Fujiawan. A compact villa with a bedroom on the third floor—three figures materialize out of thin air. "Phew, we're back. We've had an exhilarating and thrilling vacation within the realm." Zhang Yuanqing gazes at the familiar room, breathing out calmly. The windows are open, allowing the autumn breeze and sunlight to flow in. The room is neat and tidy, the air conditioning meticulously draped over the bed, and a subtle fragrance lingers throughout. "We've returned to the estate," Princess Yin Yao conveys with a sense of contentment. Without realizing it, she has begun to regard this villa as her own home. Compared to the cold and solitary ancient tomb chambers, here she finds companionship—her master's favored disciples, the bustling court dynamics among the wives and concubines, the diligent and courteous servants who always answer questions, and the entertainment options: television, smartphones, cosmetics, and delicate personal items. This gives Princess Yin Yao a deep sense of belonging and stability, as though she has returned to the world of the living and is settling into a peaceful, everyday life. Even with her tranquil, unambitious nature and rich experience, she still yearns for the vibrant, ever-changing human world. At that moment, the spiritual realm's notification sounded: 【Ping! Tianxia Guihuo has requested the use of Red Fire Crystals, Cold Moon Ore, Dragon Blood Grass, and *The World-Ending Toxic Fire*...】 【Ping! Xia Hou Ao Tian has requested the use of...】 【Ping! Zhao Chenghuang has requested the use of...】 【Ping! Sun Miao Miao has requested the use of...】 How serious are these people? I'm not going to shortchange any of you on materials... Zhang Yuanqing muttered to himself. "Rejected!" Zhang Yuanqing responded to the spiritual realm's prompt, declining the members' requests. The very next second, his phone on the desk rang with a lively series of chimes— —the rabbit girl had been charging it. Zhang Yuanqing picked up the phone, swiped to unlock it, opened the messaging app, and saw messages from the underground team. Tianxia Guihuo had sent a question mark, Zhao Chenghuang a string of ellipses, Xia Hou Ao Tian wrote: "Master Yuansheng, the precious items that the protagonist is supposed to inherit are the very things that will drive Zhang Yuanqing stood by the table, holding his phone with his head bowed, and created a group chat, inviting Sun Miao Miao and the others. [Yuan Shishen: Enjoy the privileges of the Grand Master and establish the Grand Master's authority (dog head).] [Sun Miao Miao: Hmph, so childish.] The others exhaled in relief and submitted new requests. This time, Zhang Yuanqing agreed, and the master-tier materials in the guild warehouse vanished almost entirely, as did the top-tier scrolls. [Yuan Shishen: I know how eager you all are, but—do you really confirm you can take these materials? Will your inventory space be sufficient?] The group: "...” Ha ha, a bunch of ground-dwellers who’ve never seen money before… Zhang Yuanqing muttered to himself. He fully understood the mindset of these underground team members—they had never seen so many treasures, and were eager to take them out to admire and handle, even just gazing at them would bring them immense joy. 【The World Converges to Fire: Yuan Shi is right—the inventory space we have is insufficient to hold all these materials. We should keep only a few items on us, and the rest can be stored in the guild warehouse. Still, every time Yuan Shi enters a dungeon, we have to retrieve the materials. Who knows? What if something goes wrong.】 Well, what if I die in the dungeon, then? Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself. The proposal from The World Converges to Fire received unanimous approval from the underground dungeon team. After a short while, members of the team sequentially submitted applications to use the guild warehouse, returning the materials to storage. 【Yuan Shi Tianzun: What about those antique items that aren’t from the Spiritual Realm? They’re quite valuable—how shall we handle them?】 【Xia Hou Aotian: I have channels to sell them. Each scholar family organizes auctions, and I know many wealthy investors and collectors who appreciate antiques. However, I can only auction one item at most—any more might draw too much attention.】 Even one such sale could fetch several hundred million, greatly easing his financial burden. 【Yuanshi Tianzun: Then let's start with an antique—let's proceed slowly, no need to rush.】 【Xiahou Aotian: OK.】 #Xiahou Aotian changes the group name to: Qin Feng Academy Underground Palace Treasure Sharing Group# 【Sun Miao Miao: Idiot!】 【Tianxia Guihui: Foolish!】 【Zhao Chenghuang: ???】 【Yuanshi Tianzun: What are you waiting for? Hurry up and change it back—do you really think it's taking too long?】 #Xiahou Aotian changes the group name to: Main Character Team Striving Group# The group chat ends. Zhang Yuancheng first calls his grandmother, replies to his aunt's message, and updates Xiao Yuan on his well-being. Then he changes his clothes, puts his phone in his pocket, and heads to the first-floor living room, where he finds the villa empty except for a tall, graceful rabbit-dress lady diligently cleaning. "Where are they?" Zhang Yuancheng asks, frowning. It's understandable that the three women aren't home, but the fact that none "During the seven days you've been away, the Queen and Xie Lingxi each entered a raid instance. Xie Lingxi entered last night, and Miss Guan took the Queen and Li Chunfeng out on a mission." Ah, so raid instances at the Transcendent stage don't last more than two days. Xie Lingxi should be out by tomorrow evening at the latest... Zhang Yuanqing nodded, not asking further about Miss Guan's mission. The Rabbit Maidservant wouldn't know. He dissolved into a streak of starlight and appeared in Fu Qingyang's study. The spacious and opulent study featured Qian Gong, dressed in white, seated behind a fine wooden desk, handling patrol department affairs. He stared at the documents without lifting his gaze, speaking calmly, "Next time, knock on the door before entering." Zhang Yuanqing surveyed the room and didn't see Lingjun, and immediately said, "Boss, something's gone wrong at Qin Feng Academy." Fu Qingyang finally raised his head. Zhang Yuanqing quickly relayed what had happened at Qin Feng Academy to Fu Qingyang, omitting the details of the underground palace and only mentioning that they had successfully entered the hidden quest, but were unable to proceed alone, thus inviting four companions. Fu Qingyang listened silently to Yuan Shiren's counterattack against Ren Junzi, showing no expression of approval—seeming as though this were exactly what he should have done. As though Ren Junzi were merely a trivial, insignificant player, even with the fragments of the Light Compass. Wasn't handling such a player a difficult task? After thinking for a few seconds, he said, "Just act dumb. There's no need to give the headquarters a response—after all, you're also a victim. As long as the fact that you have the key remains confidential, they won't suspect you. They'll find it puzzling, unreasonable, and will assume there's some undisclosed intelligence at play, but they'll never have concrete evidence. Tian Gui, Xia Hou Ao Tian, and Zhao Chenguang—these three haven't been exposed yet, so there's no need to mention them. The only vulnerability is Sun Miao Miao's armor." Zhang Yuanqing immediately added, "Sun Elder will handle that." The phone in her pocket plays a steady, deep, magnetic male voice: "I love you walking alone through the dim alleys, I love your humble demeanor, I love how you're so much like me, even your cracks are the same..." She resembles a young kindergarten teacher with young children. The elder Sun, seated on the rocking chair, can take it no more. "Enough, Miao-miao! Get out of here! If you play this song again, I'll send you straight to the training camp." Every time the song plays, the children on the trees lose their composure. A surge of pure, radiant flame erupts suddenly. The young spirit infants are startled, singing out "Fight! Fight!" as they scatter in all directions, retreating back into the locust trees. "Grandpa, I've been at the training camp all along. I'm back to report on what's happened," said Sun Miao-miao, pulling out her phone and pausing the music. "Something's gone wrong at Qinfeng Academy." She briefly outlined what Ren Junzi had done at Qinfeng Academy. "Does the Prime Immortal suspect involvement from the Night Rose members?" Master Sun furrowed his brows: "Why has Ren Junzi suddenly slaughtered the trainees? Not randomly—there seems to be a purpose behind it. Also, when did you acquire a Sovereign-tier armor?" Ah, Grandfather, this old fox truly isn't easy to deceive... Sun Miao Miao feigned ignorance: "I don't know exactly why Ren Junzi is killing people. Grandfather, that armor belongs to the Primordial Sovereign; he lent it to me for a while. Its origin seems a bit questionable—he doesn't want to openly disclose its provenance to the Five Elements Alliance and would like me to help him cover it up. 'If the Five Elements Alliance asks, just say it was given to you, as a token of gratitude for saving my life,' he suggested." Master Sun sneered, "Why should I help him? I'm already so confused myself." "Careful eyes... Sun Miaomiao gave a subtle roll of her eyes, hurried over, and wrapped her arms around the elder's neck from behind, cooing, "Grandpa～After all, it's the Five Elements Alliance's matter. Please, please, Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa..." "Fine, are you one of the葫芦babies?" the elder sighed, slightly dismissive. "I know." Sun Miaomiao then gave her grandfather a cheerful kiss on the cheek. "Holding onto the items would create friction with the Merchant's Guild—truly unnecessary. Fu Qingyang set down the Golden Compass." "And what did the chairman reward us with?" Zhang Yuanqing brightened. "An exchange voucher from the Universal Merchant House." "What is that?" Fu Qingyang shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure. All I know is that when the chairman competed for the Light Compass, he single-handedly faced three half-gods, relying solely on this very voucher." "Whoa! Then I can probably fight three half-gods too?" Zhang Yuanqing was thrilled, thinking how remarkable such a powerful item could be! ...Fu Qingyang glanced at him. "The chairman can fight three half-gods because he himself is a half-god. As for you, you'd probably be able to take on three sages." "I can already fight three sages!" Zhang Yuanqing instantly regained his composure, though he remained eager about the exchange voucher. "I'll report this to headquarters, and have them contact the president. You just wait for your reward." Fu Qingyang pushed the golden compass toward him, subtly expressing his anticipation and asking the question he was most concerned about: "What's inside the academy's underground palace?" Zhang Yuanqing instinctively glanced around, then spoke softly: "There's the treasure vault of the First Emperor..." He carefully recounted his exploration of the underground palace, briefly mentioning materials and master-tier artifacts. He knew exactly what Fu Qingyang cared about most. He then removed the Double-Drake Jade Pendant and the Hua Huang Scroll from the little red cap, placing them gently on the desk. Fortunately, Fu Qingyang's desk was spacious enough that he didn't need to move anything—there was ample room to accommodate the scroll. When Fu Qingyang saw the Hua Huang Scroll, his eyes immediately narrowed. "The sacred infant of the Xie family?" He clearly recognized the infant depicted in the painting. "I've seen the furnace too—it's a triple-month refining furnace. Lin San Yue is the owner of Wan Bao Residence, the daughter of the Zhao family's head. I think her spiritual realm ID isn't actually Lin San Yue." Zhang Yuanqing said. Mentioning this, he couldn't help recalling that when he first searched the official database for "Lin San Yue," he found no record. It only later struck him that the woman was from the Zhao family's main line, and the spiritual realm clans had strict rules regarding IDs: her spiritual realm ID must have been something else—this was the name she had chosen for herself in the world of the courts and gatherings, which is why the official database didn't list her. Fu Qingyang gazed deeply at the scroll, lost in thought. Zhang Yuanqing then asked, "Boss, in mythological tales, Nüwa is a real spiritual realm traveler. Then, does her husband and brother, Fuxi, also exist?" Fu Qingyang rejected his idea: "There isn't much in the myths that's truly credible. The existence of Fuxi is more likely a creation of people as society evolved—from matriarchal to patriarchal structures—where they constructed the narrative to suppress maternal authority. 'Nüwa was an ancient cultivator, but that doesn't necessarily mean Fuxi was too." "The precious treasure from the Tōken Palace, of such high status, must be of immense value—wealth has a way of touching hearts. He doesn't feel at ease leaving the Master of the Cease-Combat Palace unattended." "Believable!" As Zhang Yuanqing finished speaking, he noticed Fu Qingyang's eyes blazing with a brilliant white light, fixed steadily upon him. Then, Fu reached into his sleeve and, with a golden pair of scissors, gave a sharp "crack" on the center of his forehead. "Big brother, what are you doing?" Zhang Yuanqing felt an uneasy sensation rising in his chest. Fu Qingyang said nothing; the white light faded from his eyes, and he folded the scissors. "Think again—would you like to go with the Master of the Cease-Combat Palace?" Strange—did he just cut something off me? Zhang Yuanqing was utterly puzzled, yet still nodded, "I confirm." This time, Fu Qingyang did not object. "By the way, big brother, I've obtained a top-tier item in the Underpalace and intend to give it to you." As he finished speaking, Zhang Yuanqing remembered the swordmaster's cloak. Top-tier items are scarce, even for masters at the peak level, whose own inventory is limited. He believes that no matter how affluent the Money Lord is, he couldn't possibly regard top-tier items as mere trash. Moreover, this is a divine artifact cloak. Yet, when Fu Qingyang picked up the file he hadn't finished reading, he calmly said, "Keep it yourself." Zhang Yuanqing was taken aback. "Boss, this is a top-tier item!" Fu Qingyang furrowed his brows. "Overreliance on items can erode the spirit of a true master, especially among swordsmen. The more monotonous their techniques, the purer their combat spirit. Top-tier items often come at a high cost—having many of them isn't necessarily beneficial. Particularly for items from other professions, the costs vary wildly and often cause lasting harm—this point you should be most familiar with." Zhang Yuanqing glanced at him skeptically. "Are you certain you don't want it? Then I'll give it to Guan Ya." Fu Qingyang nodded. You'll soon ask me to retract my decision... Zhang Yuanqing silently produced the court swordmaster's cloak, "Then this item belongs to Guan Ya. Brother, could you please give me your assessment?"