Return to the Spirit Realm

"Either Fu Qingyang or Yuanshi Tianzun must die." Kou Beiyue was taken aback and pressed, "What kind of plan do you evil practitioners have? How are you planning to hunt Yuanshi Tianzun down?" Human Blood Bun looked at Kou Beiyue—handsome, sharp-eyed, and looking just like an eager little wolfdog—and fell silent. Kou Beiyue's heart tightened. *Did I show too much concern and arouse his suspicion?* Right then, he noticed Human Blood Bun's gaze shift from solemnity to pity as he sighed. "Beiyue, my boy, I just told you: this year's summit is being held in Jiangnan Province to discuss how to hunt down the Orderly classes. None of it has even started yet!" *Oh, right. It hasn't started yet...* Realization dawned on Kou Beiyue, and his face burned with embarrassment. He awkwardly changed the subject. "How do people attend that summit? Can we go check out the excitement?" Kou Beiyue wanted to use Human Blood Bun's connection to infiltrate the enemy camp and gather intelligence for Yuanshi Tianzun. He had reconciled with his parents and the family had moved back to Jinshan City. The three hundred thousand yuan in compensation allowed his overworked, ailing father to rest and recuperate for six months to a year without worrying about making ends meet. Over the past few days, the only thing his parents had been doing was carrying the official explanation letter issued by the Public Security Bureau and a carton of milk, visiting relatives everywhere. Although the culprit who killed their daughter had not yet been caught, having their family cleared of scandal and their son's innocence restored felt like being granted a whole new lease on life to ordinary folks like them. Because of that, Kou Beiyue was profoundly grateful to Yuanshi Tianzun. If given the chance, he would willingly risk his life to repay that debt of gratitude. Human Blood Bun pondered for a few seconds. His eyes flickered slightly, and he chuckled. "You can't just go to watch the fun, but you can participate. As long as you take part in the mid-year killing trial, you're qualified to attend the summit. Of course, you're an unaffiliated rogue, so you'd need a recommendation from our Spirit Society. "If you want to go, I can arrange it for you." Kou Beiyue was overjoyed. "Great, it's a deal! "Wait, Bun, aren't you going to participate?" Human Blood Bun shook his head repeatedly. "My level doesn't qualify. I'm not eligible to enter the killing trial." Hearing this, Kou Beiyue looked surprised. "Your level doesn't qualify? That's impossible. You're clearly no weaker than me." Human Blood Bun looked at him as if looking at an idiot. "I'm Level 4." "Ah? Oh..." After a brief silence, both of their phones chimed with an electronic prompt: *You have a new delivery order!* Kou Beiyue and Human Blood Bun instantly snapped into combat mode, sprinting out of the logistics depot toward their electric scooters. "Time to handle business first. A customer gave me a bad review today. Dammit," Human Blood Bun grumbled. "Ugh, bad reviews are truly unbearable. Ruins your whole mood for the day. But getting a bad review is still better than having to climb stairs. There are so many terrible people in society nowadays—ordering a few yuan worth of takeout and acting like Empress Dowager Cixi." "People like that should just be taken out. I'm going to off the customer who gave me the bad review tonight. Keep it up, bro! Deliver takeout with all your might, and build a brighter future~" *** Because of the upcoming online meeting today, which would run rather long, Zhang Yuanqing worried that his young aunt might drop by to play video games, or that his grandparents might overhear the meeting. Thus, he planned to stay a day at Fu Qingyang's sprawling villa. After lunch, Zhang Yuanqing asked for a private room and took a two-hour afternoon nap. He woke up fully refreshed. A bunny girl brought in a complete set of brand-new, unopened clothing, including casual wear, sweatpants, running shoes, socks, and a box of boxer briefs that looked quite expensive. "You may take a shower, sir. Afternoon tea will be served shortly." The tall bunny girl smiled, radiating mature feminine charm, and said softly, "Mr. Yuanshi may also set a menu, and the kitchen will prepare it specially for you, Chinese or Western." *Fu Qingyang's lifestyle really is outrageously extravagant. Setting a menu, huh? How about some top-grade twenty-year abalone...* Zhang Yuanqing chuckled and said, "The food doesn't matter, but for drinks, I only drink iced Coke!" After showering and changing into the expensive clothes, Zhang Yuanqing sat by the desk. Habitually peeling open a sticky note, he wrote down the preparations he needed to make before entering the killing trial: 1. Gather materials to refine a yin corpse. 2. Apply to the Five Elements Alliance for diluted Life Essence, and contact the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter to see if I can purchase another vial of concentrated Life Essence. 3. Gather sacrificial materials just in case. Refining a yin corpse was an absolute necessity that required no explanation. The same went for Life Essence. His experience in Mute Village had shown Zhang Yuanqing its immense benefits. Diluted Life Essence could treat severe injuries, while undiluted Life Essence could regenerate severed limbs. For a class like the Night Walker, which could project its spirit body, a single vial of Life Essence could literally bring someone back from the dead. A large-scale killing trial was the most perilous, with the largest number of participants. Danger was guaranteed at every turn, so the more trump cards he prepared, the better his odds of survival. As for the third point, gathering sacrificial materials, Zhang Yuanqing intended to treat it as a contingency measure rather than a trump card—purely because the materials were too damn expensive. Among the sacrificial components, there was a core requirement: an item imbued with the divine power of the sun. It did not specify what it had to be, so long as it contained solar divine power. Zhang Yuanqing had initially been thrilled, because he happened to possess an item imbued with that power: the Demon-Subduing Pestle! However, when he eagerly searched the official database for the rest of the ingredients, his heart sank. The twelve materials listed—including yin jade, Saint-grade yin corpse bodily fluid, bloodstone, and soul crystals—were all scarce, precious items exclusive to Night Walker Spirit Realms. The total value amounted to twenty million yuan. Even bankrupting himself wouldn't be enough to afford a single set! That had initially squashed his idea of giving it a try. Yet he was reluctant to give up. The more expensive the materials, the more potent the sacrificial effect would be. So he devised a workaround: take out a loan from the Songhai Branch and use their channels to purchase one set of materials for a single sacrificial ritual. If he ended up using the sacrifice in the killing trial, the preparation would be well worth it. If he didn't need it, he could return the materials to the Songhai Branch after exiting the dungeon, wiping the debt clean. In the worst-case scenario, where he performed the sacrifice but still died in the killing trial, there would be even less need to repay anything—death cancels all debts. Either way, he couldn't lose! Zhang Yuanqing sat by the desk, thought for a long while, and wrote down a fourth item: *Use a teleportation jade talisman once.* He planned to enter a dungeon first, and then test whether using the teleportation jade talisman inside would transport him into a second dungeon. If that plan worked, then whenever he faced an insurmountable, life-or-death crisis in the killing trial, he could use the talisman to teleport out. Zhang Yuanqing took out his phone and sent a message to Little Green Tea: *Girl, help me set up an appointment with the Palace Master. 2:00 a.m., the usual spot!* Xie Lingxi: *Oh. (pouts)* Right then, a knock sounded at the door. A bunny girl opened it and wheeled a dining cart into the room. Watching the curvy, pretty bunny girl bustling about to arrange the plates and pour the drink, Zhang Yuanqing once again marveled at Fu Qingyang's opulent lifestyle while lamenting his lack of romantic flair. Ling Jun had told him in private that Fu Qingyang had plenty of flaws. He loved acting cool and flaunting his wealth; he indulged in every pomp and luxury expected of a noble scion, possessing not a shred of low-key humility. Yet his greatest flaw was his utter indifference to women. At the time, Zhang Yuanqing had nodded in agreement, saying, *Yeah, totally. Keeping so many gorgeous bunny girls at home—if it were me, I'd be indulging in wine and women every single day.* Ling Jun had sneered disdainfully and replied, *You can indulge right now if you want. With Yuanshi Tianzun's fame and status, you could get a hundred bunny girls if you asked. You're just a big-talking college brat who has the lust but lacks the guts.* Zhang Yuanqing had been furious at the time—because Ling Jun's read on him had been dead-on! *** International Building. In the assistant's office, the radiant blonde Annie sat before her computer composing an email. She detailed all the intelligence she had gathered since arriving in China, including the outcome of the "negotiations" between Mr. Bill and that mysterious president, the specifics of the Demon Lord's demise, the current ownership of the Fallen Holy Grail, and the results of the official arena tournament. Annie was a member of the Goddess of Beauty Association's Foreign Affairs Department. Every single member of the department was an exceptional beauty capable of turning heads and drawing countless male admirers at a glance. Their job was to maintain ties with allied factions, win over members of unfamiliar organizations, and the like. Feminine charm was their standard tool, but most of the time, members of the department kept targets at arm's length. High-end seduction meant being tantalizingly visible yet completely unattainable. Only when absolutely necessary would they invite a target to share their bed, using that intimacy to "control" him and achieve their objective. *"...In my opinion, Yuanshi Tianzun's talent is in no way inferior to the Demon Lord's, and his future achievements will be extraordinarily high. Having lost a pawn like the Demon Lord, the association ought to replace him promptly. I am willing to recruit Yuanshi Tianzun on behalf of the association, and I request that headquarters send someone to take over my current duties and assign another assistant to Mr. Bill."* For a target like Yuanshi Tianzun, bed-sharing was precisely the kind of intimacy needed to establish control. After finishing the email and reviewing it several times, Annie clicked send. Ten-odd minutes later, she received a reply from the head of Foreign Affairs: *"We have gathered practically no prior intelligence regarding Yuanshi Tianzun. His rise has been extraordinarily swift, like a shooting star. His record in the Transcendent stage rivals the youth achievements of any major figure, including the Demon Lord.* *"The President has remained in a foul mood ever since the Demon Lord's death. She will certainly be very interested to learn of Yuanshi Tianzun's existence, and I will report this to her in due course. Annie, you have done well, but do not rush. The killing trial is about to begin; I believe the opportune time to approach him is after he advances to Saint.* *"That will give us the chance to observe his potential. As you know, the killing trial's points leaderboard is the standard benchmark for measuring a newly minted Saint's potential."* Having already purchased a novelty pig-tail prop, Annie closed the email with complete confidence and stood up, walking toward Mr. Bill's office. "Bill, the director approved my request. Once the killing trial concludes, she will assign you a new assistant," Annie said with a bright smile as she pushed open the office's glass door. Sitting on the soft sofa in the lounge area with a cigar between his fingers, Mr. Bill smiled. "You could easily serve as my assistant while also attending to Yuanshi Tianzun. I wouldn't mind." Annie turned serious. "Please do not question my professional ethics." Mr. Bill shrugged. Annie and Bill shared a strictly professional superior-subordinate relationship—that of an assistant and her boss. Bill was a client of the Goddess of Beauty Association, and her assignment was to take good care of this client and handle his affairs. Maintaining relations with allies rarely required seduction, as both sides shared mutual interests. Of course, neither the Goddess of Beauty Association nor the Merchant Guild explicitly forbade intimate relations between them. However, given the characteristics of the Desire class, once the scope of service shifted from handling administrative affairs to fulfilling physical desires, their relationship dynamics would flip. Annie would become the dominant party, and Bill would become subordinate. Mr. Bill was an astute businessman; he was not foolish enough to make such a rookie mistake. "Well then, before you leave me, could you satisfy a bit of my curiosity?" Exuding the mature charm of a middle-aged man, Mr. Bill set down his cigar and smiled. "What mission did the Goddess of Beauty Association assign you regarding the Demon Lord? I hardly see why a dead man who has returned to the Spirit Realm requires an investigation." Annie considered it for a moment, then answered earnestly, "The secret task assigned to me by the association is to search for anything connected to the Demon Lord—such as his successor, his mistresses, and his family. Well, I don't consider this much of a secret to keep from you." Mr. Bill asked, "And what is the reason for searching for things related to him?" Annie let out a sigh. "In a moment of foolishness, the President gifted a very important item to the Demon Lord. While he was alive, she could keep him under control, but once he died, that item vanished without a trace. "The President had a divination performed, which revealed that the item did not return to the Spirit Realm." "I presume I'm not permitted to know what that item is," Bill said with a chuckle. Annie flashed a seductive smile. "*That* is the real secret." Bill nodded, then continued, "It's hard to believe that someone as shrewd as your President could have moments of foolishness." Annie's expression turned somewhat peculiar. "The only time our President turns foolish is in bed. I heard that the Demon Lord was one of the very few men capable of making her beg for mercy." "..." Mr. Bill suddenly flared up, snapping in outrage, "I don't believe it! I refuse to believe any man could pull that off! The Demon Lord must have used an item! It had to be an item!!" *** After enjoying a delicious afternoon tea, Zhang Yuanqing locked the door, drew the curtains, and took out a teleportation jade talisman. *Crack!* He applied pressure between two fingers, shattering the talisman. The next instant, the jade talisman transformed into a light screen that coalesced before him: [Please select your destination. If traveling to the real world, please visualize the scenery of your destination in your mind. If traveling to a Spirit Realm, please state the Spirit Realm's name and its serial number!] Zhang Yuanqing pondered briefly, then said in a low voice: "Jinshui Amusement Park, serial number: 6203."