Synthesizing past information with what he had recently uncovered, Zhang Yuanqing let his imagination run wild, a swarm of bold, chaotic conjectures flooding his mind.
In the distant, unknown depths of antiquity, an earth-shattering cataclysm had taken place, brought on by the clash between two great factions—perhaps with other factors at play as well.
Following that, spiritual energy began to wither, plunging the world into disorder and chaos. Later generations relied on spiritual energy for cultivation, giving rise to all kinds of classes.
They were free, unbounded by factional antagonism. Evil classes and Orderly classes could coexist peacefully. Yet this was not permanent; as spiritual energy gradually ran dry, ancient cultivators went extinct, bringing the curtain down on an era.
Then the Spirit Realm came into being. The confrontation between the two major factions was reestablished, and a new cycle began with the Spirit Realm's inception.
*That explains why the Compass of Light made that prophecy!*
*Logically it connects, but there are still far too many plot holes and missing details. If I let my imagination run even wilder, I could theorize that every mass extinction event was a grand cycle. Since the dawn of heaven and earth, there have been countless cycles... Feels like this could make a decent novel,* Zhang Yuanqing mused.
There were too many enigmas. In the absence of evidence, guessing a single one wrong could lead to wildly divergent conclusions.
For example: what if doomsday occurred because humans harbored too much malice, twisting into horrific monsters, and evil classes were actually humanity's emotional trash cans, enduring the karmic fires on their behalf?
And Orderly classes were the true villains, seeking to eliminate and destroy these trash cans, drowning human society in filth until mankind went extinct, the world was destroyed, and everything collapsed into absolute nothingness.
That would be the ultimate meaning of Order.
When the world no longer needs order, that is the most stable order of all.
*Yeah, this idea definitely couldn't be published as a book. Not enough positive energy, bound to get wiped out. The authorities have always worked that way...* Zhang Yuanqing suddenly froze.
Order... Destruction...
He stared blankly for a few seconds, then shook his head vigorously, tossing the budding thought right out of his mind.
Next, he sent a reply to Eagle of Freedom: "Thanks. Keep in touch." Setting his phone down, he focused on scarfing down his food.
During the meal, he glanced at Guan Ya, then thought of his three teammates: Queen, Green Tea, and Li Chunfeng. They were all sharp individuals whose intellect, competence, and vision far surpassed ordinary walkers.
If he could pull them into a discussion, they might arrive at more plausible deductions.
Regrettably, these matters were strictly forbidden from being shared with outsiders. Even to the Money Prince, he couldn't breathe a word.
Currently, he and the Money Prince maintained a delicate, tacit equilibrium.
It was the sort of balance intelligent people preserved, neither to be shattered nor laid bare.
"Lingjun was looking for you earlier," Guan Ya said between bites of cold sliced beef. "He claimed he lost a box of cigars and asked if you stole it."
"Stole? A scholar's deeds can't be called stealing; it's borrowing!" Zhang Yuanqing huffed. "I saved his and Teng'er's lives! What's wrong with a box of cigars as payback? When I take Fu Qingyang's things, he never says a word. Lingjun's vision is really petty."
Guan Ya looked slightly jealous. "Fu Qingyang treats you better than he treats me. That brat..."
Zhang Yuanqing hastily clarified, "Our bromance is completely pure."
Guan Ya didn't bother bantering with him and sighed.
"He's probably just too lonely. In his eyes, any genius is trash, but he thinks you're different from the rest of the trash. Even though you always act lazy and flamboyant, in reality, you're constantly struggling through adversity, never stopping, never slackening. He feels the two of you are very alike in that regard, which is why he sees you as a confidant."
"Is that so? And here I thought it was just because my bootlicking was on point."
***
After dinner. Inside the recreation hall of the grand villa.
"Ah, mm, mm... Gentler, don't press so hard..." Zhang Yuanqing let out intoxicating groans.
"Can you quit moaning? You're a dignified Star Officer—can't even handle this much pressure?" Lingjun scoffed.
"Cut the crap, this is my first time! Not like you, enjoying this every single day! Ah, lighter, lighter..." Zhang Yuanqing sucked in a sharp breath.
"You've got a sensitive constitution, haven't you?" Lingjun clicked his tongue.
In the softly lit inner hall, three wide recliners were lined up in a row. Three men in bathrobes lounged lazily upon them, with fruit platters, fine wine, and cigars within arm's reach.
The aroma of cigars drifted through the air while soothing, melodic music played from the speakers.
Beside each recliner stood a bunny girl, her pale wrist adorned with a jade-green wooden bangle, intently massaging the feet of the three masters.
The wooden bangles were items belonging to the Wood Monster class; wearing them granted immense strength, which was the only way they could massage these three masters' feet.
After all, even a Star Officer—a class not known for physical defense—had skin resilience and muscle density capable of shrugging off bullets with ease.
Zhang Yuanqing had never gotten a foot massage in his life. Every time the bunny girl exerted force, he yelped.
With a cigar dangling from his lips, Lingjun gloated and teased from the side. Fu Qingyang, eyes closed, rested peacefully, his chiselled, handsome face radiating masculine composure.
"Right, Yuanshi, are you free next week? Teng'er wants to take you out for dinner to thank you for saving her life," Lingjun said lazily.
"Next week?" Zhang Yuanqing turned his head toward the Money Prince. "Next week, Boss is sending me to Qinfeng Academy."
"Qinfeng Academy? That's a great place. There are bountiful forests where you can hunt and gather valuable herbs, smelting rooms teaching how to refine artifacts, alchemy rooms teaching how to distinguish herbs... lots of good stuff..." Lingjun put down his cigar, speared a piece of cantaloupe with a fork, and popped it into his mouth.
"Those are trifles," Fu Qingyang said flatly. "A secret might be hidden within Qinfeng Academy."
"What secret?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
Fu Qingyang pondered for a moment before saying, "Qinfeng Academy was originally a guild instance belonging to Baihui—Dominator grade, set in the Qin dynasty. After it was conquered, it was converted into the current academy. But I heard the Grand Marshal mention that the instance's hidden quest was never completed."
"Why wasn't it completed?" Zhang Yuanqing was surprised. While a Dominator-grade instance was high-tier, Baihui did have demigods.
Fu Qingyang glanced at him. "Hence why it's a secret. By the time I realized it back then, it was already too late; I didn't have the time to gather clues and tackle the quest. But you can give it a try. After all, you're different from trash like Lingjun."
Lingjun: "..."
He swallowed the cantaloupe and said, "Forget about secrets; those things are way too far out of our reach. Let me tell you, there's a fantastic spot in Qinfeng Academy."
With that, he flashed a grin that Zhang Yuanqing understood instantly.
"Pretty female teachers?" Zhang Yuanqing chuckled knowingly.
"Pretty female teachers are a staple of any academy, but that's not what I'm talking about. Inside Qinfeng Academy, there's a lake called Jiaoren Lake." Lingjun wore a look of yearning. "Beautiful Jiaoren live there. In terms of looks, even the most striking human beauties only match an average Jiaoren's appearance. Not a single Jiaoren is unattractive."
"Jiaoren?" Zhang Yuanqing's interest was piqued at once.
"They're exotic beasts that existed in ancient times. At birth, they're equivalent to Level 1 Water Ghosts; upon reaching adulthood, they reach Level 3. A handful of elites can become Saints, and the most formidable Jiaoren Queen is Dominator-grade. Their race has no males. Once females mature, they lay eggs on their own to produce the next generation, or they can mate with Water Ghosts among Spirit Realm walkers to bear half-breed offspring—there's no reproductive isolation. Like the ancient cultivators, these exotic beasts were on the verge of extinction as spiritual energy drained away, but the Spirit Realm provided them a habitat, allowing their race to endure." Lingjun talked on and on.
"After my grandfather cleared the Jiaoren Lake instance, he introduced their race to Qinfeng Academy. However, there are no Dominator-grade Jiaoren in Qinfeng Academy. If I remember correctly, the strongest Jiaoren Queen is Level 5. Am I right, Fu Qingyang?"
Fu Qingyang kept his eyes shut and said calmly, "Good memory. Seems the Jiaoren Queen left quite the psychological scar on you back then."
"How so?" Zhang Yuanqing asked, intrigued.
"Lingjun saw how beautiful the Jiaoren Queen was back then and snuck out of his dorm to dive into the lake. He ended up nearly killed by the Jiaoren Queen, and only survived because an academy teacher intervened," Fu Qingyang said.
"Sigh, exotic beasts are just exotic beasts. They only admire strength and know nothing of romance. Their taste in mates is far too warped." Lingjun didn't look embarrassed in the slightest.
Zhang Yuanqing thought about it, then suddenly asked, "Wait, Jiaoren are half-human and half-fish, right? The lower half is a fish! Mentor, how in the world did you get horny for a Jiaoren Queen?"
Lingjun replied lazily, "Isn't the upper half human?"
Zhang Yuanqing was stunned. "Fish below, but where there's a head, there's a way?"
Lingjun froze for a second. "What the fuck are you thinking? What I meant was, even though they're Jiaoren, they have angelic beauty and fair, delicate skin. Flirting and sharing romance with such a beauty is a refined pleasure—it doesn't have to involve *that*! You filthy degenerate whose brain is filled with lust. Crude!"
Zhang Yuanqing was unconvinced. "If you're not filthy, how did you understand what I meant?"
Lingjun was left speechless.
Fu Qingyang's cheek twitched. "Drop this topic."
Zhang Yuanqing and Lingjun both looked at him and shouted together, "Oho, so you understood it too! Ew~"
Fu Qingyang fell silent for a second, looked at the three bunny girls, and said coldly, "Out. All of you!"
***
At eight in the evening, around the round table in the living room.
Guan Ya, Xie Lingxi, Queen, and Commandery Princess Yinyao sat gathered around the round table, playing mahjong.
Commandery Princess Yinyao bit on the small loudspeaker with her cherry-red lips, her hands feeling and gliding across the mahjong tiles. Each time she discarded a tile, the speaker broadcasted a mature woman's voice: "Nine Dots," "Three Wan," and so forth.
Queen had lost half a month's salary tonight. Gritting her teeth, she said, "I suspect Commandery Princess Yinyao is cheating with astromancy! We ought to blindfold her."
"She's not cheating," Guan Ya said.
Queen protested, "Then why am I the only one losing money?"
Xie Lingxi cast a glance at her and said sweetly, "Sister Queen, is there a possibility that... you're just terrible at mahjong?"
Just as Queen was about to retort, she caught sight of Yuanshi Tianzun walking through the front door and perked up joyfully. "Captain, you're back! Huh, what happened to your face...?"
The three women turned around. Yuanshi Tianzun was black and blue, beaten into a pig's head.
"My future brother-in-law beat me up. Lingxi, come feel sorry for your brother! I need ice and a massage," Zhang Yuanqing sighed, collapsing onto the sofa.
Xie Lingxi wrinkled her nose at him, displeased by him referring to Fu Qingyang as his brother-in-law.
"Captain, let me, let me!" Queen, having lost half a month's salary, was exceedingly eager, aiming to earn back her lost cash from her captain by waiting on him hand and foot.
But Commandery Princess Yinyao pressed a hand to her shoulder, pinning her in place.
"Shameful!" the mature woman's voice rang out from the small loudspeaker. "This is a new era where women stand above men. Do not bring shame upon womankind."
*You just haven't had your fill of mahjong and don't want the game to break up!* Queen grumbled inwardly.
Commandery Princess Yinyao proposed a solution: "Let the household laborer wait upon you."
*Forget it then...* Zhang Yuanqing said with righteous indignation, "I've told you already: he's not a laborer, he's my dearest friend and brother!"
Muttering, he dissolved into dreamy starlight and vanished.
After showering and washing up, the bruises and swelling on Zhang Yuanqing's face and body had faded. With a Star Officer's self-healing capabilities, even a severed arm's stump would close within half an hour.
Though of course, it could not regenerate a limb.
*Before heading into Qinfeng Academy, I should visit home, then stay over at Xiao Yuan's for a couple of days. Ever since the recent sweep, the evil classes in Songhai have been keeping a low profile. If I want to build up my reputation, I can only hope the next instance will be a confrontation-type.*
*The investigation into the Xiaoyao organization can be set aside for now. I've gained plenty, and right now I'm out of leads anyway. Chen Shu blacklisted my number. If I want to dig deeper, the only option left is taking a gamble and prying information out of the Zoo's artifact spirit.*
He lay in bed, letting his thoughts wander aimlessly.
Before entering Qinfeng Academy, he could probably enjoy a few days of peace and quiet.
*Back then, I thought college life was dull and boring—attending classes, playing video games, shopping with my aunt, and occasionally 'taking matters into my own hands.' Now, all of a sudden, I find myself missing those days...*
He sighed internally, took the Elvis speaker from his drawer, and said, "I want to know what the Demon Lord knew about the Compass of Light."
With that, he opened the music player on his phone and queued up the song:
"Love how you walk down dark alleys alone..."
As the track ended, the Elvis speaker crackled with static. A moment later, the familiar hoarse voice echoed:
"Today, I heard about the prophecy of the Compass of Light from the Soldier Master sect's Fear Heavenly King. Do the Sun, Moon, and Stars represent the ultimate power of the Night Walker?"
By this time, Zhang Yuanqing had entered Night Wandering.
A man's voice replied:
"Just as you suspected."
Zhang Yuanqing had heard this voice before. After a brief recollection, he recognized it: it was the mysterious man who had told the Demon Lord about the prophecy of the Compass of Light.
He had invested in the Demon Lord.
"Why the Night Walker? What's so special about the Night Walker?" the Demon Lord asked.
"That question exceeds the scope of what I can answer; even I don't know why. But I can offer you a line of thought: why is it that among all Orderly classes, domestic and abroad, only the Night Walker stands at the pinnacle of combat strength? Have you ever thought about that?"
"You know why?"
"I don't. I'm merely pointing out that the Night Walker has always been exceptional," the mysterious man said. "By the way, you just mentioned running into Fear from the Soldier Master sect? He didn't kill you, but instead told you the prophecy of the Compass of Light?"
"He killed all my companions, so naturally he intended to kill me too. I told him: 'Killing me is your freedom, but surviving is mine. You shouldn't crush a living soul's freedom.' He appreciated my understanding of freedom and wanted to make friends. We talked for a long time... I told him I was a servant of the Deceitful Eye Judge, bound by the Holy Grail and unable to break free for the rest of my life."
"And then?"
"Then he said he was going to kill Deceitful Eye. I hope he succeeds."
*Are all the Heavenly Kings of the Soldier Master sect mental? You can actually talk your way out of dying at a Heavenly King's hands? Gotta file this away—might come in handy someday...* Zhang Yuanqing muttered inwardly.
The Demon Lord continued, "Seems you don't know either. In that case, answer another question for me: if I run into an acquaintance in the opposing camp during a confrontation instance, how do I break the deadlock?"
"What happened?" the mysterious man chuckled.
"Last month, I ran into a friend in a confrontation instance. I didn't want to kill him, but I had to. I couldn't defy the Spirit Realm quest. He was from an evil class, yet a kind-hearted man actively seeking redemption. He told me that as long as one genuinely repents and turns toward the light, even an irredeemable sinner can start anew." The Demon Lord's voice was heavy.
"You saw your own reflection in him, and you wanted to redeem yourself too?" the mysterious man said.
After a long silence, the Demon Lord said:
"Recently, I listened to recordings of myself from the past. I'm becoming less and less like who I was, more and more like a lunatic. I hate who I am now, but I can't control the malice lurking deep inside me.
"I befriended him, observed him, examined him. I wanted to see if an irredeemable sinner truly had a way back. Yet in the end, I had no choice but to kill him.
"Before he died, he told me he didn't blame me. He said he was finally free."
The mysterious man sighed.
"Once you advance to Dominator, I will tell you how to break free of the Fallen Holy Grail. But the risk is immense, with an extremely high mortality rate—you must prepare for your demise. As for how to resolve such an impasse in a confrontation instance, it's simple: just leave the instance."
"That's useless nonsense."
"Heh, what I mean is leaving the instance on your own initiative, rather than waiting for the Spirit Realm to send you out. You'll need an item belonging to the Void class. I don't have one on hand, but I can procure one for you," the mysterious man said. "However, forcibly leaving an instance will cost a certain amount of experience points, or even cause a level drop. Think carefully."
The audio cut off abruptly.
*A Void-class item... the teleportation jade case? So that's how that item came to be...* Zhang Yuanqing chewed on the conversation, realizing how dense the information was.
First, he understood the origin of the teleportation jade case. Second, he suspected that friend of the Demon Lord had been part of Master Wuhen's team.
Finally, it turned out that the battle in which the Demon Lord and the Deceitful Eye Judge perished together had been orchestrated by this mysterious man.
Could the person who had disguised himself as the Demon Lord that day and taken the Little Sun be this very mysterious man?
Compared to the possibility of the Demon Lord still being alive, Zhang Yuanqing leaned more toward this theory. After all, the Demon Lord's death had been "endorsed" by the Taiyi Sect Master, the demigods of the Five Elements Alliance, and Master Wuhen.
Asura of the Soldier Master sect had invested in the leader of Dark Night Rose; the Five Elements Alliance had invested in the Taiyi Sect Master; and this mysterious man, along with the Association of God of Beauty, had invested in the Demon Lord.
The mysterious man kept his head and tail hidden, never revealing his identity—a persona befitting a conspirator.
After the Demon Lord died, he took the Little Sun. Did he intend to seek out his next investment candidate?
*I'm a Night Walker too, why didn't he invest in me? Am I, Yuanshi Tianzun, not worth it?!*
*I now have a direction for exploring the Demon Lord's storyline: look into this mysterious man. Sigh, I really have my hands full...* Zhang Yuanqing thought.
Just then, his phone rang.
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the screen. The caller was Asano Ryo, living her good little Japanese life.
*She's actually contacting me on her own initiative?* Zhang Yuanqing answered the call. "Moshi moshi?"
From the speaker came the high school girl's crisp voice, laced with gravity and nervous tension: "Yuanshi-kun, I am very sorry to disturb you so late at night. I... I have a favor to ask of you."
As soon as the words left her mouth, a dull thud echoed through the line, sounding as if her forehead had slammed against a tatami mat.
Chapter 402