Wang Qian lowered his gaze to the counter, where he could not see the ethereal form, though the musician could sense something there. He then lifted his eyes, gazing at Yuan Shi Tian Zun with a mixture of yearning and appeal. Zhang Yuanqing exhaled once more, a delicate stream of Tai Yin energy gently brushing against Wang Qian’s face. The air felt cool, and as if frost had formed around his eyes. He suddenly felt his vision enhanced with a new ability, and immediately turned to the counter—there, he saw a charming infant with sparse downy hair curled up there. Unlike before, the infant’s large, bright eyes now sparkled with life and intelligence, no longer vacant or dim. Wang Qian’s expression softened instantly. He lifted the infant gently, saying, “If your sister could see you, how delighted she would be—her child is still here, always here…” Perhaps even startled into an immediate reunion between mother and child. Zhang Yuanqing silently muttered under her breath, adding, “Ordinary people often fall ill when encountering ethereal beings. I’d advise you to temper this bold idea.” "You have fifteen minutes to connect with the spirits, to see them—make the most of this time to catch up." With that, he entered the hotel's deeper sections. He took the elevator to the third floor and arrived at the room on the leftmost side. Zhang Yuanqing knocked on the door. "Click!" The door handle turned automatically and then slowly swung open inward. Zhang Yuanqing stepped into the room, passed through the foyer into the living area, and upon a quick glance, saw Zhi Sha, the Master of the Zhishi Palace, lounging casually behind her desk, with the window behind her. The bright light from outside poured into the room, bathing her in radiance—her hair gleaming with freshness, yet her face remained shadowed. Upon seeing Zhang Yuanqing enter, the beauty beneath the silver mask sparkled with delight; yet upon closer inspection, her expression suddenly darkened, becoming cold. The lighting affected Zhang Yuanqing's ability to read her demeanor, so he spoke without noticing anything out of the ordinary: "Master, I—" Just as he finished speaking, a surge of killing energy rushed toward his head. Then, his limbs tightened suddenly. Before he could react, he floated Zhang Yuanqing's mind flashed with a series of questions. " I'm very angry," the Master of Zhishi Palace pushed her table aside and walked gracefully forward, her slender, luminous feet subtly emerging from beneath her flowing skirt. She stopped in front of Zhang Yuanqing, raised her head, and coldly said, "I hate having people impose hats on me—no matter who it is. Even you don't count. For a man who is unclean, my solution is castration, immersion in a pig cage, suspension for seventy-seven days, and then curing him like dried meat..." Suddenly, she sniffed deeply, gritting her teeth. "Indeed, you are unclean—there's the scent of other women on you!" With a cold gaze, she summoned a sharp, snow-white blade and pressed it against Zhang Yuanqing's hips. "It seems only castration will do." "Master, Master, Master... please, let's speak calmly..." A cool sensation spread along her hips, and Zhang Yuanqing, momentarily stunned, finally realized that the Master had discovered their mutual friendship—what they had established as the bond of Guan and Bao. She was jealous. The Hong Luan star official oversees marital connections and is likely more attuned to such matters than even traditional astrology. "There's nothing to say," the Zheng Sha Palace Master said, her tone cold. "Once I've cut off your impure parts, I'll use my life-source liquid to restore you, and then you'll be clean again. From now on, remember—every time you use it, I'll cut once." Has she truly cured her mental illness? I feel worse than ever—she's practically a demon. Zhang Yuanqing tried to open his inventory to summon items and counter her erratic behavior. Yet he found himself losing connection with the inventory. This was the first time since becoming a spiritual realm traveler that he'd encountered such a situation. Zhang Yuanqing felt his heart sink. He began to suspect that the Palace Master had grown even more unwell—her madness was now capable of anything. Though the life-source liquid would heal his injuries, he didn't want to experience the agony of losing his prized chickens. "Palace Master, please, let's speak calmly... Actually, you're the most important person to me." Zhang Yuanqing carefully worded his words, drawing on his mentor's teachings, The Master of the Stop-Kill Palace held the knife and sketched it along his hips, then sighed, "I still don't want to blame you. Well, then, I'll find an opportunity to kill Guan Ya and vent my frustration." But you do have to let me down, don't you? Gah, it's tightening even more... Zhang Yuanqing drew a sharp breath; the fine threads of red silk were pressing steadily into his flesh, seeping blood. He hesitated, "Master, could you please let me down first?" As soon as he finished speaking, the pressure on the threads intensified, and droplets of blood continued to trickle down the silk. Zhang Yuanqing remained silent, obedient. At this moment, the Master of the Stop-Kill Palace collected all his emotions, walked to the table, and retrieved a large ceramic jar—about the size of a football—and ten golden bars, each engraved with intricate, swirling symbols. "I've extracted the essence of the remaining life essence liquid and stored it in this jar. The power of the Sun God is sealed within the gold. This gold was crafted by a master artisan at my request as a temporary vessel—it can only hold these two components for three days. After that, the Everything was already arranged. Three days were sufficient—after entering the realm, the junior cultivators would undergo the Pure Yang Bathing Record. If they could further reach level five within the realm, I should be able to fend for myself and weather the major adverse omen foretold by the turtle plating divination... Zhang Yuanqing silently calculated this in his mind. "I've told you time and again that I don't like men who are naive and full of passion. Yet your elder brother has been gone for so many years now." Victoria lit a lady cigarette, drawing deeply on it under the soft, emerald candlelight, and spoke slowly. "Sunshine, warm-hearted, self-assured, idealistic—those are the traits he embodied. He possessed extraordinary talent and was a truly formidable force, someone worthy of deep respect. "But some of his ideas were rather naive. Do you remember when he first pursued me? One day, he suddenly said, 'Wouldn't you like to partner with me, combining our swords to become the world-saving, revered couple?' "Did your elder brother really have such a dramatic, over-the-top moment? It's precisely because of that very naivety that he joined the Xiao Yao Organization. Reflecting on the gentle, composed brother he remembered, Ling Jun found himself somewhat out of sync. After concluding his conversation with the Yuan Shǐ Tian Zūn, he had researched the background of the Xiao Yao Organization and learned about its often flamboyant, idealistic slogans. Now, hearing Victoria recount these past memories, he was even more certain that his elder brother was indeed Victoria narrowed her bright red lips and flashed a white eye, "I simply don't like men like this. I prefer those who, at just fifteen, are bold enough to take my breath away—claiming that a young man should match a young woman, and that even nine oxen couldn't pull such a match. Such a man is utterly unyielding." Ling Jun looked embarrassed. With other women, he would have already been spilling romantic sentiments by now. But he felt guilty toward Victoria, and he held back his emotions, determined not to let this unconventional romance fade once again. "Is there anything else?" he quietly changed the subject. Victoria brushed off the ash from her cigarette. "Actually, after you mentioned it, I remember now—he had a fierce clash with the Grand Elder, the Sun-Blazing Official, Ji Ri, the year before he returned to the Spiritual Realm. The conflict was quite intense." "What was the reason?" Ling Jun asked promptly. "That's the most interesting part—the very next day, Ji Ri removed Ling Tuo from the Taimei Gate. The exact reason, however, has never been disclosed to the outside world, and I myself remain unaware." "Lin Jun suddenly realized: "So, your elder brother was removed from the senior rank by the Grand Elder, and Father accepted this decision... Ah, these details aren't recorded in the official documents—only the original elders would know. Indeed, it's true that having an elder at home is like having a treasure." Victoria's face darkened. "Having an elder at home?" "In my eyes, you'd still be as beautiful and captivating even if you reached a hundred years of age." Lin Jun unconsciously spoke a romantic sentiment, then quickly stopped himself, adding, "Anything else? I mean, what do you find suspicious?" "Yes," Victoria's eyes shone brightly. Having discussed so much, she had fully entered her investigative mode, and more unusual details from the past surfaced in her mind: "Shortly after your elder brother returned to the spiritual realm, another elder also returned—his ID is 'Everlasting Rivers and Mountains.' This elder is quite experienced, a spiritual traveler from the late Ming dynasty." "Losing two elders within a year seems a bit unusual. After all, there hadn't been any intense conflicts with evil organizations back then." However, I'm not particularly familiar with that elder—he belongs to the most experienced generation, while I'm from the younger, more active cohort. In my memory, he's always stayed largely retired, not involved in daily affairs of the sect, so we've had little official interaction. As he spoke, a resentful spirit carried a notebook into the chamber. To Ling Jun's eyes, it was as if the notebook had floated in on its own, drifting gently. Victoria took the laptop and opened the Taimei Sect's database, searching for the four characters: "Shan He Yong Cheng." The result displayed: the entry did not exist! "His records have been erased," Victoria closed the laptop. "At least, we've confirmed one thing—the connection between this person's death and your elder brother's death is close and significant." "This is a lead," Ling Jun asked, "so how should we go about finding information on 'Shan He Yong Cheng'?" "Checking the records won't help. Information that's easily preserved in the archives is often the first to be wiped out. The most effective approach is to seek out those who know firsthand." "Victoria thought clearly and said, 'He has a very close relationship with the Master Sun. We might consider breaking through with him.' 'A rather confused old Sun...' Ling Jun nodded thoughtfully. "The Fusu divine tree isn't within the spiritual realm?" The Lady of San San Mountain furrowed her brows, as this contradicted the intelligence she had gathered from several spiritual realm bosses. The Fusu divine tree, the birthplace of the sunrise, is said to harbor the mythical Golden Orpheus, whose very essence is likely the origin of the sun deity's power. After enduring great hardships, she finally found the place where the sunrise occurs—yet there was nothing there. As she pondered this, a voice suddenly came from behind: "The Fusu divine tree is not located within the realm; it remains in the high heavens of the island nation. This is because the tree contains the Spirit Cauldron. When the spiritual realm was first formed, it could not contain the fundamental sacred artifact of the musician class. Later, it was deliberately left behind in the high heavens by a certain being." The Lady of San San Mountain swiftly turned around to see a figure standing behind her. His form existed between the tangible and the ethereal, his face veiled in a thin layer of golden mist, making his features indistinct—yet his gaze was gentle and familiar. "You're..." The Three-Dao Mountain Lady unconsciously pressed her fingers together like a sword, sensing her inner divine power of the sun beginning to boil. She felt that these eyes were familiar, yet she couldn't quite recall why. After a few seconds of thought, her exquisite features subtly changed. "You are the person I saw in my dreams." The person smiled. "Lady, it was I who awakened you. Have you ever wondered why ancient cultivators who entered the spiritual realm have mostly become副本 bosses, yet you are an exception? This visit is not merely a coincidence—I have a request." The Three-Dao Mountain Lady narrowed her eyes. "Did you help me break free from the spiritual realm's control? Then why hide yourself—why not appear in your true form?" "There's an issue with my true form," the person said, as golden mist gradually cleared from their face, revealing their true appearance. The Three-Dao Mountain Lady's face fell, nearly losing control of her voice, trembling and gasping, "You?!" ... At 8 p.m., Zhang Yuan returned to Fu Family Village in tattered clothes. He removed his garments torn by the red thread, washed away the bloodstains, comforted Guan Ya, then lay down on the bed, closing his eyes to regulate his breath and await the arrival of the realm. Nothing happened all night. It wasn't until seven o'clock the next morning that he finally heard the voice of the spiritual realm notification.