Kangyang District, a luxury apartment near the Public Security Bureau.
On a large bed covered with constellation plushies, Guan Ya sat bolt upright, all lingering drowsiness vanishing in an instant.
"Yuanshi! Yuanshi!"
She shouted into the receiver several times, but got no response. Ruffling her hair in agitation, she muttered inwardly, *How is he so unlucky? How can that kid be that unlucky?*
An ordinary Spirit Realm walker might never encounter an S-rank instance in their entire life, or perhaps encounter one just once—and encountering one was the end of their life.
Yet that kid, Yuanshi, had barely survived a buggy trial task when he turned right around and stepped into a multiplayer S-rank instance.
Of all things, why did he have to choose the name "Yuanshi Tianzun"? Was a title like that something an ordinary person could live up to without inviting misfortune?
Anxious and frantic, Guan Ya hung up the phone and dialed Li Dongze's number.
"You never call me after work. Let me guess what happened—"
Li Dongze was just about to display his usual witty, elegant banter when Guan Ya cut him off bluntly:
"Yuanshi has entered an instance. Jinshui Amusement Park."
"What?!" Li Dongze's voice suddenly spiked, all elegance instantly gone.
Through the line, Guan Ya heard a series of clattering crashes—the Decurion must have leapt up in haste, bumping into his desk and knocking things over.
"Oh, good heavens... good heavens..."
Li Dongze muttered repeatedly to himself, his mind in complete chaos.
Whatever one feared most was bound to happen. Out of all the multiplayer instances in the Transcendent stage, an S-rank had appeared. Whether it was Centurion Fu or Li Dongze, their original intention behind giving Zhang Yuanqing the outdated walkthrough was merely to be on the safe side.
Better safe than sorry.
Who could have predicted that the kid would truly enter an S-rank instance?
At this moment, Li Dongze once again recalled the dread and trepidation that had gripped him during the Sheling Tunnel incident.
Taking a deep breath, Li Dongze forced down the surge of worry and agitation in his chest, along with an overwhelmingly un-gentlemanly urge to curse, and said in a low voice:
"I understand.
"I'm just as worried as you are, but no one can help him now. All we can do is pray—pray that he isn't cursed with an ill-fated life—and wait for dawn."
Instances in the Transcendent stage did not take very long. Spirit Realm walkers of this level still had basic human needs; they needed to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. If all went smoothly, an instance would be cleared within twenty-four hours.
Conversely, taking longer meant the person had perished inside.
This was also why forum posts dared to assert that those official walkers had already fallen.
"Understood," Guan Ya sighed and hung up.
She threw herself heavily back onto the soft bed, spreading her arms and legs wide, spread-eagled as she stared blankly at the ceiling.
Her purple silk nightgown clung smoothly to her delicate figure, outlining gentle, undulating curves. The hem barely covered her thighs, leaving her fair, slender legs exposed in all their rounded elegance.
"So annoying..."
she murmured in a low voice.
Li Dongze hung up. After several seconds of silence, he lit up his phone screen and dialed Centurion Fu's number. When the young centurion had provided the walkthrough, he had casually instructed that if Yuanshi Tianzun entered the Spirit Realm, he was to be informed.
Fu Qingyang had been swamped with the Hei Wuchang incident lately, yet he still made time to pay attention to this kid, Yuanshi—showing just how much he valued him.
In a villa.
On an open-air balcony, Ling Jun sat casually dressed, languidly curled up in a single armchair with a laptop resting on his knees.
He shifted his gaze away from the screen, looked across at Fu Qingyang, and sighed:
"I heard from Elder Sun that the revived boss is Lady Sandao from the Mountain God Temple in Sheling Tunnel. She went on a massive killing spree in the Night Wanderer Spirit Realms, causing the power of a high-ranking entity to leak out and invade some lower-level instances, triggering instance mutations.
"Alas, to be able to travel between Spirit Realms, this lady's level is higher than we imagined."
Fu Qingyang held a wine goblet in hand, sipped the crimson liquid, and said calmly:
"How does the Taiyi Sect plan to respond? I passed the intelligence on the Mountain God Temple to Uncle Sun immediately. You should have prepared for this long ago."
Ling Jun shook his head:
"We have no way to deal with Spirit Realms whose difficulty has already changed. We can only hope the Night Wanderers clear the instances as quickly as possible and produce guides. Our Taiyi Sect still has plenty of talent, and there are quite a few experts among the wild Night Wanderers as well.
"As for Lady Sandao, it depends on whether my father and the elders run into her in the Spirit Realm to nip the problem in the bud. Or perhaps they'll encounter a realm on par with her level within the Spirit Realm, checking one realm with another."
Bosses moving between different Spirit Realms was a very rare phenomenon, but not unheard of; the authorities had observed similar occurrences many years ago.
This was one of the factors behind Spirit Realm mutations.
Furthermore, because of its rarity, official analysis speculated that traversing Spirit Realms required a steep price, though that hypothesis had yet to be confirmed.
"Anyway, I'm just a Beast King. Night Wanderer business has nothing to do with me," Ling Jun said, shrugging.
Just then, a bunny girl with a slender waist, long legs, and an hourglass figure walked over, respectfully presenting a phone. "Young Master, your call," she said softly.
Ling Jun remarked with feeling, "Surrounded by beauties, one on each arm—how enviable, Money Prince."
Fu Qingyang ignored him. Seeing that the caller was Li Dongze, his heart stirred, and he answered:
"Speak."
"Centurion, Yuanshi has entered Jinshui Amusement Park."
A flash of shock crossed Fu Qingyang's face before he quickly regained his composure. In his usual tone, he said:
"Understood. Give me an update tomorrow morning."
Hanging up, he furrowed his brows. "The Night Wanderer under my command entered Jinshui Amusement Park."
Ling Jun was taken aback, then offered: "My condolences, my condolences."
Fu Qingyang gave him a chilly glance. "How do you know he won't make it out alive?"
Ling Jun burst into laughter. "Care to make a bet?"
Fu Qingyang remained silent.
Ling Jun didn't press the matter either. After thinking for a moment, he offered a serious analysis:
"He cleared Sheling Tunnel and has experience conquering an S-rank. According to the Spirit Realm's matchmaking algorithm, a walker like that has a higher probability of being assigned to high-difficulty instances. However, as long as he fails a few times in multiplayer instances, his rating drops. Unfortunately, Jinshui Amusement Park is a death-type instance. He has no way out."
The blurry scene before Zhang Yuanqing's eyes resolved into focus. He found himself standing in the plaza of an amusement park. The first thing that caught his eye was a towering Ferris wheel, a colossal revolving structure slowly turning, adorned with dazzling ribbons of light.
Beneath the Ferris wheel was an open-air bumper car arena, flanked by a giant pendulum and a pirate ship on either side.
Facing the Ferris wheel from across the park was an undulating, dragon-like steel track. An empty roller coaster rushed along the rails with a roar, as though carrying phantom passengers.
His gaze swept slowly across the amusement park, taking in a carousel playing gentle music, a drop tower plunging straight down and shooting back up, and several haphazardly arranged canopy structures.
And there he stood, right in the center of the plaza, under a deep night sky.
The park was ablaze with radiant splendor, the lights weaving dreamy hues. Every ride was running, music echoed in the air, and though it was completely deserted, it felt as if crowds lingered everywhere.
Lonely yet bustling, dreamlike yet terrifying.
"How beautiful..."
Beside him, Zhang Yuanqing heard someone murmur.
Looking toward the voice, he saw a young girl. Not very old, with straight, long black hair draped over her shoulders, an elegant oval face, and eyes large and bright, reflecting the brilliant lights like the world's most exquisite gemstones.
The girl's figure had not yet fully matured into womanhood, but she possessed the tender grace of early spring willow branches.
*In an era where perms have invaded every household, pure, natural straight black hair is a rare treasure indeed...* Zhang Yuanqing was stunned by the girl's exceptional beauty, but he didn't linger too long, turning his gaze toward the other Spirit Realm walkers.
There were seven Spirit Realm walkers entering Jinshui Amusement Park this time.
Right now, they were looking around at their surroundings or gazing toward the attractions, their faces terribly grim.
Zhang Yuanqing could understand their urge to curse.
He cleared his throat to draw everyone's attention and called out in a clear voice:
"Hello, everyone. It's a pleasure to meet you all at Jinshui Amusement Park. In the mission ahead, we'll face dangers together, so even though we're strangers meeting by chance, we are now the closest of comrades.
"Why don't we introduce ourselves so we can get to know one another? I'll go first. I'm Wang Tai, an experienced Spirit Realm walker. I've been through four solo realms and seven multiplayer realms, and I've cleared an A-rank instance before. Heh, S-rank—I'd really like to see just how tough it is."
His composed demeanor and confident tone seemed contagious, his steady words dispelling the panic in everyone's hearts.
In times like this, a teammate radiating confidence provided an immense sense of security.
Zhang Yuanqing was adept at socializing, so he naturally knew how to liven up the atmosphere and build goodwill.
He only gave a name without mentioning his class. Considering the sensitivity around classes, bringing it up in an introduction might make guarded individuals refuse to open up.
Seeing Zhang Yuanqing set the pace, someone immediately chimed in:
"No one who enters an S-rank realm is a total rookie. As long as we work together, we can definitely clear it. It's no big deal. I'm Huo Mo."
The speaker was a red-haired young man, skinny as a rail, with small, sharp eyes and slanted brows that gave him a rash, brusque look.
*Must be a Fire Master...* everyone thought in unison.
A man wearing black trousers and a black hoodie said impassively with a dark expression, "Hebo."
"I'm Xie Lingxi." The girl with straight black hair spoke in a soft voice, a smile playing at the corners of her lips, looking pure and sweet.
A wooden-faced, reticent middle-aged man raised a hand and introduced himself rather self-consciously: "Ashamed to Be a Father."
*Say what? I know Spirit Realm IDs are bound to be weird and wonderful, but Uncle, isn't your name a bit too out there?* Zhang Yuanqing had a bellyful of snark, noticing the others were equally bewildered.
"What kind of name is that..." A young street punk in loafers and tight pants muttered under his breath, then lifted his chin and proclaimed loudly:
"I'm Great Sage Equal to Heaven. You can all just call me Great Sage."
Everyone looked toward the final companion. She was a mature woman, around thirty to thirty-five years old, with a full bust, rounded hips, flaming red lips, and subtle eyeshadow—seductive and alluring.
Fully ripe.
Huo Mo and Great Sage Equal to Heaven stole frequent glances at her. Hebo in the black hoodie kept a sullen face, while the honest-looking 'Ashamed to Be a Father' listened intently.
She gave a radiant smile and said, "I'm Xi Shi."
Her glistening eyes swept over Zhang Yuanqing, carrying a hint of coquettish cajoling: "Little Brother, you have to look out for me."
*You're older than my aunt! Xi Shi? Choosing such a flamboyant name, aren't you afraid your fortune can't handle it?* Zhang Yuanqing roasted her inwardly, but his face beamed with heroic spirit:
"Don't worry. We're comrades, and the same goes for everyone else."
At the same time, he gained a preliminary understanding of her style—a woman skilled at leveraging her feminine charms.
With introductions out of the way, the barrier of unfamiliarity among them softened slightly. Zhang Yuanqing seized the opportunity to take the lead:
"An S-rank instance is fraught with peril. Before danger strikes, why don't we discuss things?"
No one objected. Xi Shi's sparkling eyes glanced around, and she said in a delicate voice:
"Are any of you members of official organizations? I heard an anomaly occurred in Jinshui Amusement Park and the difficulty changed. If only we had the old version of the walkthrough."
Chapter 47