"Your father is a Sovereign. I remember Sovereign-level dungeons—short ones last ten to fifteen days, longer ones take months. Shouldn't Master Xie have entered the dungeon within fifteen days?" Zhang Yuanqing gently patted Xie Lingxi's head to offer comfort. "But..." Little green tea didn't smile despite her brother's reassurance; she looked deeply concerned. "Father entered Dungeon No. 015, the Fate Palace, an A-level dungeon. This one has a clear strategy guide. Our ancestral lineage of the Xie family were the pioneers who first conquered it. It's not a prolonged campaign—by design, it should have been completed within a week. Now, it's already been ten days." Although she didn't have access to the detailed strategy guide for Dungeon No. 015, her father's entry would surely have prompted elders within the family to share relevant information—such as the dungeon's difficulty and duration. Zhang Yuanqing furrowed his brow and said thoughtfully, "Perhaps something unexpected has happened, but don't worry—based on my experience, A-tier dungeons with a clear strategy are at most B+, hardly even a weak A. Your father is the head of the household, so he should have no shortage of top-tier items. This dungeon won't be difficult at all; just be patient and wait it out." Xie Lingxi thought for a moment, then nodded firmly. "Then, can you stay with me today? I've been having trouble sleeping and losing my appetite—I'm feeling quite worn out." She pouted her soft, rosy lips, adopting a look of helpless appeal. "Besides not sharing a bed with you, I'd be grateful for everything else," Zhang Yuanqing said, looking at her sideways. As he spoke, footsteps echoed down the stairs. Guan Ya just stepped down. Xie Lingxi didn't turn around, but her ears twitched slightly, and suddenly she blushed, saying with a touch of embarrassment, "Oh! What about sharing a bed? Brother always teases me—don't you see? I'm just ignoring you!" She gracefully turned around, shyly ran toward the hallway, and collided "Oh...," the young green tea girl stopped abruptly, explaining, "Guan Ya sister, just now, Yuan Shi brother was joking with me—don't misunderstand." With that, she passed by Guan Ya, looking flustered and as if caught red-handed, fleeing in embarrassment. When the young tea girl returned to the upper floor, Guan Ya rolled her eyes, "Your idea of framing someone is practically written all over her face. You say she's clever—indeed, she's full of tea-like grace and subtle, secretive movements. But when it comes to playing tricks before the scouts, she's so clumsy that it's hard to believe." "Alright, alright, let's just drop it," Zhang Yuanqing said. Guan Ya huffed, glancing at her boyfriend, "You're still quite fond of her, aren't you?" Zhang Yuanqing said nothing, simply pulled her down onto the sofa and gave her a passionate, lingering kiss. Despite her verbal complaints, as soon as her young boyfriend made his demands, Guan Ya always complied, utterly indulgent, with no limits. Kissing her flushed cheeks, breathless, Zhang Yuanqing finally sat up contentedly, licking her lips as she said, "The Queen has gone shopping. Who are you training with for combat?" Guan Ya wore a white martial arts uniform, her black sash accentuating the delicate contour of her waist. Her broad, full chest was clearly visible even through the loose fabric. "I've had Xiahou Aotian create two level-5 melee puppets to train with," Guan Ya said, sitting up and smoothing her slightly disheveled hair, her cheeks still slightly flushed. "The scouts refine their physical conditioning during the extraordinary stage; once they reach the level of swordsmen, they must focus on refining their sword techniques. My sword skills still fall short of those of seasoned swordsmen." Although every swordsman masters sword energy and possesses a natural talent for sword technique, this is merely the beginning—true mastery of sword technique and the strength of sword energy are achieved through continuous refinement. A representative figure in swordsmanship: Fu Qingyang. The Master of Technique, Qian Gong, can easily defeat ten swordsmen of the same level. "Then I'll go train on my own—no need to Zhang Yuanqing expressed his regret. If it came to physical training, with his current peak level of sixth rank and the nearly complete state of "Pure Yang Body Washing Record," he was entirely capable of holding his own against Guan Ya. However, when it came to swordsmanship, first of all, with Xingguan's defensive, slow-paced style, he would rely heavily on high mobility, working in tandem with Yin Shi and Ling Pu to gradually wear down the more fragile swordsmen. If he abandoned Xingguan's signature style and engaged in close combat with swordsmen known for their sharp, aggressive attacks, the risk would be too great—Xingguan simply lacked exceptional defensive capabilities and would likely suffer limb injuries or even amputations from a single well-aimed strike. Zhang Yuanqing considered himself not a strong training partner and thus chose not to push himself. …… Headquarters. Zhou Secretary, who had just been reviewing documents at his desk, suddenly heard a soft "ding" sound from the computer screen—indicating a new email notification. He set down the documents, glanced up at the screen, and reached for the mouse. He opened the new email. "I am a stage magician. I would like to Zhou's eyes slightly constricted, and with a sudden straightening of his back, his entire demeanor transformed—like a leisurely traveler in the mountains suddenly encountering a charging tiger. "Playmaker" is the spiritual realm ID of the South Sect's Grand Elder. A peak Sovereign. Zhou immediately picked up the desk phone and dialed Elder Cai's number, but then hung up quickly, paused for a few seconds, and picked it up again to contact his assistant: "Have the driver ready. I'm going to see Elder Cai." ... The night was hazy, with a gentle breeze, and the neon lights of Songhai wove together a magnificent and splendid night scene. Inside the room engaged in the great reproductive endeavor, however, the curtains were drawn tightly, leaving it completely dark and featureless. After the rain had ceased, Zhang Yuanqing held his girlfriend close and sighed, "The higher the rank, the lower the experience points gained from dual cultivation. Shouldn't we switch to a Sovereign-level quilt?" "Guan Ya was drenched in sweat, her hair clinging to her face, curled up beneath the thin blanket, half of her rounded, fragrant shoulders exposed. Hearing this, she could only laugh and cry at the same time, saying, 'Buying master-tier items just for dual cultivation? Even Fu Qingyang hasn't been this extravagant.' After pausing, she lazily pushed her boyfriend beside her, her voice soft and husky, 'Turn on the air conditioning—warm up!' 'Warm up, then pull the blanket aside,' Zhang Yuancheng remained in the sage's relaxed state, unwilling to move, and gently lifted the Yin-Yang Harmonious Love Quilt. Instantly, a snow-white, full-bodied figure appeared before her. Guan Ya's body contours were particularly alluring; her well-trained physique gave Zhang Yuancheng a strong visual impact, and after gazing at her for so long, he found her never dull. Especially captivating were the delicate lines of her waist and abdomen, defined by the subtle curves of her swimmer's and abs. A woman's most appealing figure lies in her graceful, slender form, with only a thin layer of body fat—this very layer of fat is what makes her truly lush and elegant. As he gazed on, time seemed to fade away. He hungered, pressing himself eagerly against her. The work of fostering offspring continued until midnight, when Zhang Yuanqing spent all his wealth on gifts for his girlfriend and retired completely. He then went to the rooftop of the villa, beginning his daily star-gazing ritual once more. It's likely that the entire Jinshan city will be the price of his madness—by rights, I should have reported this to headquarters. "But headquarters won't allow a Level-9 Void Being to ascend to half-divinity. Even if the Master is harmless, he's an evil-occupation specialist. As the frontline force dedicated to eliminating evil occupations, the official stance is deeply ingrained with hostility toward such specialists, making it impossible to reconcile the tensions between the factions. Moreover, if the Master fails in his half-divinity ascent, he will truly lose control—under such circumstances, even the Dog Elder might not stand by him. The cost of losing control could mean the annihilation of an entire city, possibly even affecting Songhai. Who would dare to wager an entire city's population? The outcome of reporting to headquarters will be that the Five-Element Alliance dispatches its top talents to hunt down the Master. If I don't report, I'll have to wager the innocent people of Jinshan city myself... Let's shift perspective: the Master is deeply committed to goodness and is far from a madman who treats lives as mere grass. Without confidence in his half-divinity ascent, he wouldn't have made such a decision." I'll keep watching the situation a bit longer. Hmm, after surviving the death ordeal, I'll worry about my own life first... He temporarily set aside the matter of the Master Wuhen and sent a series of cartoon images to his cousin. The cousin replied instantly, but the message was automatically generated by the system: [Currently in the quest; please leave a message if there's anything to share.] Zhang Yuanqing had originally intended to ask whether his dear cousin's close friend, his cousin's fiancé, who was now facing a life-or-death crisis, could manage to protect himself for a month. But it seemed that his cousin had drifted off into the quest and had gone out of contact. "Then I'll have to rely on myself. After attending the crab banquet, I'll enter the quest—no, I'll enter the quest in my true form, while my duplicate attends the banquet. After all, I can share my duplicate's senses." Zhang Yuanqing decided to take a steady approach. To create a duplicate, he would need to borrow the Yashimizō mirror again from the Chihaku team. He had three opportunities to borrow the mirrors. On the first occasion, he chose the Yashimizuki; on the second, he selected the Amaterasu Cloud, which he gave to Guan Ya for self-defense. Over the course of a month, Guan Ya used it only twice—during missions—and for the most part, it remained idle in his inventory. When entering dungeons, Guan Ya would hide it in the room. It was essentially wasted. On the third and final borrowing opportunity, he once again chose the Yashimizuki. Initially, he attended the Crab Banquet with the intention of forging ties with the Xie family and strengthening his relationship with the spiritual lineage families—something that could only benefit him. Now that Yuan Shiyuan has become a major figure, whether or not he attends the banquet has become less significant—the connection with the Xie family is already very strong. His primary motivation for attending the banquet now is to meet the Xie family's patriarch and seek insights into the historical background of the Chu family. Clearly, the house had not been occupied for a long time. A figure stepped from the dark living room into the kitchen and turned on the tap. "Plip-plip~" The tap poured out bubbling tap water, which didn't flow into the sink but instead meandered across the dusty floor, spelling out two characters: "What's going on!" The figure smiled, "Cai Qinhè, you're still so cautious." The characters "What's going on!" deepened, as if silently and repeatedly asking questions, unwilling to waste any words. The figure continued, "The item that unlocks the path to becoming a half-deity has been obtained by the Past-Events, and they are now striving to reach the half-deity realm. I've been sent by the Master to inform you of this." The characters "What's going on!" faded, and a fresh flow of water spelled out a new line: "What can I gain from this?" The figure chuckled, "I've merely passed on this information to you. As for what you can gain from it, that's up to you." With that, he turned and walked away. ... October 1st. At 6:30 in the evening, Xie Lingxi, wearing white knee-length socks, flat leather shoes, a light-colored A-line skirt, and a subtle makeup, held onto Zhang Yuanqing's arm and waved to Guan Ya and the Queen. "We're going back now. We'll be back tomorrow." Her attire was simple yet refined—white tassels tied into a bow nestled among her cascading black hair, giving her the appearance of a delicate little princess. The two took a business sedan. Zhang Yuanqing leaned back on the soft seat, crossed his legs, and asked, "Has your father still not come out?" Shi Lingxi had been quite cheerful at first, but upon hearing this, her expression fell and she shook her head with a pout. It really seems like something unexpected has happened... Zhang Yuanqing mused to himself. Shi Su had entered the realm for half a month, yet the so-called Palace of the Fate Officer was supposed to be cleared within a week. "What do your elders at the Shih family say?" Zhang Yuanqing adopted a more serious tone. "What else can they say? They're not even inside the realm, so they don't know the details—only that, given my father's capabilities, something unexpected should not have happened." Shi Lingxi sighed. "Even Mother's old Oolong tea has stopped acting up lately. It seems she's truly worried now." Such a well-known old Oolong tea indeed... Zhang Yuanqing remarked. "I'll make sure to meet your ancestors and find out then." "Thank you, brother," Shi Lingxi said, settling her head against his chest.