Chapter 1 Welcome to Literary City

Yin Yao, the Princess of the Commandery, strode forward and placed her palm on the crystal ball.

The eye within the ball abruptly opened. This eye had no pupils; its interior was a deep, dark abyss. At this moment, aside from the semi-conscious Zhai Cai, Zhang Yuanqing, Xiao Yuan, and Madam Jojo felt a sense of being watched from the shadows.

It made them feel uneasy and restless, as if all their secrets were being exposed, and every part of their bodies was being scrutinized.

Princess Yin Yao pressed her left hand on the crystal ball. Her scarlet pupils stared at the illusory curtain, appearing scattered. Her right hand moved in the air, tracing a path that connected to form a four-character Lingjing ID.

Shanhé Yongcun (Mountains and Rivers Endure). After the Lingjing ID was written, the eye in the crystal ball became even more profound, with a faint vortex forming within. Similar vortexes appeared in Yin Yao's scattered red pupils, like two stormy whirlpools.

After a moment, Princess Yin Yao lowered her head, her eyes tightly closed, and crimson blood tears streamed down her face.

Her body swayed, and she barely managed to steady herself by grabbing onto an iron pillar. She lost all perception of the outside world, including her vision.

Her consciousness seemed to sink into absolute darkness, deprived of all sensory input.

Princess Yin Yao's hand trembled as she pulled a small speaker from her pocket. "The target was not found. He is not in this city."

"Not here?" Zhang Yuanqing said with some disappointment. "Thank you for your trouble!"

He took out the Little Red Riding Hood and placed her inside, then put away the Eye of the Sky, and hoisted the gradually stabilizing but still immobile Zhai Cai onto his shoulder.

He took out a teleportation jade talisman and said, "Now we're going to Chahar Ulan city."

Recalling the landmark building in Chahar Ulan city from the photo in his mind, he exerted force with his fingertips and crushed the jade talisman with a "crack."

Xiao Yuan and Madam Jojo shattered their jade talismans and disappeared from the rooftop of the office building.

The next second, in the distant city of Chahar Ulan, in the city center square in front of the Revolutionary Martyrs Monument, Zhang Yuanqing, Xiao Yuan, and Madam Jojo appeared one after another.

The city center square was empty and silent, and the statues of the martyrs were covered with white frost and ice.

The northwest was bitterly cold and economically underdeveloped. Although it was only 8:15 in the evening, there were few people in the square.

Cars flowed endlessly on the streets outside the square. Zhang Yuanqing held out the heavy Eye of the Sky with one hand. "Xiao Yuan, you go first!"

The aloof and beautiful Aunt Xiao Yuan nodded, walked to the Eye of the Sky, placed her left hand on the crystal ball, and wrote the four characters "Shanhé Yongcun" in the air with her right hand.

The eye in the crystal ball suddenly widened and rolled around, looking in all directions.

Xiao Yuan suddenly groaned in pain. Her eyes seemed to have been exposed to strong light and instinctively closed, and crimson blood flowed continuously.

"I...I see him."

In a villa on the outskirts of Chahar Ulan city, the villa had gardens in the front and back, and the frozen soil in the flowerbeds was black and barren, without even dead branches or fallen leaves.

The four-story villa was dark and silent, quietly standing in the night. The northwest was already cold, and the temperature near the villa was below zero, making it both eerie and desolate.

Two figures quietly arrived outside the villa. One of them, wearing golden armor, kicked open the iron gate and stood proudly, saying in a deep voice.

"The rules of this battle are that you cannot teleport away from this location, you cannot call for outside help, you cannot enter the Lingjing, and you cannot escape this location." Bronze light spread out, forming a spherical barrier covering the villa.

Seemingly sensing the intrusion of outsiders.

Large patches of Yin energy surged from the depths of the villa, solidifying the moisture in the air.

Thick white frost formed on the windows, walls, and eaves. The Yin energy surged into the sky like dark clouds, but it was blocked by the bronze spherical barrier and could not escape.

Within the black smoke-like Yin energy, rays of golden light bloomed. The pure and clear golden light dissipated the Yin energy, revealing a miniature sun that burned the barrier overhead.

However, the power of the sun, which purified and eliminated everything, could not shake the barrier in the slightest.

"Shanhé Yongcun, there's no point in trying. You can't get out." Zhang Yuanqing stared at the miniature sun and gently clenched his hand.

The golden light turned into nothingness. Before tonight's hunt, Zhang Yuanqing cut open his heart and released part of the seal on the Phantom God item, allowing Shen to recover to the eighth level, capable of nullifying spiritual energy.

And the eighth-level rules. The latter is a unique ability of Phantom God items; ordinary eighth-level nullifiers cannot nullify the rules of rule-based items of the same level.

As his level increased, the abilities of the Phantom God item were gradually released. The miniature sun turned into nothingness, revealing a figure wrapped in a black robe.

Beneath the hood, a pair of weathered and sharp eyes stared fixedly at Zhang Yuanqing, and a gloomy and hoarse voice questioned.

"Yuanshi Tianzun, how did you find this place?"

This was his secret stronghold in Chahar Ulan, and no one knew about it except himself.

He rarely used it, but now that the Demigods were gathered in the Lingjing, and the real world had lost its "protective umbrella," he had activated this place.

With the protection of the Leader's Taiyin, how could Yuanshi Tianzun possibly find this place?

Zhang Yuanqing raised his eyes and smiled. "Ling Tuo entered the Dayang dungeon, and the Taiyin origin was suppressed by the sun. The spells he left in the real world have all failed. Your members of the Night Rose have lost the protection of the Taiyin origin. That's why I can use the Eye of the Sky from the New Covenant County branch to locate you." As he spoke, he secretly ignited the Great Guardian's fear.

In the face of the opponent's suddenly contracted gaze, he turned into starlight and遁(dùn)ed behind him, and "啪(pā)" his right fist stabbed towards the back of his head like a spear.

The Great Guardian turned into starlight and dissipated, and then, wanting to escape the barrier, he regrettably appeared at the edge of the front yard.

The moment he appeared, a shrill and sharp whistling sound rang out beside him.

嗡(wēng) The Great Guardian's eyes went black, blood seeped from his nose and eye sockets, and his head felt as if it had been struck hard, causing severe dizziness.

Zhang Yuanqing transformed into a stream of light and rushed in front of him, punching him heavily in the forehead.

"砰(pēng)." The Great Guardian flew backwards and crashed into the indestructible barrier.

His forehead was covered in blood. This punch restored his consciousness, and he immediately grabbed a long sword polished with ink carbon and gleaming with a greasy luster from his item bar.

This item was called the Yintianzi Sword, and it sealed a vast amount of Yin energy within it.

And countless powerful vengeful spirits. Even a level 7 Day Wanderer would have to use all his strength to resist the endless army of Yin creatures.

And the amount of Yin energy and vengeful spirits stored in the sword was enough to exhaust all the spiritual power of a Day Wanderer who had just entered the Dominator Realm.

A miniature sun appeared behind Zhang Yuanqing's head, emitting a blazing and pure golden light. The moment the dense Yin energy涌(yǒng)ed out of the "Yintianzi Sword," it was instantly vaporized. Before the vengeful spirits could let out strange wails and cries, their souls were scattered.

The Yintianzi Sword,沐(mù)浴ing in the clear and bright golden light, lost all its magical power and became an ordinary object.

The Great Guardian's pupils contracted violently. Beneath his hood, his weathered and aged face was filled with horror. The Yuanshi Tianzun's level had reached level 8, capable of suppressing the high-quality Yintianzi Sword!

How long has he been promoted to Day Wanderer? How could he upgrade so fast? The emotion of shock surged incessantly, and could not be suppressed. Of course, there was also the fear of imminent disaster.

"砰(pēng)砰(pēng)."

Zhang Yuanqing activated the combo skill of Fiery Sun God of War and Rising Sun, abandoned all his props, and approached the Great Guardian. He used the most basic close combat with punches and kicks.

When facing a Day Wanderer of the same profession, it was enough to suppress him directly with his level, without the need for fancy props.

The Great Guardian immediately activated the Fiery Sun God of War form, his muscles bulged around his body, and he tried his best to resist Yuanshi Tianzun's violence, but the opponent's level was too high, and his strength, speed, and power of the sun were far superior to his.

The Great Guardian felt like he had become a child, fighting an adult.

Besides being beaten, he was still beaten. After taking countless punches, his bones were broken and his internal organs were damaged. He was knocked to the ground by Yuanshi Tianzun with an uppercut and never got up again.

He was not dead, but just fell into a deep sleep.

After being seriously injured, his state declined, and he was pulled into a dream by Zhang Yuanqing with almost no resistance.

Looking at the Great Guardian falling into the dream he had woven, Zhang Yuanqing turned his head and said to Zhai Cai, "I'm going to ask for some information in the dream. You guard outside."

He picked up the Yintianzi Sword on the ground and said, "I'll give you a reward first." Zhai Cai took the dark and greasy ink sword, waved it a few times, and啧啧(zé zé) said, "Good stuff. This thing can be used by my vampire servants."

Zhang Yuanqing opened a chaotic dream and jumped into it.

In a dark basement.

The Great Guardian "woke up" from his desk, feeling like he had a dream. In the dream, he was chased and killed by Yuanshi Tianzun. That kid was promoted to an eighth-level Dominator, and his level was ridiculously high. He had almost no ability to resist, and was cruelly killed by the opponent.

Yuanshi Tianzun was only promoted to Night Wanderer at the end of last year. How could he be promoted to the eighth level in just two months? Even the Demon Lord and Marshal Baihu did not have such efficiency. It was a ridiculous dream.

But the Great Guardian got a hint from the dream: the Leader entered the Sun dungeon and will not appear in a short time. Yuanshi Tianzun hates the Night Rose to the bone and will definitely seek revenge. We must be prepared!

Thinking of this, the Great Guardian picked up his mobile phone, opened his address book, and dialed a contact called "Surgeon."

嘟嘟(dū dū), the call was connected, and the Great Guardian said in a deep voice: "Before the Leader returns, you should hide well, do not go out, and do not be lured out by any information. I am worried about Yuanshi Tianzun's revenge. He has been promoted to Day Wanderer, the same profession as us, so be careful."

On the other end of the phone, the Third Guardian said in a serious tone, "Hmm," and said, "I will not go out."

Then, he dialed another contact called "Shaman Wizard" and said the same thing, issuing the same warning. The "Shaman Wizard" did not take it seriously. "Great Guardian, you are about to be promoted to the eighth level, and you are still afraid of a newbie. Yuanshi Tianzun is just entering the Dominator Realm, and your experience is as high as 90. Even two Yuanshi Tianzuns are not your opponents."

The Great Guardian said coldly: "Yuanshi Tianzun's props are enough to make up for the difference in experience. And he has Chuan Qingyang protecting him. The surname Fu trusts him wholeheartedly and will definitely help him."

"Shaman, arrogance is your weakness. If you don't get rid of this problem, you will suffer sooner or later. A level 7 Day Wanderer is nothing in the great change."

When the Shaman Wizard heard this, he restrained his contemptuous emotions and gave the answer that he would "definitely hide well."

After hanging up the phone, the Great Guardian continued to dial the phones of the Night Rose Guardians.

He did not notice that Yuanshi Tianzun, whom he feared so much, was standing beside him. In the area under his jurisdiction, the Great Guardian looked at the information and recalled the bits and pieces of the past twenty years.

Suddenly, he had a sense of the passage of time, as if he had returned to the war-torn era of the last century.

The dream suddenly changed, the dim desk lamp was replaced by a dim crescent moon, and the study became a bumpy mountain road and distant rolling mountains.

Shanhé Yongcun, dressed in cloth clothes and carrying a Type 38 rifle, was walking bloodily on the bumpy mountain road.

At this time, he was still very young, with bright eyes and a firm face.

The Huabei Branch of the Tongzhou Association will hold an emergency meeting tonight, and all members must attend. During the day, he was hunting down a Japanese spy lurking in the Huchenghe Province. After a battle, he finally beheaded him. By the time he received the information from the organization, it was almost dark.

Shanhé Yongcun did not have time to wash off the blood on his body, so he set off with his Type 38 rifle for self-defense. This kind of rifle could cause considerable damage to the Transcendent Realm.

After walking for more than an hour, he arrived at the Huabei Branch's stronghold, a remote mountain village.

The reason for choosing to set up a stronghold in a remote mountain village was because it was hidden enough, and it was backed by mountains. Even if the Japanese invaders found this place, they could retreat into the mountains.

Of course, Japan had already announced its surrender, and the war was over, but the stronghold had not been changed for the time being.

This emergency meeting should still be about post-war development issues.

Alas, now that the war has just ended, our country is like a plate of loose sand. It is also unruly and untamed. It is safest to temporarily pretend to be cooperating with the foreign devils and use their power to deter dangerous elements in the country.

Shanhé Yongcun thought in his heart that he was a supporter in the organization, believing that they should not break with the Tongzhou Association headquarters at this juncture. However, there were too many radical members in the organization, and their irrational patriotism delayed things.

Passing through a mountain depression, the destination was in sight.

Suddenly, Chu Hè Yongcun saw a sea of fire, a raging sea of fire that dyed the night red.

The small mountain village was shrouded in raging fire. His expression changed drastically, and he instinctively thought that the Japanese devils had come!

Then he remembered that the Japanese devils had been driven out of China, and the war had long ended.

It was an evil profession that had discovered this stronghold. Shanhé Yongcun immediately took off his Type 38 rifle, put on his worn cloth shoes, and ran wildly on the mountain path with his back bent, heading towards the sea of fire.