Li Dongze carefully chose his words before speaking.
"The Spirit Realm is a supernatural force that currently cannot be explained by science. Even though we've continually attempted to analyze and understand it, we still lack a complete grasp of what it is. The Spirit Realm exists within reality, yet remains detached from it. Only the chosen may enter."
"And as for the way one is chosen..." Li Dongze took a sip of his liquor and smiled. "You should already have experienced it."
"That card?" Zhang Yuanqing chimed in promptly.
Li Dongze nodded slightly.
"It's called a character card. Whoever receives one activates a trial quest. By passing the trial, they obtain a corresponding profession, complete with that profession's skills and characteristics.
"The mechanism by which the Spirit Realm selects its walkers hasn't been figured out yet, and its methods of distributing character cards aren't fixed either. Sometimes one appears directly inside your body; sometimes you pick it up off the street; sometimes you accidentally click a link online...
"Completing the trial quest is only the beginning. If a Spirit Realm walker wishes to level up and become stronger, they must continuously accept quests and enter the Spirit Realm. Still, there's no need to worry. Quests don't appear very frequently, nor does every Spirit Realm instance endanger your life. On the contrary, some can actually be quite interesting.
"Take me, for example. I'm a Level 3 Scout. Over the past two years, I've entered the Spirit Realm once a month, but only entered a solo instance once every three months—and nearly died in there. The rest of the time, I entered multiplayer instances, which are relatively safer and more fun. Heh, if you want supernatural powers, there's always a price to pay."
Li Dongze paused, giving Zhang Yuanqing time to ask questions.
"So it's similar to dungeon instances in games?" Zhang Yuanqing offered his interpretation.
Li Dongze smiled.
"I enjoy talking to you young people. You grasp things quickly and are eager to embrace new concepts."
After offering that word of praise, he nodded.
"That's right. It's just like playing a game, and the Spirit Realm is the dungeon. Some instances are solo types, while others involve multiplayer teams or multiplayer confrontations. Solo instances are the most dangerous, with the highest mortality rates.
"Multiplayer instances are comparatively better. They're divided into lethal and punitive types; for the latter, you only lose a certain amount of experience points."
Puzzled, Zhang Yuanqing asked, "Why do solo instances have the highest mortality rate?"
Li Dongze pondered for a moment. "In multiplayer instances, you encounter Spirit Realm walkers from other professions. But a solo instance is tailored specifically to your own profession. Take Scouts, for example. In the Transcendent stage, our abilities center on insight, tracking, and analysis.
"Because of that, the three solo instances I've encountered were roleplaying as a detective deducing a case, hunting down criminals in a jungle where we stalked each other, and wilderness survival. Furthermore, for every profession, the Spirit Realm instances differ between the Transcendent stage and the Saint stage."
*My profession is Night Wanderer, so I was thrown into a supernatural ghost instance. Whew, thank goodness there are multiplayer instances too, or I'd literally piss myself in there sooner or later. Do Spirit Realm instances change at the Saint stage?* Zhang Yuanqing nodded along as he listened.
"Did Lei Yibing disappear because he entered the Spirit Realm?" Zhang Yuanqing asked in a heavy voice.
He urgently needed confirmation from someone in officialdom to validate his theory. If Brother Bing had entered the Spirit Realm, matters weren't completely hopeless yet.
Li Dongze thought for a moment and said, "After Lei Yibing's bizarre disappearance, official personnel from the Hang City Police Department took over the case. Their judgment is that he has already died inside the Spirit Realm."
Zhang Yuanqing felt his heart skip a beat. Anxiety and panic surged uncontrollably. "Why?"
Li Dongze explained, "Because too much time has passed. In normal instances, at least at the Transcendent stage, they last anywhere from a few hours to a day or two at most. But Lei Yibing has been missing for four days. The Transcendent stage corresponds to Levels 1 through 3."
"What about above the Transcendent stage?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but there should be instances that last longer."
*Maybe Brother Bing is an exceptionally powerful Spirit Realm walker...* Zhang Yuanqing could only comfort himself with that thought.
Given his current capabilities and knowledge, he was destined to be of no help regarding Brother Bing's disappearance.
By comparison, joining the official organization and saving himself was his top priority.
"...By the way, before I introduce the official organization to you, there's another very important matter." Li Dongze took a sip of liquor to moisten his throat. "What are your Morality Points?"
"Sixty points. The default value," Zhang Yuanqing answered honestly.
Li Dongze nodded. "For a novice like you, Morality Points are the biggest trap. You must keep this firmly in mind."
"Why do you say that?" Zhang Yuanqing didn't hide his confusion.
"Remember the remark beneath your Morality Points?"
*I remember. It told me to be a good person...* Zhang Yuanqing nearly pulled an Andy Lau impression.
Li Dongze said solemnly, "The initial value for Morality Points is sixty. Drop below that threshold, and it triggers the Spirit Realm's punishment mechanism. It will broadcast your location to every Spirit Realm walker in the city and issue a quest to eliminate you."
Stunned, Zhang Yuanqing blurted out, "Doesn't that mean I can never do anything bad for the rest of my life?"
*Not that I actually want to do bad things, but playing a saint is exhausting, isn't it?*
*Besides, what constitutes the standard for Morality Points? If taking matters into my own hands or sharing spicy pictures counts as moral decay, then my life is over.*
Li Dongze chuckled, seemingly delighted by the newcomer's reaction. He said leisurely, "No need to be so nervous. According to our observations, when a Spirit Realm walker commits theft, robbery, or assault, anywhere between one to five Morality Points are deducted depending on the severity. Murder deducts ten points. If an act leads to severe consequences with multiple casualties, points are deducted accordingly based on the circumstances.
"As for minor personal vices, they won't affect your Morality Points. Furthermore, points can be deducted, but they can also be accumulated. That's why it tells you to be a good person."
This mechanism sounded deliberately designed to keep Spirit Realm walkers in check, but why did the Spirit Realm want to constrain them?
Morality and law were constructs created by humans to maintain order. In the natural world, no other living creatures needed such things.
In other words, unless the Spirit Realm stood on the side of humanity, the existence of Morality Points didn't make much sense.
Yet the Spirit Realm was supposed to be a supernatural phenomenon.
Zhang Yuanqing instinctively felt the restriction was irrational. But since Li Dongze hadn't offered an explanation, it meant even he didn't know the underlying reason.
From their conversation so far, it was evident that official knowledge regarding the Spirit Realm was limited.
Enlightened, Zhang Yuanqing said, "I see. No wonder it's such a massive trap for beginners. So how do you accumulate Morality Points?"
Once novices gained superpowers, they often used them to accomplish things they had previously wanted to do but couldn't—like acquiring wealth.
And all the methods for making fast money were written right into the criminal code.
*What else was there... Right, does financially supporting needy ladies lower your Morality Points? In the eyes of the Spirit Realm, does that count as a minor personal vice, or breaking the law?*
Zhang Yuanqing didn't dare ask that out loud. After all, they weren't close yet, and he didn't want to leave a bad impression on his future boss.
"Accumulating Morality Points is just as simple as losing them—just do good deeds. In fact, Spirit Realm walkers from many wicked syndicates are avid philanthropists who love donating money, because that's the fastest way to amass Morality Points. As long as you have enough money, you can kill with impunity." Li Dongze let out a scoff.
"Ironic, isn't it? You never know what monstrous faces lurk behind those charitable personas. What's even more ironic is that human lives can be measured in money. It's true in reality, and it's true in the Spirit Realm.
"Additionally, Spirit Realm walkers killing one another doesn't deduct Morality Points."
Once Zhang Yuanqing had digested this initial wave of information, Li Dongze continued:
"Next, let's talk about the official organization.
"The official organization we belong to is called the Five Elements Alliance. It is composed of five major factions: Hundred Associations, White Tiger Battalion, Scarlet Fire Gang, Water God Palace, and Central Court. These five factions correspond to five professions: Wood Demon, Scout, Fire Master, Water Ghost, and Earth Monster."
Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help muttering internally: *Why does an official organization sound entirely made up of demons, ghosts, and monsters?*
"Aside from the Five Elements Alliance, there are several other organizations with official backing. I'll include them in the dossier I send you later." Li Dongze fingered his glass and said, "The five factions within the Five Elements Alliance only allied within the last twenty years. Before that, each acted independently, and their relations were far from harmonious. This touches upon the generative and overcoming cycles of the five elements, as well as the behavioral differences between each profession."
Li Dongze took another sip and shrugged. "Take the Wood Demons of Hundred Associations, for example. They're a bunch of extreme environmentalists and animal protection activists. Good heavens, they actually tried to push the Five Elements Alliance headquarters into enacting a ban on members eating dog meat! God Himself isn't that absurd. Every time I see their sickly, sanctimonious faces fawning over animals, I get the urge to kick them in the ass with my leather shoes."
Li Dongze proceeded to harshly critique the four professions outside of White Tiger Battalion.
This gave Zhang Yuanqing a vivid mental picture of the Alliance's other factions—such as the Scarlet Fire Gang, who preferred throwing punches over talking; the Water God Palace, whose members were gloomy and enjoyed cultivating viruses and bacteria; and the Central Court, composed of wealthy, earthy tycoons involved in real estate and mining.
"Only the Scouts of our White Tiger Battalion—wise, calm, and decisive—are the perfect profession," Li Dongze concluded.
Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself, *Would the other four factions agree with that assessment?*
"Heh, the more we talk, the more it sounds like a game, right? Some people inside the Alliance even refer to the Spirit Realm as a 'game server.' Walkers have character panels, items, and quests, while the various instances are like dungeons. On top of that, there are distinct classes. The people of the Scarlet Fire Gang are reckless, impulsive, and glorify violence—just like berserkers. Those from Water God Palace control water, making them water mages. Hundred Associations can raise beasts and heal injuries, so they're priests and summoners. Central Court members are thick-skinned and durable—your typical main tanks."
Zhang Yuanqing couldn't resist chiming in with a joke:
"So you Scouts are the seventy-five gold sight wards from the game?"
Li Dongze froze. His grip tightened around the handle of his walking stick, and he said expressionlessly, "If I were a Fire Master from the Scarlet Fire Gang, I would have already bashed your head in with a staff."
"I'm sorry!" Zhang Yuanqing apologized immediately.
With the banter out of the way, the atmosphere between the two grew even more harmonious. Li Dongze smiled.
"Once you pass the Transcendent stage, a Scout's individual combat capability becomes formidable. Calling it a nearly flawless profession is by no means an exaggeration.
"Of course, among orthodox professions, the Night Wanderer is universally recognized as the strongest. Mind you, I'm referring to orthodox professions, excluding the wicked ones. Even we Scouts must admit that the Night Wanderer is slightly more complete than us."
*Huh? Night Wanderers are that strong? Can they take on ten opponents at once?* Delighted, Zhang Yuanqing said, "Could you tell me more about the Night Wanderer profession?"
Li Dongze laughed softly, entirely understanding the young man's admiration for power. "Even in the early Transcendent stage, a Night Wanderer exhibits exceptional assassination prowess and remarkable explosive burst power. On top of that, they possess the abilities to communicate with souls, refine corpses, and control spirits. Their skills are diverse, and their combat capability is fearsome.
"However, Night Wanderers are exceedingly rare. At present, the Songhai City Branch doesn't have a single Night Wanderer. This is because there are very few trial instances for Night Wanderers in Songhai, and furthermore, the Taiyi Sect in the capital constantly recruits Night Wanderers from across the country."
Having reached this point, he naturally inquired about the new recruit's profession. "What is your profession? Hopefully you aren't a Fire Master. I detest crude, short-tempered youngsters the most."
Chapter 9