In the story, the little girl in the freezing snow longed for a "roast goose" and a "Christmas tree." Those were things that could save her life, but both lay far beyond her capabilities, so her wishes were not granted. In other words, the restriction in Note 1 was that one could not "directly resolve current difficulties that exceeded one's own limits of capability."
For example, if Zhang Yuanqing were being hunted by the Fear Heavenly King right now and struck a match to wish, "I want to escape the Fear Heavenly King's pursuit immediately!"
The wish would not come true.
"I want the Fear Heavenly King to drop dead on the spot," "I want to become a demigod immediately," "I want an item capable of confronting a demigod"—such wishes could directly solve the problem, but because they exceeded his own capabilities, none of them would be granted.
However, he could rephrase the wish in another way. For instance: "The female Grand Marshal suddenly arrives and saves my miserable life."
The possibility of the female Grand Marshal arriving abruptly did exist. She possessed the strength to rescue him and also had reasons to do so. That would not count as exceeding Zhang Yuanqing's own limits.
Yet Note 4 stated: *Although wishes will definitely come true, it will not grant just any wish for you.*
This note actually referred to the limits of the item itself.
A Saint-stage rule-based item could not manipulate powerhouses of the demigod or Dominator level. By the same token, wishes that exceeded the item's limits, such as "I wish the sun would explode" or "I wish for doomsday," could never be realized.
Asking the Grand Marshal to show up and save his life might bypass Note 1, but it could not bypass Note 4. It would amount to wasting a wish for nothing.
*If the wish is: I hope a teleportation jade talisman is immediately produced in the teleportation jade case, I wonder if that kind of wish can be granted.*
No sooner thought than done. Zhang Yuanqing opened the matchbox's "little drawer." There were only three matches inside. He pulled one out and struck it. With a sharp sizzle, a wisp of sulfurous smoke rose, and a vivid little flame flared like a glowing bean.
Zhang Yuanqing wished in a low voice, "I hope a teleportation jade talisman is immediately produced inside the teleportation jade case."
The flame suddenly blazed with brilliant light and swiftly consumed the matchstick.
This meant the wish had been granted.
Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly retrieved the teleportation jade case from his inventory and lifted the jade lid. A teleportation jade talisman lay quietly inside.
"Not bad. If I encounter some big shot in the future who lacks isolation or sealing abilities, I can use this trick to escape." Zhang Yuanqing was overjoyed.
He took out the second match and pondered silently:
*Wishing for the Grand Marshal to appear stark naked before me is definitely impossible. Hmm, how about testing a wish that doesn't involve high-tier entities, but has a probability of virtually zero?*
*Sizzle!*
He struck the match and made his wish: "I wish Queen wins five million in the lottery."
Queen was not an employee of the welfare lottery company, so her odds of winning were zero.
The flame flared brightly and quickly burned the matchstick to ash. The wish was granted.
Zhang Yuanqing's spirits lifted.
It seemed that so long as it did not involve high-tier beings, did not exceed the item's limits, and did not violate the restrictions listed in the notes, even a wish with zero probability could be realized.
Now that was what a true rule-based item should be.
At this point, only the last match remained in the box.
In the fairy tale, the little girl struck the third match and saw her grandmother in heaven, which actually foreshadowed her death.
The third match could also grant a wish, but the price was death. If he controlled or forced someone else to make the wish, the one who died should be that other person. After all, this was a rule-based item, not a karmic one.
Following this logic, if he used a yin corpse to make the third wish, wouldn't he be able to make three wishes every time?
*Well, let's settle the price required by Note 5 first.* Tucking the matchbox into his pocket, Zhang Yuanqing left his room and knocked on Queen's door.
Inside the bedroom, where a woman's sweet scent lingered, Queen was dressed in a tank top and hot pants. Her long legs rested on the desk while she performed one-arm push-ups for strength training.
Seeing Zhang Yuanqing walk in, she lifted her sweaty, pretty face. "Master?"
"Queen, buy a lottery ticket for me. Random numbers, but you have to buy it yourself. If we win, we split it fifty-fifty," Zhang Yuanqing said.
"Oh..."
Queen pulled back her long legs, picked up her phone from the desk, and opened an app while asking, "Just that?"
Zhang Yuanqing did not answer. Once she casually picked a lottery type, generated a random set of numbers, and completed the purchase, he finally said:
"I can also grant you a wish. Any wish will do—as long as it's not too outrageous."
"Then kiss me."
"???"
*Hey, hey, didn't you hear the last part? Nothing too outrageous!* Zhang Yuanqing's expression stiffened slightly. Then, his body leaned forward out of his control, bending down to press his lips against Queen's.
A light peck, like a dragonfly skimming the water!
Queen's eyes widened in sheer astonishment, utterly stunned.
"Anything else? I can fulfill one more wish for you."
"How about a wet French kiss?"
"..."
A few minutes later, Zhang Yuanqing opened the door and hurried out with his head down. Queen curled up on the bed, her face flushed red, holding her chest in a daze.
*Thank goodness it was only two wishes. If there were three, Guan Ya would have been wearing a green hat. I won't look for Queen to pay the price next time; I'd better go to Little Green Tea instead. That girl only talks big, but deep down she's completely timid...*
*I hope Queen doesn't tell Guan Ya.*
With his thoughts turning, Zhang Yuanqing summoned a Transcendent-stage yin corpse. After examining his own physiognomy to confirm there was no looming calamity of bloodshed, he manipulated the yin corpse to strike the match.
"What should the third wish be?"
He stared at the bright flame and fell into deep thought.
There was no need to test high-tier entities, zero-probability wishes had already been verified, and items of the same tier fell within the wish's scope of influence. What about trying to use a wish to gain more wishes? For instance: "I wish the matches would refresh immediately?"
*Uh, if a wish like that worked, the matchbox would be a divine artifact. Heaven's Punishment never would have given it to me.*
Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred as a bold thought surfaced: *Could it affect the Spirit Realm?*
*Given the Spirit Realm's status, the matchbox definitely can't alter it... or maybe it can? What if the wish doesn't disrupt the Spirit Realm's normal operation, but rather has a negligible effect on the Spirit Realm while offering tremendous benefits to a Spirit Realm walker?*
More experience? More items? Wishing for an increase in merit points? Zhang Yuanqing's mind raced through possibilities.
Finally, right before the flame died out, he spoke his wish:
"I wish the members of Return of the Dead can conclude their mission today."
The flame, on the verge of burning out, suddenly flared with bright radiance before extinguishing.
The wish had been granted.
With a loud whoosh, the Transcendent-stage yin corpse burst into flames, turning into a brilliant torch. In a mere matter of seconds, it burned to ashes, leaving the foul stench of scorched flesh hanging in the air.
Zhang Yuanqing's eyes widened instantly. "It... it succeeded?!"
Why had it worked? Was it because the faction members were coincidentally set to return today anyway?
Or had the power of the matchbox penetrated the Spirit Realm and influenced Guan Ya and the others inside the instance?
*Right, rule-based items can indeed affect the Spirit Realm! The resurrection through the Mother Goddess's Womb is an example. When a Spirit Realm walker dies, their character card is reclaimed by the Spirit Realm, yet anyone reborn from the Mother Goddess's Womb still retains their character card. In essence, it snatches the character card back from the Spirit Realm.*
*In other words, as long as the conditions of the wish are met and it isn't suppressed by a higher tier of power, the matchbox can affect the Spirit Realm.*
The so-called suppression by higher-tier power referred to wishes like modifying Morality Points—behind Morality Points lay a karmic item.
As he pondered, a Spirit Realm prompt chimed beside his ear:
[Faction Spirit Realm—Strange Tales of the Lin'an Ghost Market, No. 092 has been conquered. Faction members will return in thirty seconds.]
The wish had taken effect; the faction members were about to return.
Zhang Yuanqing darted out of his bedroom and waited in Guan Ya's room. Before long, his tall, shapely, mixed-race girlfriend materialized out of thin air.
She wore an ancient short martial outfit covered in grime and bloodstains, torn in numerous places to reveal the formfitting combat suit underneath.
Her wavy, long hair was greasy and unkempt, looking as though it had not been washed in days.
Her complexion was somewhat pale, and beneath the bright light of her eyes hid deep exhaustion. She had clearly endured days of brutal combat and teetered on the brink of death more than once.
"You're back?" Zhang Yuanqing stepped forward and gathered her into his arms.
"I almost died in the instance..." Guan Ya rested her chin on his shoulder and briefly recounted what had happened.
The Strange Tales of Lin'an instance was not particularly complex; it mainly revolved around investigating bizarre cases, where small incidents led to bigger conspiracies and lesser bosses led to greater bosses, working alongside constables to eliminate the martial underworld figures entrenched in the ghost market.
It was not complex, but exceptionally difficult. The enemies were monstrously powerful, and the final boss was an early Level 6 Plague God who had nearly wiped out their entire team.
Almost every member had walked the razor's edge between life and death. Fortunately, the faction members possessed deep reserves; with sufficient healing items and life fluid on hand, no one had died.
It had not been as harrowing as the Mo Sect Mechanical City, but the hardship far exceeded it.
"You can now maintain a steady survival rate even in Grade A instances." Zhang Yuanqing felt a surge of relief. Reaching down, he gave Guan Ya's pert backside a squeeze. "Go take a bath. I'll give you a present later."
Guan Ya had not bathed for several days; the combined smell of sweat, blood, mud, and moss was anything but pleasant.
...
In the Return of the Dead faction chat:
[Xiahou Aotian: Huh? Without me, the protagonist, holding down the fort, you guys actually came back alive from a Grade A instance?]
[Brother Red Chicken: Lucky you didn't enter the instance, or you'd be the one dead.]
[Xiahou Aotian: Are you mocking me? Do you know what my status is now, you crude Fire Specialist? A nobody like you could be crushed by any bodyguard I send.]
In this group, only Brother Red Chicken never humored the protagonist, always blurting out blunt truths that pierced right through his ego.
Xiahou Aotian loathed this mindless Fire Specialist.
Seeing that the two were about to start a brawl, Faction Leader Yuanshi Tianzun chimed in to cut them off:
[Yuanshi Tianzun: @Brother Red Chicken, why haven't you showered yet?]
[Brother Red Chicken: Drinking soup first. Bathing isn't urgent.]
For a normal person, the first thing upon exiting an instance was naturally taking a bath and reporting to their superiors. For Brother Red Chicken, the first order of business was drinking soup.
[Brother Red Chicken: Let me tell you some good news. I'm Level 5 now, and I've got more items too. Feels like in another few years, I'll be able to beat up my granddad.]
After surviving an S-rank instance, a B-rank instance, and an A-rank instance, he had finally reached Level 5, advancing into the mid-Saint stage.
At this moment, World Returns to Fire surfaced: [Finished bathing. One more instance and I should be Level 5 as well. Our faction is about to enter the Level 5 era. The harvest from this instance was quite good.]
[Sun Miaomiao: Isn't the 'Level 5 era' the biggest lie of the century? Ah, soaking in the tub feels so good.]
Sun Miaomiao jumped in to drop a meme.
[Sun Miaomiao: @World Returns to Fire, does a straight guy really only need five minutes to shower? I take at least forty.]
[World Returns to Fire: Actually, three minutes is enough. I even brushed my teeth and changed clothes in that time.]
In his view, the sole purpose of bathing was washing away dirt; three minutes was plenty. Wasting time in the shower was foolish, and he could never comprehend women spending over half an hour bathing.
Zhang Yuanqing glanced toward the bathroom, listening to the rushing sound of water, wondering whether he should join Guan Ya for a soak. Leaving the bathtub unused all the time was a waste, after all.
[Asano Ryo: Huh, I can't reach Master on the phone. Mother said the Thousand Cranes Group executives are still at the Five Elements Alliance and haven't returned. Yuanshi-kun, is Heaven's Punishment still visiting the Five Elements Alliance? Is there an exchange meeting this year?]
Asano Ryo followed up by sending a hot spring photo to show she was taking a bath as well.
[Xiahou Aotian: Damn it, don't ask! Drop this topic! (Furious)]
He spammed over a dozen blood-vomiting emojis in a row.
The group members had still been immersed in the joy of gaining experience and obtaining items, paying little heed to Asano Ryo's query. Seeing Xiahou Aotian react so violently, their attention was instantly piqued.
[Brother Red Chicken: Xiahou the idiot is so depressed. Did the Five Elements Alliance lose horribly?]
[World Returns to Fire: Given his personality, if the Five Elements Alliance lost, he'd say: 'Without this protagonist taking the field, isn't losing only natural? The supporting characters losing face merely serves to highlight my glory.']
[Sun Miaomiao: Oh, so he lost! Wait, that's not right either. He's only an early Level 6 Scholar; he isn't qualified to exchange pointers with Heaven's Punishment's elites.]
[Zhao Chenghuang: Stop gossiping in the group and go check the forum!]
He posted an emoji that said: "I am already exhausted."
Chapter 595