him. Zhang Yuanqing pivoted smoothly, his voice dropping into a solemn tone: "I went to see Demonic Eye tonight. Elder Gou pressed him on the inside details of the Chu family massacre, and he asked to see me by name." He only dared provoke the crazy lady because he had real leverage. Sure enough, the Palace Master instantly forgot about the coffee. Her breathing hitched, and she leaned forward abruptly, her bright eyes fixed on Zhang Yuanqing. "What did you find out?" Zhang Yuanqing had rarely seen her lose composure like this. He said solemnly: "The ones who led the slaughter of the Chu family were Heavenly King Ghost Blade and Heavenly King Extermination. The order came directly from Asura." "Asura..." The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter pondered for a moment, then slowly shook her head. "The Chu family and the Soldier Master sect were on opposite sides of the country, north and south, with neither grudges nor favors between them. Factional opposition alone wouldn't have been enough for Asura to personally order our destruction." Zhang Yuanqing promptly recounted Heavenly King Demonic Eye's explanation. The Palace Master sat as still as a statue for a long time. Only after a while did she whisper: "So that was it..." She looked up at Zhang Yuanqing, an unusual swirl of emotion glistening in her bright eyes, and said softly: "Thank you. You've unknotted a knot in my heart that had lingered for years." The cause of the Chu family massacre had always been an unresolved knot in her heart. After more than twenty years, she finally understood the full truth. Zhang Yuanqing said: "If you want to seek revenge on Dark Night Rose, Palace Master, you must know who the enemy is. Do you know the attributes of that rule-based item?" The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter picked up her cup, touched her red lips to the clean white rim, and took a small sip. Setting the cup down, she recalled: "I never personally examined that item's attributes, but the clansmen who helped me escape to Songhai told me it can bring the dead back to life. Whether the soul has been annihilated or the body pulverized, it can revive them. "Its name is 'Mother Goddess's Womb,' one of the absolute pinnacle rule-based items of the Musician class. To use it, two conditions must be met. First, the blood of the person to be revived must be prepared in advance—it must be vital, living blood, and there is a quantity requirement. A mere single drop is not enough, though I don't know the exact amount required. "Second, one of the revived person's offspring or beloved must be sacrificed in an equivalent exchange. "As long as those two conditions are met and the item's rules are triggered, the person being revived will be gestated anew from 'Mother Goddess's Womb.' Nothing can stop it, not even the Spirit Realm. "It also has a restriction: once revived from 'Mother Goddess's Womb,' that person can never use it again. A person has only one chance, just as no one can return to their mother's belly for a second time." Zhang Yuanqing listened silently, then asked: "What does 'vital blood' mean?" The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter explained: "After a Spirit Realm walker dies, they return to the Spirit Realm, which means all their abilities are reclaimed by the Spirit Realm. Therefore, blood drawn before death is different from blood drawn after. Blood drawn after death cannot revive the physical body of a Spirit Realm walker. "'Vital blood' can simply be understood as blood taken while they were still alive." Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "Based on the item's usage rules, can we deduce that the leader of Dark Night Rose had already anticipated their own death and made preparations in advance?" "That is a certainty." The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter frowned. "What are you trying to say?" Zhang Yuanqing spoke with fluent confidence: "From the prophecy of the Compass of Light, it isn't hard to tell that Asura chose to invest in the leader of Dark Night Rose twenty-one years ago. "At that time, Dark Night Rose's leader must have possessed a certain level and status in the underworld; Asura wouldn't invest in some nobody. In that case, so long as we look into which high-level Night Wanderers rose to prominence twenty or even thirty years ago, couldn't we use the process of elimination to narrow down the identity of Dark Night Rose's leader?" The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter's eyes lit up, and she added with distinct excitement: "As the largest Night Wanderer organization in the world today, Taiyi Sect would certainly notice and register any exceptionally talented Night Wanderer, whether civilian or official. "Following this lead, we can further narrow down the identity of Dark Night Rose's leader." Then she frowned again. "However, although Taiyi Sect and the Five Elements Alliance are both official organizations, they aren't of one mind. If you investigate this through the Five Elements Alliance, they will notice..." When that happened, Taiyi Sect might just toss over some worthless information to brush them off, and then secretly investigate on their own. That would be doing the legwork only for others to reap the rewards. Of course, Taiyi Sect investigating wouldn't be an issue in itself, but they likely wouldn't share the intelligence with them. Unless I can develop an informant inside Taiyi Sect! Zhang Yuanqing had no better ideas for the moment, so he said: "We'll need to plan this carefully." The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter nodded slightly. "The most important thing for you right now is the arena tournament. Don't expend your energy on these matters." Pausing, she suddenly asked: "Heavenly King Demonic Eye seeing you must have had a purpose. You didn't mention it just now." Zhang Yuanqing looked away, avoiding her eyes. The Palace Master's heart sank, and her brows knitted. "Speak!" With a helpless look, Zhang Yuanqing said: "He indeed had a purpose in seeing me. He placed a curse on me, cursing that I would become just like him. Elder Gou checked my body afterward, but couldn't find where the curse was hidden..." Before the words fully left his mouth, his shoulder was gripped by the Palace Master. A stinging pain pricked his skin. Looking sideways, he saw countless wriggling red threads crawling out between her porcelain-white fingers, burrowing into his body like parasites. A moment later, the red threads retracted into her body. She released her hand and gritted her teeth. "Indeed, no abnormality can be found... That Demonic Eye deserves to die a thousand times over. You shouldn't have gone to see him." Zhang Yuanqing's expression grew solemn. "It concerned the knot in your heart, Palace Master. I believe the risk was worth it." The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter was taken aback. Seeing her dazed, Zhang Yuanqing knew when to stop. He stood up and said: "No need to worry about the curse. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Palace Master, I'll take my leave." Without waiting for her response, Zhang Yuanqing strode out of the cafe. After walking some distance, he looked back and saw that the cafe's lights were still on—unlike previous times, where the lights went out the moment he left. That final move worked pretty well. I claimed credit while knowing when to stop, leaving her to savor it slowly. Ling Jun might be trash, but his methods for dealing with women are truly top-notch. I can clearly feel her attitude toward me has softened... Zhang Yuanqing walked farther into the distance. *** At nine o'clock the next morning, he opened the official forum right on time to check for announcements. Youfeng Laiyi had been right: today's arena tournament was indeed canceled. The officials had posted a notice on the forum: #Notice: Today's Arena Tournament Canceled Due to Recent Tournament Format Adjustments# Looks like headquarters really plans to adjust the competition format... Far from being anxious, Zhang Yuanqing was delighted. For him, this was a good thing. He didn't dare guarantee winning in a direct one-on-one duel, but when it came to running instance dungeons, Zhang Yuanqing had plenty of confidence. [Bailong: I heard from Yuan Ting that the officials plan to throw the top eight contestants into an instance dungeon. They're currently discussing what difficulty level would be appropriate.] [Please Call Me Queen: Ah, I heard about that yesterday, but couldn't be sure. If even Taiyi Sect's loudspeaker says so, it's probably true. This is great—Yuanshi Tianzun is definitely taking first place.] [Lairifangzhang: @Please Call Me Queen, do you think there's a chance the other seven contestants team up to eliminate Yuanshi Tianzun first?] This Lairifangzhang always talks me down, but every time, his words make quite a bit of sense. The contestants who made the top eight are all smart people, and an instance isn't an arena tournament. Counting on them to be fair and upright is impossible. I really do need to be on guard... Zhang Yuanqing scrolled through the comments for a while before exiting the forum. Since there was no arena match to fight today, he decided to find something to do. He hesitated for a long time between two options: seeing Xiao Yuan or seeing his mother. If my dad really was a Spirit Realm walker, then she has kept a lot from me. It's understandable, though. After all, the existence of Spirit Realm walkers is a supernatural phenomenon, inherently hard to explain. Besides, back then I was just an ordinary college student. What would have been the point of telling me? If I tell her I've already become a Spirit Realm walker, she might open up to me about what happened in the past and tell me how my headaches came about. Things like this are best discussed face-to-face after she returns to the country. If the phone conversation goes sour and she just hangs up, there's nothing I can do. Plus, in person, I can use the Glasses of Insight to observe her... Zhang Yuanqing chose to go see Xiao Yuan. Following the advice given by his life mentor, he would deepen his relationship with Auntie Xiao Yuan while looking into what kind of trouble she had run into. *** At Wuhen Hotel, a strong cold blast blew from the air conditioner. Xiao Yuan stood straight behind the front counter, her radiant face cold and expressionless, lacking any hospitable smile for greeting guests. Throughout the entire morning, the hotel had received only two sets of guests, and one of them had merely booked a room by the hour. Business was rather bleak. Choosing a hotel location had two major considerations: the commercial nature of the area and convenience of transportation. Airports, high-speed rail stations, tourist attractions, commercial centers, and areas near schools met those criteria. Wuhen Hotel was located in the suburbs, a small hotel positioned for lower-to-middle-class guests. In previous years, there had been several factories nearby, and factories brought traffic. Business had been decent back then. Starting last year, the economic climate turned sluggish. The neighboring factories closed down one after another, and the surrounding area quickly quieted down. With nothing to do, Xiao Yuan picked up her phone, tapped Yuanshi Tianzun's profile, and typed a message: "Who is your matched opponent today?" After a moment's thought, she deleted the message and blankly switched off her phone. Right then, the hotel's glass doors were pushed open, yet there was no one at the entrance. An invisible person had walked in.