Zhang Yuanqing carried the bamboo basket and returned to the robbery tunnel. Along the narrow passage, he entered the tomb chamber, removed the three items from the basket, arranged them neatly in the alcove, and then turned to leave. After walking a few steps, he suddenly paused, looking down at the basket in his hands, a question forming in his mind—why did he still need to carry it? Wasn’t he being a bit too straightforward?... Zhang Yuanqing carried the basket out of the main tomb chamber, passed through the six-meter-long corridor, and reached the outer chamber. He first placed the basket aside, then jumped in place, effortlessly leaping two meters high, and removed the yellow paper scroll affixed to the three-panels, three-arched brick wall. "Ah!" The paper symbol ignited, shooting up a pale golden flame. Fearing the flame would touch him, Zhang Yuanqing quickly released it, allowing the scroll to drift to the ground and turn to ash. "Done! I’ll return in four hours. First, back to the village." He put on his red dance shoes, remembered to carry the basket, and then, navigating the steep brick walls as if they were level ground, entered through the top of the A few minutes later, he returned to the village entrance and silently waited for ten o'clock to arrive, for the end of the 24-hour period. "This 'Silent Village' quest is quite challenging—surely the rewards must be substantial. I wonder if I'll be able to receive all three items, and what rewards the hidden quest will offer..." "Still, if there's a guide available, this A-level quest isn't actually that difficult. After entering the spiritual realm, head straight for the ancient tomb, stay there overnight, then emerge the next day to gather the items and return them to the tomb—this will perfectly complete the quest." "The only thing I'm uncertain about is whether the hidden quest refreshes continuously or only occurs once. That will depend on what rewards are given upon task completion." Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself, drifting off into vague reflections. For instance, the hidden quest in Yin-Yang Town rewards a unique set of Yin-Yang robes—making the hidden quest in that town a one-time occurrence. Yet Zhang Yuanqing knew that not all hidden quests worked this way. Some existed primarily to boost the experience points of spiritual realm travelers. Quest explorers capable of uncovering hidden tasks receive additional experience points, allowing them to gain levels at a pace significantly faster than ordinary participants. With nothing else to do, Zhang Yuanqing went through the副本 information once again: "By the way, this time's quest mentions the Three Mountain Lady. Old Master and the Princess belong to the same lineage—their periods of slumber appear to be quite similar." "After living for two generations, the Princess realized her life span was nearing its end, and that she could no longer extend her lifespan in the late age of the Dharma. Thus, inspired by her teacher, she adopted a secret method of entering a state of slumber, preserving her life?" "No, her condition is different from that of the Lady of San Mountain. To me, she feels very much like a living person—Lady Junzhu has completely turned into a shadow corpse; she's transformed herself into an immortal entity of the阴 realm..." "That coffin must have been a crucial element in her plan. So she had to 'borrow' the jade coffin from the old banyan tree. Honestly, such a technique of transforming oneself into a shadow corpse—what a valuable skill! If only we could master it, our shadow corpses would surpass those of other night-wandering deities in quality..." "As far as we know, the last group of 'cultivators' were from the Ming Dynasty, and by the Qing Dynasty, cultivation had completely ceased. However, the background of the Silent Village predates the Ming Dynasty. This wandering Taoist is likely also from the Ming era. So, in fact, he has lived a very long time indeed." Finally, after hours of patient waiting, a thick, pervasive shadow energy surged from deep within the village, rising like a dense smoke to completely obscure the sky and restore darkness to the daytime. The Lady Junzhu arrived—she found the ancient tomb's incantations already destroyed, and now Zhang Yuanqing turned to look around, suddenly realizing that the阴气 was rushing toward him. "!!!" A mighty, terrifying wave of阴气 surged like a tidal flow from all directions, sweeping in and blocking out the pale daylight. On the other side of the path, the阴气 dispersed, revealing the noblewoman dressed in a magnificent red gown. Her face was delicate and pale, with blackness filling her eye sockets, her pupils glowing like precious stones. They stood ten to fifteen meters apart, silent and facing each other. In that moment, Zhang Yuanqing felt as though he had stepped back into last night, a deep sense of fear rising within him, and his calves began to spasm once more. Just as he was considering whether to draw out his pistol and gloves to steady himself, the noblewoman suddenly gave him a gentle nod, a touch of warmth flickering in her fierce gaze. Then, the wave of阴气 receded like a tide, carrying the noblewoman with it. "Going?" Zhang Yuanqing felt his body lighten, and his calves regained strength. He watched as the阴气 gradually withdrew from the village, drifting like a thick, low-hanging cloud layer, toward the rear Another fifteen minutes passed, and a voice from the spiritual realm came through: 【Ping! Congratulations! You have completed the solo spiritual realm mission—Silent Village, ID: 1018, Difficulty Level A. Rewards are being settled.】 【Rewards being processed… Obtained items/props: Simulated Yin Jade Doll, Simulated Ghost Mirror, Simulated Blood Rosette】 【Experience Points Awarded: 25%】 【Main storyline rewards have been settled. Ping! Congratulations! You have completed the hidden mission—Lady Yin Yao's Gratitude. Rewards are being processed for you…】 【Obtained items/props: Simulated Yin Jade Doll x3, Simulated Ghost Mirror x3, Simulated Blood Rosette x3】 【Experience Points Awarded: 15%】 【Hidden mission rewards have been settled!】 【Ping! Character card rewards activated. Reward item: Jade Storage Box】 【All rewards have been settled!】 Five minutes after exiting the spiritual realm... The very next instant, a black circular moon emerged at the center of his brow, radiating a powerful, almost forceful, Yin energy that surged through his body, washing over and integrating into his cells and bones. His body temperature rapidly rose, his skin turning as if boiled shrimp, trembling involuntarily. He felt his life essence undergoing a transformation, his genetic sequences being restructured. When his temperature stabilized and returned to normal, Zhang Yuanqing immediately opened his attribute panel: [Name: Yuan Shi Tian Zun] [Race: Human] [Profession: Night Wandering Spirit] [Level: 3] [Skills: Night Wandering, Spirit Devouring, Yin Spirit, Moon's Roar, Enchantment, Spirit Scroll] [Experience: 58%] [Moral Value: 2100] [Reputation Value: 40] With 58% experience now achieved, Zhang Yuanqing clearly sensed a significant enhancement in his physical strength, stamina, and spiritual vitality. This time, the experience points were boosted by a full 40%, and without using any items, he was confident he could defeat his own performance from a minute ago—back when he fought Zhao Chenghuang during his ghostly transformation, even with the red ballet shoes and battle axe support, he still fell short. Back then, if he had possessed the current level of experience, he would never have been so overwhelmed. "Now I finally truly reach the upper tier of Level 3, yes—purely relying on my own capabilities," Zhang Yuanqing said, then opened his inventory to check the task rewards. The item descriptions for the three副本 items remained largely unchanged, but their types had now become consumables, with an additional note: [Although these are replicas, their power is identical to the original items, lasting for thirty minutes.] The passage rewards are replica items—each used once—while completing the hidden quest earned the Lady's appreciation, increasing the replica's usable count to three times. "So it seems, the three items are the core crisis of the 'Silent Village' instance—fundamental to the instance, and therefore impossible to reward to the Journeyers. The hidden quests will also refresh. This instance is one that remains unchanged, or rather, one whose difficulty never decreases but only increases. The items within the instance will never diminish, and the difficulty level will remain constant. Should Zhang Yuanqing perish here, the red slippers will become a major crisis for the 'Silent Village' instance, potentially elevating it to S-tier status. Although not receiving the original items, Zhang Yuanqing is somewhat disappointed, yet the three replica items together can be used nine times, and with other items, they will remain useful for a very long time. These three items will certainly shine in the combat instances. And when I attain the rank of Saint, I will be able to obtain items from the Saint realm. As for the replicas—well, replicas are replicas. That will be sufficient." Zhang Yuanqing then produced the item awarded through the character card—a jade box measuring ten centimeters in length and five centimeters in width. The pattern engraved on the box subtly depicts a mysterious passage formed as space collapses, with countless turbulent streams of air swirling around the passage. The item information appears instantly: 【Name: Jade Box of Transmission】 【Type: Jade Object】 【Function: Transportation】 【Description: Originating from an undeniably enigmatic thief, this thief committed countless crimes, with enemies scattered across the land. However, his elusive abilities left his adversaries helpless, prompting them to turn their focus onto his family and friends. To enable his loved ones to escape when caught in the crossfire, the thief crafted this device. Every thirty days, the box generates a jade transmission token, which can accumulate in quantity.】 【Note: You may break the jade tokens to teleport to any location you've previously visited. However, note that every three tokens used, the box will randomly teleport you once.】 Zhang Yuanqing, after reviewing the item description, had his first thought: Wow, this thing is absolutely amazing—pure life-saving magic! His second thought: Wow, now I finally understand what the Magistrate King has done to the Princess! Previously, he found it strange—given the Princess’s rank, even a transcendental-stage Magistrate King would only be slightly stronger than a mere commoner, so how could he have provoked her to anger? But now, seeing this item, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly understood. The Magistrate King must have returned to the palace using the transmission jade symbol at some point after the incident—by then, he was surely already a Saint. With this realization, Zhang Yuanqing patted the Cat King speaker tucked in his pants pocket and murmured: "I'm going to listen to the Magistrate King and the Princess tonight..." Just as he finished patting the speaker, his hand suddenly went stiff. "Now I know exactly how Brother Bing managed to place the Cat King speaker at Jinshui Water Park." Bing knew Zhang Yuanqing would visit Jinshui Water Park because Zhang had entered the same quests that the Magistrate King had once visited. He had known this long before, but he didn't know how Brother Bing had managed to store the Cat King speaker at Jinshui Water Park. It was through the transmission jade seals. Brother Bing and the Mage King had met, and it's likely they first became acquainted while teaming up at Jinshui Water Park. Upon discovering that everyone was a servant of the Ghost Eye Judge, they quietly maintained contact. Only then could it be explained how Brother Bing both knew he would visit Jinshui Water Park and could store the speaker there. As a partner of the Mage King, having a few transmission jade seals made perfect sense. "I might also be able to return to the Voiceless Village in the future. I'll then ask the Princess and borrow some props—by the way, I'd also like to revisit Jinshui Water Park and see the Ghost Bride." What does it mean to be able to return to the original realm? Zhang Yuanqing hadn't heard of any Spirit Realm Travelers returning to the original realm yet. Even if he missed hidden quests, he could still go back to retrieve them. "Hmm? Then why didn't the Mage King return to retrieve the Yin-Yang Robe back then?" Well, he probably had already reached the Sage Realm, possibly even the peak of the Sage Realm, and would likely have looked down upon the Yin-Yang robe... At that moment, as the countdown ended, the once-萧条 and broken village rippled like ripples in water. Although the official had already refuted the claims on the forum last night, people still didn't believe them—they even mocked the official for spreading rumors! After winning the finals, Yuan Shi's fame reached its peak, truly flourishing like a well-seasoned dish. As a result, the incident attracted widespread attention. Today, Guan Ya saw on the forum that someone had learned firsthand that the evil organization was already planning their celebration meeting!