A Shock

Inside the Ring City Building, in an upscale lounge with floor-to-ceiling windows, Zhang Yuanqing appeared beside a desk by the window. He glanced around, picked up the desk landline, and expertly dialed Annie's office. No one answered Annie's phone; after a few seconds, the call forwarded to her assistant. "Tell Annie I'm back. Have her prepare some food and clothes," Zhang Yuanqing said, then hung up and walked into the bathroom. The rushing sound of running water soon filled the room. Zhang Yuanqing washed away all the blood and grime from his body. As for his love and longing for Monia and Cyctia, he could only bury them deep in his heart, leaving time to dilute the feelings. Cupid's arrow of desire was said to grant eternal love, but nothing in this world was truly eternal—much less a consumable like love, with its exceptionally short shelf life. After showering, he wrapped a towel around his waist, returned to the desk, unplugged his phone from the charger, and opened his messaging app. He immediately saw two messages. One was from the Palace Master: [So bored, nothing to do. I'm going into a dungeon.] The other was from Demon Eye Heavenly King: [I plan to return to the Soldier Master sect to level up, and I won't come out until Level 9. Do not disturb! If I die in the guild scenario, you must carry on my faith and ideals.] The Palace Master and Demon Eye had entered dungeons too? Zhang Yuanqing felt a touch moved. He promptly posted a message in the "Return of the Dead" group: "I'm back!" Keyboard Immortal Sun Miaomiao, who was perpetually surfing online, immediately bubbled up in the group: [So fast? Are you Level 9?!] Still stalled in the Saint realm, she was far from the core leadership of Return of the Dead. She only knew that Yuanshi Tianzun intended to push for Level 9, succeeding or dying in the attempt. As for the classified intelligence that Yuanshi Tianzun planned to use the Sancai Pill to break through to Level 9, she had no idea. Brother Red Chicken: [Freaking amazing, freaking amazing! Congratulations to the Boss! Boss's talent is unparalleled—crushing the Grand Marshal and trashing the Demon Lord.] It was now mid-February. Barely two months had passed since he ascended to Day Wanderer in the mid-December Slaughter Dungeon. Advancing to Level 9 in two months would be completely unprecedented, utterly shattering the records of both the Demon Lord and the Grand Marshal. Zhao Chenghuang and Tianxia Guihuo lurked in silence, losing all desire to type a single word. Sometimes, even brothers who had walked through life and death together couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy: *Can someone ban this cheater already?!* [Yuanshi Tianzun: Not yet. Just reached Level 8.] Seeing this reply, Zhao Chenghuang, Tianxia Guihuo, and Sun Miaomiao all breathed a sigh of relief. *Now that makes sense!* # Brother Red Chicken recalled a message # [Yuanshi Tianzun: @Guan Ya, has Little Fu still not come out of the guild scenario?] [Guan Ya: Not just him. Xiahou Aotian hasn't come out either.] Xiahou Aotian followed the Boss into the guild scenario too? Didn't the Boss say he wanted to hog all the exp for himself, which was why I went to the Desire class dungeon...? Zhang Yuanqing was startled. [Tianxia Guihuo: Xiahou Aotian disappeared right after you entered your dungeon. We called the Xiahou family to ask, only to find out that on the day you entered yours, Xiahou Aotian entered a clan dungeon too.] *The ever-competitive protagonist!* Zhang Yuanqing muttered silently. After chatting for a few more minutes with the Saints of the guild, he heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" He turned his gaze toward the entrance. The doorknob turned with a click. Dressed in a tailored women's suit, Annie walked in carrying a tray in one hand, on which lay a neatly folded set of loose sportswear. "Mr. Yuanshi, you cleared Paphos Island even faster than the Minister expected," she said with a bright, charming smile, her eyes sparkling. "I got out nine days early!" Zhang Yuanqing said with emotion. "The crisis on Paphos Island was compressed into five or six days. The pacing was faster than I expected, and the difficulty was higher than I thought. I almost didn't make it back." Annie couldn't hide her curiosity and pressed, "The Paphos Island dungeon has existed for over thirty years and was never cleared before. Mr. Yuanshi, with my position, I'm not qualified to know the dungeon walkthrough, but could you make an exception for me?" Unconsciously, she mixed a trace of charm into her coquettish tone. "In a dungeon like Paphos Island, knowing the walkthrough is useless anyway. For the Desire class, which isn't suited for combat, it's a dragon's pool and a tiger's den. Even if your President had entered Paphos Island in her youth, she probably would've bitten the dust." Even as he said this, Zhang Yuanqing still gave her a general overview of Paphos Island's storyline. However, he glossed over the high-level classified intelligence, such as the feud between the God of Beauty and the God of Light, and the God of Light's true identity. Annie listened in dumbfounded shock. If it had been her, she probably wouldn't have survived the first day—no, on the very first day, she would have fallen in love with a ram. It was downright terrifying! Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory, took out the "God of Beauty's Gauze Skirt," and tossed it to Annie. "A gift for you." Annie caught it blankly and concentrated on reading the item information. A few seconds later, her hands began to tremble slightly. Though she hadn't been fighting or drinking, her heart thumped wildly, and a flush crept across her pretty face. It was a Dominator-quality item—and of high grade at that. It could increase a Desire practitioner's charm and raise the number of partners they could "control." It could even turn a man into a woman while retaining the ability to experience pleasure. The gender-bending feature was exceptionally rare. Annie looked up excitedly. "Mr. Yuanshi, have you finally accepted me? Can I be your mistress?" Why else would he gift such a precious item unless he intended to take her into his harem? In the past, Zhang Yuanqing would have explained himself, but after experiencing the Association of God of Beauty's dungeon, he didn't care anymore. Let her misunderstand; there was no need to explain. If the mood struck, he could rock the bed with her. If he wasn't in the mood, he could just say: *Sorry, I'm exhausted today.* That would be enough to brush it off. Explaining was something only young boys did; mature men never made excuses and kept firm control of the initiative. *Knock, knock!* A knock sounded at the door, and Annie smiled. "The lunch I ordered must be here." Storing the item in her inventory, she swayed her full, curvy hips as she walked toward the door. Standing outside was Minister of Foreign Affairs Diana. "Minister?" Annie froze. Diana's stunningly beautiful face was clouded with gloom, her eyes heavy and solemn, completely devoid of her usual calm poise and mature intellect. "Annie, step outside for a moment. I have something to discuss with Mr. Yuanshi." Diana turned slightly to make room. Annie glanced back at Yuanshi Tianzun, and seeing that he didn't object, immediately responded, "Yes, ma'am!" She brushed past Diana and left the room. Zhang Yuanqing looked intently at the mature beauty, his tone turning serious. "Minister Diana, it seems you're bringing me bad news." From Diana's expression, body language, and emotions, he sensed just how severe and terrible the situation was. Diana turned to close the door, sat down on the sofa, and sighed. "The Sun Dungeon has opened. The demigods of both the orthodox and evil factions have entered the Sun Dungeon." The Sun Dungeon had opened? Zhang Yuanqing was greatly shocked. "Did Mr. President fail to withstand the pressure?" Diana nodded. "A few days ago, the Lord of the Stars convened a demigod conference and proposed two options: hunt down the two Presidents to seize the Compass of Light fragments, or initiate the decisive faction battle early. Alas, for the sake of the bigger picture, he had no choice but to compromise. You should know that stalling was merely a delaying tactic that could never last indefinitely. You can't blame him." Zhang Yuanqing sat stunned on the sofa, his expression dazed and dispirited. His uncle ultimately couldn't withstand the pressure after all. With this, the divine throne of the Lord of the Sun was completely out of his reach. Suddenly, he felt a hollow melancholy, as though a lifetime of striving had all amounted to scooping up water with a wicker basket—along with the bewildered helplessness of losing his goal. The joy and exhilaration from clearing Paphos Island completely vanished. After several minutes, Zhang Yuanqing steadied his emotions and looked at his mature, glamorous little aunt: "Did the two of them enter the dungeon as well?" "Inevitably," Diana replied with certainty. "Before your uncle entered the Sun Dungeon, he specifically sought me out, instructing me to tell you what happened and asking me to pass along a message." Zhang Yuanqing looked at her. "I hope it's not words of comfort or encouragement." "You guessed right—it really is encouragement," Diana said softly. "He said that the Sun Dungeon won't conclude quickly. The clash of demigods is long and arduous. You still have time; do what you must." Hearing this, hope flared once again within Zhang Yuanqing's dejected and bewildered heart. This encouragement was remarkably effective. His uncle hadn't given an exact timeline, but he knew his nephew's situation. Since he felt there was still enough time and that hope remained, it meant the demigod melee would likely be drawn out. At the very least, a victor wouldn't emerge within a few days. Zhang Yuanqing calculated silently in his mind: *I'm already Level 8. Moving forward, if I want to level up quickly, entering dungeons is out of the question. No matter how prolonged the demigod clash is, it won't last several months. The only path to rapid advancement is concocting the Sancai Pill.* *There are too few options for the Sancai Pill's 'main ingredient.' Either I plunder a Day Wanderer from a Taiyi Sect dungeon, or I hunt down a Protector of the Dark Night Rose.* Both paths came with numerous complications that needed careful sorting out. Option One: Hunt a Day Wanderer from a Taiyi Sect dungeon. Pros: Clear target. Cons: Can only look for them inside a dungeon and cannot bring them into reality, so Xiahou Aotian would need to come into the dungeon as well; clearing the dungeon is time-consuming and exhausting; the Taiyi Sect elders might not agree; there's a chance the Lord of the Stars could set a trap to harm me inside the dungeon. Option Two: Hunt a Protector of the Dark Night Rose. Pros: High safety. Cons: Hard to find! With the evil faction's demigods gathered in the Sun Dungeon, even a peak Dominator couldn't stop him if he wanted to hunt down a Dark Night Rose Protector. The success rate was high, and the safety was high. Unfortunately, the sole drawback was a fatal one: he simply couldn't find them. In truth, if there were a way to pinpoint the locations of the Dark Night Rose Protectors, Option Two would undeniably be the best choice. Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up. *The New York County branch has a rule-based item called the Eye of the Sky. By entering a Spirit Realm ID, it can accurately locate a target person within the bounds of a city. I can use it to pinpoint the location of a Dark Night Rose Protector.* But soon, he shook his head in disappointment. The Protectors' Taiyin protection most likely stemmed from Ling Tuo's Taiyin, and Taiyin's status was higher than a rule-based item; the Eye of the Sky couldn't possibly see through Taiyin's concealing protection. What power in this world could counter the concealment of Taiyin? Amidst his silent contemplation, a flash of inspiration struck Zhang Yuanqing. He thought of a way—a method to counter the Taiyin protection.