In the bedroom of his maternal grandmother's house.
Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yu'er sat cross-legged side by side in front of the television, each holding a controller, their fingers clattering rapidly as they maneuvered their characters across the screen.
Little Doubi lay perched atop Jiang Yu'er's head, his chubby little legs dangling down. His jet-black, crystalline eyes stared unblinkingly at the TV screen, while his tiny hands gripped Jiang Yu'er's hair, his little body tense in total immersion.
It was the weekend, and since Jiang Yu'er didn't have to work, she had dragged him into playing video games.
For now, they were still in the phase of "keeping a low profile" and didn't want to draw attention outside. Staying at home was very safe, after all—they had the family scum, no, the great demigod protecting them.
Suddenly, Zhang Yuanqing put down his controller, took out the Companion Spirit Moon, wore it on his forehead, and promptly entered the Night Roaming (Concealment) state.
Seeing this, Little Doubi couldn't wait to tumble down from Jiang Yu'er's head. Clasping the controller tightly to his chest, he gazed up at Jiang Yu'er with watery, pleading eyes.
Jiang Yu'er stroked the sparsely haired little head, a motherly smile spreading across her lips. "If you fail to clear the stage, I'll exorcise your soul."
Little Doubi's tender face took on an earnestness completely unsuited to his apparent age. Furrowing his faint eyebrows, he nodded vigorously.
His intellect had developed enough for effective communication: he could understand human speech, read body language, and gauge moods, possessing the intelligence of roughly a six- or seven-year-old child.
Yet his appearance remained that of a newborn baby—plump and fair, with sparse infant down. A spirit servant's form was fixed; however they had looked at the moment of death was how they would remain forever, for spirits had no concept of physical growth or development.
The clatter of buttons resumed, and the two game characters charged back into battle.
Sitting cross-legged in the Night Roaming state, Zhang Yuanqing absorbed the information shared by his avatar and learned about the relic left by Lingjun's biological mother. He needed to think about how to handle this matter.
Tell Uncle? Tell Fu Qingyang?
If they knew, they could participate in the future. But once they got involved, without the protection of Concealment, Ling Tuo could peer into the River of Fate and perceive both Uncle and Fu Qingyang.
Then Ling Tuo would discover the existence of the seed, putting Elder Zhao in danger.
Of course, given Elder Zhao's attitude today—"This old man prioritizes covering his own back, and keeping the seed was merely a promise to a student"—he would most likely hand over the seed without a fight.
If that happened, Zhang Yuanqing would never unravel the secret of the seed.
*Wait, could Ling Tuo be trying to force me to investigate this? He might have observed something in the River of Fate that remained indistinct. So while I was anxious, cautious, and on extreme alert, he sent Sect Master Chunyang to scare me. With my and Boss's intellect, we would definitely deduce that the old lunatic Chunyang was just bluffing, giving me even more reason to meet Elder Zhao.*
*And given my habit of sharing information, I would certainly tell Uncle or Fu Qingyang. That way, Ling Tuo could clearly observe specific details of future events in the River of Fate, allowing him to set up schemes in advance and bend the course of the future to his will.*
*Hiss, playing mind games with Ling Tuo always feels like battling the air. Over every little trivial thing, you have to extrapolate and examine both sides over and over again. It's truly better to be a Fire Master—Fire Masters have no worries.*
Having analyzed up to this point, his mind was made up.
He wouldn't tell Uncle or Fu Qingyang about the seed for now. First, he would find a way to cultivate it, and then plan his next moves.
As for how to find the method to cultivate the seed, Zhang Yuanqing already had a lead: asking Lingjun.
Since Lingjun's mother had left the seed behind, it indicated she hoped it would prove useful in the future and that the secret she discovered might one day see the light of day.
In that case, she must have left behind a cultivation method. As her biological son, Lingjun would undoubtedly be the top candidate entrusted with such a weighty task—though Fengling might not have laid out the stakes openly.
He needed to find time to talk with Lingjun!
Exiting Night Roaming, Zhang Yuanqing brushed the seed from his mind. Glancing at Little Doubi, who was playing the game with utter devotion while hugging the controller, he flicked the little ghost away with one finger.
Little Doubi somersaulted through the air several times and flew right out of the bedroom.
A second later, he crawled back in wailing loudly, rolling back and forth on the floor in front of Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yu'er.
Zhang Yuanqing patted Little Doubi on the head and lectured him, "You're still young, so you can't play video games. When you grow up and become as tall as Daddy, then I'll let you play."
Hearing this, Little Doubi wailed even louder.
Zhang Yuanqing said helplessly, "The kid's growing up; he's not so easy to trick anymore."
"Let him play, let him play..." Jiang Yu'er frowned. "He's so noisy."
Belonging to the Mother profession, she could sense the child's intense emotional fluctuations.
Zhang Yuanqing conceded. Shoving the controller back into Little Doubi's arms, he walked over to the desk, turned on his phone, logged into the chat software, and @mentioned Xiao Yuan, Xiahou Aotian, and Demonic Eye in the "Return of the Dead" group chat.
[Yuanshi Tianzun: Everyone, if you're all ready, prepare to enter an instance in three days. By tomorrow at the earliest or the day after tomorrow at the latest, I'll send over information on undeveloped, Grade-A or higher instances from the White Tiger Guards.]
The so-called instance information was not a guide or walkthrough, but an introduction to the instances.
After the successful hunt of the Southern Sect elder, Heavenly King Demonic Eye had been the first to propose entering a faction instance. Having been beaten by Miejue in the Cloud Dream Divine Realm, he felt indignant and wanted to quickly boost his strength.
Xiao Yuan, Aunt, and Fu Qingyang were all eager to advance their strength as well.
Only Xiahou Aotian had been reluctant to join. He had recently returned to the Xiahou clan, bragging in the group chat just yesterday about how he had carried a megaphone and sat in front of the ancestor's old residence for an entire day, yet the ancestor couldn't do a thing to him.
In a few days, he even intended to follow Yuanshi Tianzun's example by hosting a banquet at the Xiahou family manor, inviting friends from Spirit Realm aristocratic families to dine, making the old fossils jealous and the young juniors feel inferior.
However, Zhang Yuanqing had told him: *We'll enter an instance and come out a level higher. If you don't go, you'll become another Zhongyong.*
Xiahou Aotian didn't believe clearing an instance would instantly let him level up—not even an S-grade instance could do that. Yet on second thought, Yuanshi Tianzun's leveling speed was terrifyingly fast. If he slacked off now, the gap between them would only grow wider and wider in the future.
As the protagonist, when could he not make a name for himself?
Besides, if Yuanshi and the others formed a team to tackle an instance without him, an artifact refiner, it would be like a tiger losing its claws and fangs—they would likely perish inside.
[Xiahou Aotian: Wait, I haven't gathered all my materials yet. The company has run low on funds recently, so I have to take out a loan from the clan.]
Hearing this, the same mental image spontaneously popped into everyone's minds: Xiahou Aotian pumping a sewing machine while weeping bitter tears.
[Sun Miaomiao: I really want to tackle an instance with you guys, but unfortunately Saints can't enter Dominator-level instances.]
Tianxia Guihuo, Brother Red Chicken, and the others voiced their regrets one after another. Tackling instances with Yuanshi Tianzun was high-risk, but the rewards were proportional. Having access to far more high-level intelligence than ordinary Saints, they knew the clash between the evil and orthodox factions had reached a boiling point.
Although both sides appeared to have ceased hostilities and returned to the usual calm once Morality Points were restored, would the orthodox faction, having been fiercely schemed against twice, truly believe the matter was over? Low- and mid-tier Spirit Realm walkers might think so, but demigods definitely wouldn't.
On the contrary, having resolved crises twice in a row by pure luck and nearly capsizing each time, alarm bells were already clanging furiously in the minds of the orthodox demigods.
Likewise, the evil faction had bided its time for a century and concealed so many trump cards, yet two of their greatest trump cards had been foiled by the orthodox faction. How could they simply lay down their arms and let a century of forbearance go to waste? They were bound to press the attack and give the orthodox faction no breathing room.
The present tranquility was merely the calm before the storm.
Tianxia Guihuo and the others only wished to attain the strength to protect themselves before that global tempest broke out—and, if they had strength to spare, to shelter the innocent people around them.
Seeing Yuanshi Tianzun assemble a team to enter an instance naturally made them feel left out and uneasy.
[Zhao Chenghuang: Return of the Dead has already cleared its faction instances. Leveling up the faction in the short term is virtually impossible. You could consider joining one of the five major organizations and entering their faction instances.]
[Tianxia Guihuo: First, joining too many factions isn't a good thing; the more factions you belong to, the greater the risk of backlash. Second, one doesn't simply join or leave the five major organizations at whim. I don't want too many constraints.]
[Yuanshi Tianzun: Then join the White Tiger Guards. The Grand Marshal is my cousin; you can join whenever you want and leave whenever you want.]
[Guan Ya: Actually, it's not entirely impossible for us to enter an instance together.]
[Sun Miaomiao: ???]
[Brother Red Chicken: ???]
[Tianxia Guihuo: How so?]
[Guan Ya: In standard Spirit Realm instances, Saints can never enter a Dominator-level instance. But faction instances are different—or more accurately, the White Tiger Guards' faction instances are different.]
[Guan Ya: Everyone knows that Scout is a military profession, and the White Tiger Guards correspond to a military structure. That's why the alliance leader is called Grand Marshal, and Dominators can be positioned as generals. Since there are marshals and generals, there naturally have to be soldiers. In the White Tiger Guards' faction instances, marshals and generals can bring their own soldiers into the instance.]
A wave of realization washed over everyone.
[Guan Ya: However, not all instances allow bringing 'soldiers' along; it's limited to certain special instances. Exactly which ones, I'm not certain. I can ask Fu Qingyang later.]
[Yuanshi Tianzun: Is the risk high?]
[Guan Ya: Hard to say. Theoretically, soldiers have soldiers' tasks and generals have generals' tasks, but it depends on the specifics. For instance, if the mission in some instances is to defeat the enemy, the task for soldiers and generals is essentially the same. If the general loses, the soldiers will certainly die. So it depends on what the mission actually entails.]
Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment and decided to let Fu Qingyang pick the instance when the time came, or let Guan Ya consult him. He wouldn't get involved in the selection, as he had another important matter to attend to.
Exiting the chat group, he tapped open Lingjun's avatar:
[Teacher, are you free tomorrow?]
[Lingjun: Aiyo, Master Yuanshi, you're the brightest star in the Second District! This junior doesn't dare accept the title of 'Teacher.']
[Yuanshi Tianzun: Did you have to get petty just because I stole your thunder at the banquet? Narrow-minded and short-dicked.]
[Lingjun: Do you know how hard it is for me to get out? Victoria only lets me come out for a gathering once a month!]
[Yuanshi Tianzun: All right, cut the nonsense. I have business with you. Give me an address, and I'll come over at this time tomorrow.]
His avatar could only be condensed once a day.
After getting Lingjun's address, Zhang Yuanqing left the desk, scooped up Little Doubi, set him back onto his aunt's head, picked up the controller, and resumed playing games.
The next day.
In front of a villa on the Fourth Ring Road in the Capital City, Zhang Yuanqing's avatar—disguised at random as an ordinary passerby—pressed the doorbell.
As the crisp chime echoed, Lingjun emerged lazily from the main house wearing loose trousers and an oversized T-shirt. With both hands shoved in his pockets, he waved toward him.
Zhang Yuanqing remained indifferent and kept pressing the doorbell.
Lingjun jogged over, looking thoroughly perplexed. Opening the wrought-iron gate, he grumbled, "Couldn't you just teleport in?"
Zhang Yuanqing replied testily, "Can't you tell I'm pretending to be an ordinary visitor?"
"Heh, quite cautious... Bah, you coming to see me with this much caution definitely means trouble. If you want to drink, feast, gamble, or hit the brothels, come find me. For serious business, go find Fu Qingyang! I'm just a humble Saint." Lingjun eyed him warily. "What do you want with me?"
"It's about your mom."
"Why are you cursing at me?"
Zhang Yuanqing shot him a look. "It really is about your mom."
Lingjun froze for a second before the realization struck him. In an instant, he transformed from a lazy stud into a fierce lion.
Chapter 832