Chapter 1 In Grandma's Home, Bedroom

Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yu'er sat side by side in front of the TV in Grandma's house, each with a controller, skillfully manipulating their characters to conquer the game world.

Little Doubi lay on top of Jiang Yu'er's head, his chubby legs dangling. His dark, clear eyes stared unblinkingly at the TV screen. His little hands gripped Jiang Yu'er's hair, his body tense, fully immersed in the experience.

It was the weekend, and Jiang Yu'er didn't have to work, so she dragged him into playing games.

Currently, they were still in the "laying low" phase, not wanting to attract attention outside. Staying at home was safe, because there was a family disgrace—no, a great demigod—to protect them.

Suddenly, Zhang Yuanqing put down his controller, took out his natal spirit item, the Moon, and placed it on his forehead, immediately entering Night Tour (Stealth) mode.

Seeing this, Little Doubi couldn't wait to flip off Jiang Yu'er's head, clutching the controller tightly in his arms. He looked at Jiang Yu'er with pleading, watery eyes.

Jiang Yu'er stroked his sparsely haired head, a maternal smile on her face. "If you fail to clear the level, I'll send you to your next life."

Little Doubi's tender face showed a seriousness that didn't match his age. He raised his light eyebrows and nodded vigorously.

His intelligence was now developed enough to effectively communicate, understand human language, comprehend body language, and read facial expressions. His IQ was probably around six or seven years old.

But his appearance was still that of a newborn infant, fair and chubby, with sparse hair. A spirit servant's appearance was fixed. Whatever they looked like when they died, that's what they would always look like. Their spirit body had no concept of development or growth.

The sounds of button-mashing rang out again as the two characters continued to bravely fight their enemies.

In Night Tour mode, Zhang Yuanqing sat cross-legged. Through the information shared by the doppelganger, he learned about Lingjun's mother's relic. He had to think about how to deal with this matter.

Tell his uncle? Tell Fu Qingyang?

If they knew, they could participate in it in the future. But once they participated, his uncle and Fu Qingyang, without the protection of stealth, would be spied on by Ling Tuo from the River of Destiny.

Then Ling Tuo would know about the existence of the seed, and Elder Zhao would be in danger.

Of course, judging from Elder Zhao's attitude today—"I'm all about not getting involved, preserving the seed is a promise to the student"—he would most likely offer the seed with both hands.

In that case, he wouldn't be able to unlock the seed's secret.

Wait, could Ling Tuo be trying to force me to explore this matter? He might have observed something in the River of Destiny, but it was vague, so he took advantage of my guilty conscience and caution. At a time when I was extremely vigilant, he had the Pure Yang Sect Leader come forward to scare me. With my and Boss's intelligence, we could definitely tell that the Pure Yang madman was trying to scare me. That would give me even more reason to see Elder Zhao.

"And with my helpful nature, I would definitely tell my uncle or Fu Qingyang about this. That way, Ling Tuo could clearly observe the details of certain things in the River of Destiny, allowing him to make arrangements in advance, so that the future would go according to his wishes."

"Ugh, fighting wits with Ling Tuo always feels like fighting wits with air. Even the smallest things require me to think three steps ahead, considering both sides of the coin. It's better to be a Fire Controller; Fire Controllers have no worries."

After analyzing this, he had made a decision.

He wouldn't tell his uncle and Fu Qingyang about the seed for the time being. He would first find a way to cultivate the seed before making other plans.

As for how to find a way to cultivate the seed, Zhang Yuanqing already had a direction in mind, which was to ask Lingjun.

Since Lingjun's mother left the seed behind, it meant that she hoped that this seed would be useful in the future, and that one day the secret she discovered could be revealed.

In that case, there must be a cultivation method left behind. Lingjun, as her biological son, was undoubtedly the first person to entrust with this important task. However, Feng Ling might not be honest about the stakes involved.

He would find time to have a conversation with Lingjun!

Zhang Yuanqing exited Night Tour, banished the matter of the seed from his mind, glanced at Little Doubi, who was immersed in playing the game with the controller in his arms, and flicked him away with one finger.

Little Doubi rolled several times in the air and flew out of the bedroom.

The next second, he crawled back, wailing, and rolled around in front of Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yu'er.

Zhang Yuanqing patted Little Doubi's head and lectured him, "You're still too young to play games. When you grow up and become as tall as Daddy, I'll let you play."

Hearing this, Little Doubi cried even louder.

Zhang Yuanqing said helplessly, "It's hard to fool kids when they grow up."

"Let him play, let him play..." Jiang Yu'er frowned. "It's too noisy."

As a "mother," she could sense the child's intense emotional fluctuations.

Zhang Yuanqing chose to compromise, stuffed the controller into Little Doubi's arms, went to his desk, opened his phone, logged into his messaging app, and pinged Xiaoyuan, Xiahou Aotian, and Demon Eye in the "Return of the Dead" group chat.

Yuanshi Tianzun: Everyone, if you're all ready, prepare to enter the dungeon in three days. As early as tomorrow, or at the latest the day after tomorrow, I'll send you the undeveloped, A-grade or higher dungeon information from the White Tiger Mercenaries.

The so-called dungeon information was not a walkthrough, but a dungeon description.

After successfully hunting the Elder of the Southern School, Demon Eye Heavenly King was the first to suggest entering the guild dungeon. He had been beaten up by Extinction in the Cloud Dream Mystic Realm and was unwilling to accept it. He wanted to quickly improve himself.

Xiaoyuan, Little Aunt, and Fu Qingyang were all eager to improve themselves.

Only Xiahou Aotian didn't want to go back. He had recently returned to the Xiahou family, and yesterday he said in the group chat that he had been sitting in front of the old ancestor's mansion all day, carrying a loudspeaker. The old ancestor couldn't do anything about him.

In a few days, he also wanted to imitate Yuanshi Tianzun and hold a banquet in the Xiahou family, inviting friends from the Spirit Realm families to eat, making the old geezer jealous and the young ones feel inferior.

But Zhang Yuanqing told him that they would level up again after entering the dungeon. If he didn't go, he would become a mediocre talent.

Xiahou Aotian didn't think that entering a dungeon would allow him to level up, not even an S-grade dungeon. But on second thought, Yuanshi Tianzun's leveling speed was terrifying. If he was lazy now, the gap would only widen in the future.

As the protagonist, when wouldn't be a good time to make a name for himself?

Moreover, if Yuanshi and the others went to the dungeon as a team, they would be missing him, the artificer. It would be like a tiger losing its claws and teeth, and they would most likely die in the dungeon.

Xiahou Aotian: Wait, I haven't replenished my materials yet. The company doesn't have enough funds recently, so I have to take out a loan from the family.

Hearing him say this, everyone's minds involuntarily conjured up the image of Xiahou Aotian crying while operating a sewing machine.

Sun Miaomiao: I really want to go to the dungeon with you, but unfortunately, Saints can't enter the Overlord-level dungeons.

Tianxiaguihuo, Red Rooster Bro, and others expressed their regrets. Although the risk of going to the dungeon with Yuanshi Tianzun was high, the rewards were proportional. They had access to higher-level intelligence than ordinary Saints. They knew that the conflict between the Evil and Order camps had reached a fever pitch.

Don't think that after the morality value disappeared, both sides seemed to have quieted down and returned to their usual calm.

But would the Order camp, which had been schemed against twice in a row, really think that things were over? The middle and lower levels might think so, but the Demigods definitely wouldn't.

On the contrary, having resolved the crisis by luck twice in a row, and having almost overturned the cart twice in a row, the warning bells in the hearts of the Order Demigods were ringing loudly.

Similarly, the Evil camp had been patient for a hundred years and had hidden so many tricks. Two of their trump cards had been resolved by the Order camp. If they were to stop here, their hundred years of patience would be ruined. They would definitely press their advantage and not give the Order camp a chance to breathe.

The current calm was just the calm before the storm.

Tianxiaguihuo and others only hoped that they would have the ability to protect themselves before the global storm arrived, and if they had the strength to spare, they could also protect the innocent people around them.

Now, watching Yuanshi Tianzun form a team to enter the dungeon, they felt particularly uncomfortable.

Zhao Chenghuang: The "Return of the Dead" guild dungeons have all been cleared. It's almost impossible to level up the guild in the short term. You can consider joining the Five Great Organizations and entering their guild dungeons.

Tianxiaguihuo: First of all, joining too many guilds isn't a good thing. The more guilds you join, the higher the chance of backlash. Secondly, you can't just join or leave the Five Great Organizations as you please. I don't want to be too restricted.

Yuanshi Tianzun: Then join the White Tiger Mercenaries. Commander Guan is my cousin. You can join and leave as you please.

Guan Ya: Actually, we might be able to enter the dungeon together.

Sun Miaomiao: ???

Red Rooster Bro: ???

Tianxiaguihuo: How do you mean?

Guan Ya: If it's a Spirit Realm dungeon, Saints can never enter Overlord-level dungeons. But guild dungeons are different. Well, to be precise, the White Tiger Mercenaries' guild dungeons are different.

Guan Ya: Everyone knows that the Scout is a military rank. The White Tiger Mercenaries correspond to the military system, so the Guild Leader is called Commander. Overlords can be positioned as generals. Since there are Commanders and generals, there must be soldiers. In the White Tiger Mercenaries' guild dungeons, Commanders and generals can bring their own soldiers into the dungeon.

Everyone suddenly understood.

Guan Ya: However, not all dungeons can bring "soldiers" in. It's limited to some special dungeons. I don't know exactly which ones. I can ask Fu Qingyang later.

Yuanshi Tianzun: Is it risky?

Guan Ya: It's hard to say. In theory, soldiers have their own tasks, and generals have their own tasks. But it depends on the specific situation. For example, if the task of some dungeons is to defeat the enemy, then the tasks of the soldiers and generals are actually the same. If the general is defeated, the soldiers will definitely die. So it depends on what the specific task is.

Zhang Yuanqing thought about it and decided to let Fu Qingyang choose the dungeon at that time, or let Guan Ya solicit his opinion. He wouldn't participate in it. He had an important matter to attend to.

He exited the chat group and clicked on Lingjun's avatar:

Teacher, are you free tomorrow?

Lingjun: Aiyo, Master Yuanshi, you're the most handsome guy in the Second District. I can't afford to be called "teacher" by you, junior.

Yuanshi Tianzun: Isn't it just that I stole your thunder at the banquet? You're so petty.

Lingjun: Do you know how difficult it is for me to come out? Victoria only allows me to go out for a gathering once a month.

Yuanshi Tianzun: Alright, stop talking nonsense. I have something to ask you. Give me an address. I'll come over at this time tomorrow.

The doppelganger can only be condensed once a day.

After getting Lingjun's address, Zhang Yuanqing left the desk, grabbed Little Doubi, placed him on Little Aunt's head, picked up the controller, and continued playing games.

The next day.

In front of a villa in the Fourth Ring Road of the capital, Zhang Yuanqing's doppelganger, randomly disguised as a passerby, rang the doorbell.

As the harsh ringing echoed, Lingjun, wearing loose trousers and an oversized T-shirt, hands in his pockets, lazily came out of the main building and waved at him.

Zhang Yuanqing was unmoved and continued to press the doorbell.

Lingjun ran over with a puzzled face, opened the iron gate, and said unhappily, "Can't you just teleport in?"

Zhang Yuanqing also said unhappily, "Didn't you see that I'm pretending to be an ordinary visitor?"

"Heh, you're pretty cautious... Ugh, you're so cautious coming to me, it must not be a good thing. For eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, you come to me. For serious matters, you go to Fu Qingyang. I'm just a humble Saint." Lingjun was full of vigilance.

"What do you want from me?"

"Matters."

"Why are you swearing?"

Zhang Yuanqing glanced at him. "It really is matters."

Lingjun was stunned, and finally reacted. Instantly, he changed from a lazy stud into a fierce lion.