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Disaster of the Yellow Turbans! Spirit Realm Number: 82 Difficulty Level: D Type: Multiplayer (Non-death) Main Quest: Assassinate the Commander-in-Chief of the Yellow Turban Army Realm 82 Description: In the twilight years of the Eastern Han dynasty, the largest religiously organized popular rebellion in Chinese history swept across the realm. As an assassin trained by the inner court, you and your companions have disguised yourselves as refugees and infiltrated a division of the Yellow Turban Army, awaiting an opportunity to assassinate their commander. Dressed in coarse cloth with a yellow cloth wrapped around his forehead, Zhang Yuanqing gripped a crude spear and stood at the entrance of the military camp, gazing back at the rows of tents behind him. The encampment was laid out with orderly precision. Squads of rebels holding spears patrolled back and forth, and scouts regularly galloped out of the gates on horseback. They were currently stationed with a detachment of the Yellow Turban Army preparing to lay siege to a commandery seat forty li away. Since early morning, scouts had been riding in and out of the camp to deliver intelligence. Within two days at most, the siege would begin. The army was led by one of the Thirty-Six Grand Commanders, a man named Zhangliu. According to the intelligence Xiahou Aotian had gathered, he appeared to be a Spring God. Judging by the scenario's difficulty rating, he was most likely an early Level 7 Spring God. Opposite him, Xiahou Aotian—likewise clad in coarse hemp and leaning on a spear—grumbled listlessly, "So boring... When is the watch going to change?" The moment they arrived in the scenario, they had been assigned the role of common sentries guarding the camp gates. Zhang Yuanqing planned to wait until their shift ended before asking around the camp to identify which officer was versed in the arts of ghosts and spirits, after which he would abduct the man to refine into medicine and test whether Xiahou Aotian's scheme actually worked. Before pinpointing the Stargazer in the camp, he wanted no unnecessary complications. Drawing the attention of Grand Commander Zhangliu would inevitably provoke a fierce battle. Zhang Yuanqing certainly did not fear a fight; what he feared was accidentally killing Grand Commander Zhangliu. That would end the scenario and send them back immediately! After enduring until noon, two soldiers finally arrived to relieve them, allowing Zhang Yuanqing and Xiahou Aotian to head toward the mess area. The so-called mess area was simply a clearing where dozens of iron pots hung from wooden tripods, licked by bonfires beneath while steam billowed from within. Soldiers formed long lines before the iron cauldrons, each collecting a bowl of meat broth and two coarse grain steamed buns from the cooks. "The rations aren't bad. They even serve meat broth?" Zhang Yuanqing clicked his tongue. Behind him, Xiahou Aotian gave a dry sneer. "I'd advise you not to drink it." Zhang Yuanqing glanced back over his shoulder. "Why?" "The Yellow Turbans are rebels born of starving, shivering peasants who took up arms because they had no other choice. They couldn't even fill their bellies—where would they find meat?" A complicated look flickered across Xiahou Aotian's face. "In a chaotic age, what kind of meat is the most common?" Zhang Yuanqing fell silent and quietly turned away. Before long, the two received their coarse steamed buns and bowls of broth. Holding the broth and biting into a bun, Zhang Yuanqing scanned the area and ambled over to several soldiers who were chatting animatedly. "Brothers, may I ask you something?" He continued, "Is there anyone in our army endowed with foresight, a master versed in the ways of ghosts and spirits?" He subtly guided the soldiers' emotions, drawing out their urge to speak. "I know, I know!" "Aren't you talking about the military advisor?" "The advisor is a disciple of the General of Heaven! He can cure sickness with burned talismans, bring the dead back to life, and even divine fortunes." The grunts piped up one after another, clamoring to answer. Once Zhang Yuanqing learned the advisor's name and the location of his tent, he departed with Xiahou Aotian. Along the way, after several more pleasant exchanges with wandering soldiers, he finally pinpointed the tent. The sentries posted outside paid no heed to their approach, completely blind to their presence. Zhang Yuanqing lifted the heavy cloth curtain. Inside the spacious tent, a middle-aged man in Daoist robes was busy mixing medicine at a low table. Sensing that two people had entered undetected, the middle-aged man's face shifted in alarm. Before he could utter a word, his gaze turned blank as he fell into an illusion. Zhang Yuanqing retrieved Little Red Riding Hood and spirited the advisor away. A quarter of an hour later, the two emerged in an open wilderness far from the camp and began preparing for the alchemy. Holding a brush soaked in golden-red ink, Zhang Yuanqing leaned over the furnace's opening, painstakingly inscribing the spiritual talisman array. Meanwhile, Xiahou Aotian produced several vials and bottles, pouring their contents down the advisor's throat. "Mmph... mmph!" The advisor shook his head in terror. "You ate men, and now men shall eat you. The heavenly laws turn in cycles, and retribution never misses." Xiahou Aotian pressed a finger to the advisor's forehead, activating the concoction. "Sleep!" The advisor's head slumped sideways as he lost consciousness. The refinement process for the Three Powers Pill was exceptionally intricate. In addition to the primary ingredient, sixteen auxiliary herbs were required, all serving to calm the subject's mind and harmonize their essence, energy, and spirit. Medicines designed for sedation and illusions accounted for the majority of the mixture. Once Zhang Yuanqing finished drawing the spiritual talismans, Xiahou Aotian hoisted the advisor and tossed him into the cauldron, then summoned Samadhi True Fire to hover beneath its base. Next, he stamped his foot to project an array beneath the furnace's legs. The diagram slowly rotated, alternating between clockwise and counterclockwise turns, causing the Samadhi True Fire underneath to flare fiercely one moment and subside the next. Throughout the process, he opened the cauldron several times to add herbs and small amounts of pure water. The bronze cauldron pulsed with flashes of golden light, glowing and dimming in turn. Half an hour later, a plume of bloody mist vented from the cauldron's air holes. Seeing this, Xiahou Aotian hastily extinguished the Samadhi True Fire and used the array to shift the cauldron over to the talisman circle Zhang Yuanqing had carved more than ten meters away. Zhang Yuanqing immediately ignited the talismans with the divine power of the sun, bathing the bronze cauldron in radiant fire to purge the lingering consciousness within the medicine. The golden flames burned for a full quarter of an hour before dying down. Unable to contain their anticipation, both hurried to the cauldron. Xiahou Aotian pried off the lid, and an aroma carrying a faint tinge of blood wafted into their nostrils. A layer of mud-like sludge rested at the bottom of the chamber, with a dark red pill the size of a pigeon's egg half-submerged within it. Sensing the spiritual power condensed within the pellet, Xiahou Aotian exclaimed in delight, "It worked! I truly am an alchemical genius!" Zhang Yuanqing scooped up the pill, tucked it into a porcelain bottle, and said, "The medicine is ready. Let's clear this scenario quickly." Without waiting for Xiahou Aotian to reply, he dissolved into starlight and vanished. Xiahou Aotian remained where he was. After waiting three minutes, a Spirit Realm notification sounded by his ear: [Ding! Congratulations on completing the multiplayer Spirit Realm quest: Disaster of the Yellow Turbans, Number 82, Difficulty Level: D. Calculating rewards...] [Rewards obtained: Stellar Stone, Yin Army Talisman] [Experience awarded: 0.05%] [Main quest settlement completed!] [Calculation concluded. Exiting the Spirit Realm in ten minutes...] Xiahou Aotian opened his inventory to inspect the two items; both were low-grade Dominator-level materials. Low-difficulty scenarios almost exclusively yielded materials with very limited applications: crafting items and consumables. Crafting consumables was manageable, with a high success rate, but attempting to forge equipment usually meant throwing materials away. The failure rate for forging equipment was absurdly high. Elsewhere, the moment Zhang Yuanqing heard the prompt, he took out the pill and waited for the mark on his forehead to light up. Ten seconds later, his forehead heated up as the mark surfaced, and a thread of solar divine power so faint it was barely perceptible trickled into his body. 0.01% experience—so negligible it could be ignored entirely! Zhang Yuanqing swallowed the pill in a single gulp. The pill dissolved instantly upon touching his tongue, transmuting into power of Taiyin and stellar energy. Though the surge was faint, Zhang Yuanqing discovered to his astonishment that as his cells devoured the energy, his total spiritual power expanded and permanently took root. He knew this sensation intimately. Every time he cleared a scenario and gained experience, his upper limit increased, making him stronger. Xiahou Aotian's scheme had worked. They had successfully exploited a loophole in the Spirit Realm's mechanics, devising a method that bypassed the character card to rapidly enhance their realm without needing to clear standard scenarios. "If this method were made public, Xiahou Aotian's academic contribution really would shake the world," Zhang Yuanqing murmured. As the countdown expired, he departed from the Spirit Realm. *** In a ruined city choked with smoke, Zhai Cai, clad in silver armor, leaped forward and slashed out an irresistible arc of brass radiance. The mutated beasts in his path disintegrated beneath the glow, severed limbs and shredded flesh slapping against the ground as dark crimson blood spread across the rubble. Suddenly sensing danger, he planted his knightly broadsword upright before him and activated Wall of Protection. A split second later, petrifying rays, arrows formed of toxic vapor, wind blades, and lightning spears pounded against him like a torrential storm. The thick brass barrier stood firm and unyielding. All at once, a wisp of toxic smoke seemed to locate a crack, writhing and snaking through the brass wall toward Zhai Cai. His face instantly darkened into an unhealthy purplish-black, his eyeballs mapping over with bloodshot veins. His mouth twitched slightly as he forcibly suppressed the agony of the venom, bellowing: "In the name of the Knight, I declare the rule of this battle: the many shall not fight the few!" He raised his knight's sword and commanded in a grim voice: "Those who violate the rules shall face Judgment!" The straight sword swung downward, fracturing into a dozen rays of brass light. Howls of agony echoed from the darkness. By then, the toxins within Zhai Cai's body had been broken down entirely, sweating out through his pores as purple droplets. Brandishing his sword, Zhai Cai plunged into the enemy ranks, leaping, tumbling, and cutting through the ruins. He slew any solitary Dominator he encountered, fleeing whenever several banded together to surround him. Though a knight's offensive repertoire was straightforward, their ascetic training during the Transcendent stage had forged bodies of extraordinary endurance and an immense tolerance for pain. They were slaughtering machines on the battlefield. The grime on his silver armor was washed away by blood, sullied again, and cleansed once more by fresh gore. After an indeterminable time, when his arms cramped and his grip on the hilt began to falter, the mutated horde finally retreated. Leaning on his sword atop the rubble, he panted heavily, steam rising from the seams of his armor. Zhai Cai looked around and saw a few other silver-clad knights standing proudly, scattered across the battlefield. Fewer than ten members of the knight order remained. "Your growth is gratifying." A deep voice sounded from a distance. Zhai Cai glanced over. The newcomer was a man of about fifty wearing golden armor and holding a greatsword, with piercing blue eyes and a thick, bushy beard. He was the leader of the knight order, Paladin Simon Rodney, one of the three demigods of the Holy See. Catching his breath, Zhai Cai bowed his head. "It is thanks to your guidance." Over the course of a single month, Zhai Cai's combat prowess had skyrocketed. Aside from massive improvements in his physique and close-quarters combat skills, his abilities in rule establishment, Judgment, and Wall of Protection had undergone a qualitative leap. Though still possessing a Level 7 body, his combat strength bordered on Level 8. All of this stemmed from the secret manual gifted to him by the President. Of course, obtaining the manual was merely the beginning. The crucial factor was Zhai Cai's spirit of sharing: he had imparted the manual to every knight in the order, including the Paladin himself. He called it sharing resources through life and death. The Paladin naturally had no need for such a manual, but he greatly admired Zhai Cai's chivalric spirit and had granted him extensive guidance over the past month. As for the other knights who received the manual, each gained insights through real combat. After every battle, Zhai Cai would pull them together to discuss and exchange thoughts. They had all effectively become his research team. With so many elite knights sharing their insights, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, finally carrying him through to the final day. "It is time for you to go!" the Paladin said solemnly. "Regardless of how this battle ends, someone must leave. The lineage of the knights cannot be extinguished. Among all the knights, you possess the greatest talent." Zhai Cai ought to have been overjoyed, but he could not help looking back over the companions who had fought by his side for an entire month, gazing across the battlefield where they had repeatedly danced on the brink of death. A profound, unspeakable sorrow and solemnity surged in his heart. "Sacrifice is the knight's destiny," he said, looking at the Paladin as he recited the motto he had lived by for years. The Paladin answered in a deep voice: "To sacrifice here is our destiny, but not yours! "Go. Preserve the knights' legacy, and you will find the battlefield meant for you! Fight there, and make your sacrifice there!" Zhai Cai fell silent for a long moment, then turned and walked away without a word. His figure receded into the distance until it vanished completely, as though he had never been there at all. He had returned!