"The Yin-Yang Town…" Zhang Yuanqing paused, stunned by disbelief. How could it be so coincidental—just as he had heard an audio clip about the Magistrate King and learned about Yin-Yang Town, he turned around and entered this realm. It was as if, last time, when he had just uncovered clues about the Soldier Brother, he immediately entered the Jin-shui Amusement Park. Perhaps it wasn't mere coincidence. The Soldier Brother's intuition had suggested to me that the realm I entered wasn't random, but predictable. The Cat King speaker, though not a living being, was far from a mere inert object—it possessed consciousness. Could it be that this self-aware Cat King speaker, like the Soldier Brother, had anticipated that I would one day enter Yin-Yang Town, and thus played that audio clip for me? But what was the basis for this anticipation—the Magistrate King's character card? Zhang Yuanqing went through a series of thoughts in his mind, moved swiftly, and quickly put on his shoes, fastened his waist pack, and secured the King Cat speaker. Then he dashed to the other side of the bed, opened the drawer, and took out five or six blue pills, swallowing them. After completing these actions, he picked up his phone to call Guan Ya, only to find she was already on a call. He then dialed Li Dongze, only to discover he was also in a call. What was going on with these two? Time was running out—he couldn’t afford to think further. Zhang Yuanqing opened his chat app and sent a voice message: “Shi Chang, I’ve arrived at the副本—Yin-Yang Town!” He spoke the sentence quickly and clicked send. At that moment, the scenes in the room began to ripple and distort—exactly at the 60-second mark. “Yin-Yang Town… Guan Ya, be careful. Make sure you come out alive,” Li Dongze said, his expression serious. Yin-Yang Town was an A-level, death-based quest. Although Zhang Yuanqing had raised the threshold for Shi Chang’s S-tier dungeons are the nightmares of all the spiritual realm travelers—rare, elusive, and always hanging over their heads like a blade. Meanwhile, A-tier dungeons are the life-or-death challenges that the prodigious talents from the Lawful and Chaotic factions must constantly grapple with. Among the widely recognized, naturally gifted rising stars, deaths in A-tier dungeons are not particularly common. This is precisely why Yuan Shi's successful completion of two S-tier dungeons has drawn the attention of both the official body and the Chaotic faction. Otherwise, given Dog Elder's standing, even if a traveler of exceptional talent reached the Transcendent Stage, he would merely offer a commendable remark. He would never have made a special trip to the Capital solely for a minor item, nor would he have been humbled to the point of being gently teased and then calmly brush it off as nothing. He realized Guan Ya had entered the instance. Ah... Li Dongze hung up the phone with growing concern, only then noticing an unanswered call from Yuan Shǐ Tian Zun. Li Dongze raised an eyebrow, dialed back, but the call went through. He checked the messaging app and saw Yuan's voice message: "Shi Chang, I've arrived at the instance—Yin-Yang Town!" Li Dongze forgot his poise and blurted out, "Oh my God, are you kidding me..." Guan Ya and Yuan had both entered Yin-Yang Town together? If the mission fails, Team Two will lose two outstanding members. After the shock and frustration, for some inexplicable reason, he felt an unexpected sense of reassurance. On one hand, Yuan—the unfortunate one—had finally stopped entering S-tier instances. On the other hand, having Yuan by Guan Ya's side significantly boosted their chances of success. Li Dongze paused thoughtfully, then dialed Fu Qingyang's number. "Ding-ding~" The bell rang for a while, and Fu Qingyang's calm, restrained voice came through: "Calling so late—must be something important, right?" His tone sounded off, as if he were slightly displeased that I had disturbed his rest. As a scout, Li Dongze picked up on his superior's subtle frustration and said in a steady tone, "Captain, Guan Ya just entered the副本. A-level, Yin-Yang Town, Death-type." A-level Death-type was significantly more challenging than non-death-type encounters. On the other end, silence fell. Li Dongze could sense Fu's concern, yet he himself was so serious and proud that he never let his anxiety show. "Understood..." Fu Qingyang's voice carried a quiet weight. Li Dongze added, "Yuan Shi has also entered Yin-Yang Town—she should be joining Guan Ya." As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Qingyang's tone clearly paused: "Yuan Shi has also entered Yin-Yang Town?" "Yes," Li Dongze confirmed. "Understood. We'll wait for their updates tomorrow." Fu Qingyang replied. His voice remained cool, yet his tone had suddenly lightened, no longer heavy. ... The scene came into focus, first appearing in view: a quaint, traditional town with the charm of a Jiangnan water village—white walls, black tiles, stone-paved roads stretching deep into the heart of the town. Greenery grew in clusters along the streets and at the corners of the walls. The sky was clear and blue, and it was daytime in the spiritual realm. Outside the town, on the grassy fields, several black water buffaloes lowered their heads to graze, while a shepherd dozed against a tree. Zhang Yuanqing looked up. He stood beneath the town's archway, inscribed with three majestic, flowing characters: "Yin-Yang Town." This was a quest that constantly evolved—each incoming team encountered different challenges, depending on the route the spiritual realm assigned them to reach the plaza... This one wasn't S-tier, but still a death-type scenario—my luck truly seems neither good nor bad. What exactly did the Magus mean by the hidden quest? What kind of artifact had the Yin-Yang Hermit concealed here? As he recalled the information about Yin-Yang Town, he subtly summoned his black-framed glasses and put them on, observing his companions around him. Hmm? Zhang Yuanqing spotted a familiar face among the crowd—her tall stature and refined mixed-race features stood out like a firefly. Guan Ya? At that moment, Guan Ya’s gaze landed on him, her eyes sparkling with unspoken delight. Met with Yuan Shi? Really met with him? Guan Ya quickly concealed her joy, shifted her gaze, and began assessing the other companions, none of whom had approached to greet her. She’s surely happy to see me—of course, who wouldn’t be when encountering someone like me, a seasoned player? Maybe she’s just waiting to see what the rest of the team is made of before coming over to recognize me? Zhang Yuanqing analyzed Guan Ya’s mindset and turned her attention to the other companions. There were six companions in total beside her—four men and one woman, all young adults. Clap! Clap! At that moment, the woman clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm a member of the Five Elements Alliance. My ID is Queen—please call me Queen. I'm a Level 3 Water Spirit." Queen? That name sounds familiar. Oh, isn't that the female colleague who's always active on the water forum? Zhang Yuanqing took a close look at "Queen." She was a woman in her early twenties, wearing black seven-quarter pants, a black T-shirt, and white running shoes. Her appearance was bright and elegant, with smoky eye makeup and two large silver circular earrings delicately hanging from her pearl-like earlobes. Queen, really? A night club queen, perhaps? Zhang Yuanqing mused to himself. The Queen's gaze swept gently over the group, and she continued, "I've reviewed the spiritual realm guide for Yin-Yang Town. This is a team-based competitive dungeon where our opponents are the evil profession teams from the other end of the town. Two teams enter the ancient town from different entrances, and the first team to reach the central plaza will receive a special reward." "Perhaps some kind of power, perhaps a specific item—whatever it may be, whoever reaches the square first has the upper hand. This is a quest that demands unity. Any doubt or internal conflict will inevitably lead to the team's downfall. "Therefore, my proposal is to elect a team leader." Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing immediately grasped her intent—the team's confrontation with the Spirit Realm is the only quest that awards a clan decree. By publicly revealing her official status and level, the Queen aimed to establish herself as the team's leader. Should she successfully guide the team through this quest, the likelihood of receiving a clan decree is very high. As if confirming her earlier statement, "Call me Queen," the group received a notification from the Spirit Realm: ["Please enter Yin-Yang Town within three minutes. Teams that arrive at the square ahead of time will receive a special reward."] The group's expressions shifted slightly. The man in a tank top studied her and asked, "Do you wish to be the team leader?" The Queen did not deny it; she simply nodded with confidence. The man in the shirt paused for a few seconds, saying, "I'm a Level 3 Fire Master, ID is Huo De Xing Jun. The military 'military' part, the official Huo De Xing Jun title has already been taken. If you truly know the guide to the Spiritual Realm, then I agree to you being the team leader." At that moment, another slightly rounder, cheerful young man added, "I'm a Level 2 Earth Monster, ID is Chi Lou. Please give us the team leaders a warm welcome." The other two then revealed their own levels and professions. The young man wearing glasses, with a delicate and scholarly demeanor, was a Level 3 Scholar, ID Li Chunfeng. This profession, in the transcendental stage, is not particularly strong in combat. The Scholar willingly stepped down from the team leader selection. The other one was a quiet, thoughtful youth who introduced himself as a Level 2 Wood Spirit, ID Li Li Yuan Shang Cao. He seemed reserved and unenthusiastic, showing little interest in others, even in the presence of high-quality companions like Guan Ya and the Queen. He merely glanced at them and then moved on. Zhang Yuanqing wore black-framed glasses, observing the subtle expressions of everyone and analyzing their true inner thoughts. The Fire-Star troops clearly also wanted to be team leaders, but upon hearing that the Queen was an official guide with deep knowledge of the campaign strategy, they immediately yielded—though in reality, the campaign strategy from Yin-Yang Town had only served as reference, and the most valuable points had already been fully conveyed by her just now. His expression while eating lotus roots and his gaze clearly showed that he had never considered competing for the leadership position at all. Li Chunfeng had been frowning throughout, expressing little optimism about this mission and maintaining a generally pessimistic outlook. Lili, though not yet old, carried a quiet, reclusive demeanor, lacking the bold, warrior-like energy expected of a frontline fighter. Regardless, the teammates had remained largely considerate and cooperative, without being outright disruptive—this was precisely the difference between team-based competitive play and group coordination. In this mode, even the most persistent "difficult" teammates had to endure and adapt for the greater good. At this point, Li Chunfeng sighed and said, "Now we have three Level 3 Monks. According to the spiritual realm matching mechanism, the Evil faction must have at least two Level 3s—my Level 3 is just filling the spot. I'm not up to the task in combat. Just now, I observed all of you—besides Fire Deity and the Queen, the rest of you don't look very promising." That's why you're so pessimistic, Zhang Yuqing thought to himself. Fire Deity frowned, "Don't dampen morale!" He then turned to Guan Ya and Zhang Yuqing, "What are your classes and levels?" "Call me Queen," Guan Ya said, glancing at Guan Ya. Guan Ya smiled slightly and said, "Level 2 Scout, ID Guan Ya." Level 2 Scout... Everyone expressed a slight sense of disappointment. A Scout's combat strength is only average, not quite as strong as a Fire Specialist or a Wood Spirit, but still better than a Scholar. "Also, I'm an official member," Guan Ya added. "Actually, we've worked together before. Oh, I remember now—you're from the Songhai Division. I saw you on the forum. Once we arrive in Yin-Yang Town, just don't stray too far from me." Smiling warmly, she introduced herself. "Call me Queen." Among official travelers, there's always a closer bond than among the more independent ones. The unspoken message was: by choosing me as team leader, I'll have your back. Although Guan Ya is also an official member and certainly knows the town's layout, the difference between a Level 2 Scout and a Level 3 Water Spirit is significant—Queen wasn't worried that Guan Ya would compete with her for the leadership role. Moreover, even if Guan Ya wanted to, others wouldn't choose her. Guan Ya nodded with a smile. "Call me Queen," she agreed, then turned to Zhang Yuanqing, "You, young man?" Zhang Yuanqing glanced around at the group and said, "I'm a Level 2 Night-Wanderer, ID Yuan Shang Tian Zun. In my opinion, I'm a better fit to be team leader than you."