Chapter 194: S-rank Dungeon?

Xiao Yuan raised an eyebrow as she watched the glass door open and close on its own. She reached into the air and produced a slender bamboo tube. She brought it to her lips and blew gently. A cloying, colorless mist spread rapidly through the hotel lobby.

Thud.

A figure tumbled out of thin air and crashed to the floor about three meters from the front desk. The person wore a duckbill cap and a face mask.They tried to push themselves up but couldn't manage it, struggling to rise on limbs that had gone weak and rubbery.

"Sneaking around like a thief!" Xiao Yuan sneered, and her brow creased with displeasure. "I told you not to come to the inn for the time being. Were my words just hot air to you?"

Even without seeing his face, she could identify Yuanshi Tianzun at a glance from his build and height alone. She was angry. Angry that he'd acted on his own, angry that he never used his brain, angry that he refused to listen.

Zhang Yuanqing struggled a few more times, and when it became clear he couldn't get up, he simply gave in and flopped back down to the ground.

"I was worried about you," he said seriously. "I know that given my level and abilities, I'd just be throwing my life away if you actually crossed paths with a powerful enemy. But I still wanted to come check on you. I wouldn't be able to eat or sleep otherwise."

The expression on Xiao Yuan's face froze for a moment.

"You told me not to come and wouldn't tell me what was going on," he continued. "I know your personality. When you don't want to talk about something, asking about it would be pointless. So I came in secret."

He put on a wounded look. "And what do you do? Before you even lay eyes on me, you poison me and lay me out flat on my back."

He's worried about me. He knew he probably couldn't help even if there was real danger, but he snuck over anyway. Xiao Yuan dropped her gaze, her eyes quivering.

She let out a cold huff. "What could possibly happen to me? Master Wuhen is holding down the inn. Even your elders wouldn't dare come here just to cause trouble. He may not be able to fight or take lives, but if there was real danger, he could still get me out."

She spoke with the perfect tsundere tone, but that cold, aloof expression softened rapidly.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing knew his strategy was working. Her attitude shifts fast. That trash Ling Jun's analysis was actually right. Xiao Yuan is the type who puts up a frigid, haughty front but is soft-hearted underneath, and craves affection.

Ling Jun had said that this type of older woman had excellent control over her expressions and would never let herself look moved. He'd need to push further to test the waters.

"Auntie Xiao Yuan, what kind of poison is this? It's so strong," he said. "My whole body's gone limp."

Xiao Yuan gazed down at him with cool detachment. "It's a paralysis toxin. Just wait. It'll wear off on its own in ten minutes."

Zhang Yuanqing feigned shock. "Huh? It's just a paralysis toxin? That doesn't add up..."

Xiao Yuan frowned. "What doesn't add up?"

"My whole body's burning up," Zhang Yuanqing said. "I feel like I'm on fire with desire. Auntie Xiao Yuan, did you slip me an aphrodisiac? Time is of the essence. We should hurry to a room and work on an antidote."

Xiao Yuan let out a soft snort and ignored him completely.

She's not angry? She doesn't mind me making dirty jokes in front of her! Zhang Yuanqing's heart leapt. According to Ling Jun, when a woman didn't take offense at a man's crude humor, it meant her tolerance had grown enough that she could be teased verbally. That was a privilege reserved for very close friends.

Ten minutes later, strength returned to his limbs. He rose from the cold tile floor, dusted off his backside, circled around the front desk, and flopped brazenly onto the recliner where Xiao Yuan usually rested. Throughout all of this, Xiao Yuan said nothing, tacitly allowing his behavior.

Zhang Yuanqing dropped the jokes. He fixed his gaze on her back and adopted a serious tone.

"Do you know who was tailing you? Have you been in contact with anyone recently? Did you manage to catch whoever it was?"

Xiao Yuan didn't turn around. She kept her eyes on the hotel entrance.

"I've only done two things recently. One was helping you hunt down that Enchanting Demon. The other was visiting the Bing Zhu Sect's black market. The stalker was extremely cautious. The moment they realized I'd spotted them, they withdrew immediately."

Zhang Yuanqing mulled it over. So whoever's following her is either a Spirit Realm Walker from the Jinshan City branch, or the Bing Zhu Sect.

Xiao Yuan continued, "Oh, and after the Demon Eye Heavenly King was captured, a new manager showed up at the black market and reopened the investigation into you. But from what I've observed, he doesn't seem particularly enthusiastic about investigating you or the palace master. He's probably just trying to track down the Demon Eye Heavenly King's whereabouts."

Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "That doesn't matter. As long as there isn't a Heavenly King-level powerhouse looking for me, everyone else can be ignored."

With the fame and status Yuanshi Tianzun enjoyed these days, there was no shortage of Evil Walkers relishing the idea of taking him out from the shadows. He'd just have to get used to it.

"I'll look into the Jinshan City branch on my end," he went on. "As for the Bing Zhu Sect, you should stay away from the black market for a while. Whoever's behind this only sent someone to tail you and hasn't made any further moves, but we can't afford to let our guard down. That said, we can't just stay on the defensive forever. If you keep getting that feeling of being followed, we'll need to deal with it head on."

"Mm," Xiao Yuan answered with her back still to him. No match today?"

"No idea," Zhang Yuanqing said. "Who cares? No tournament is more important than Auntie Xiao Yuan."

She let out a mocking laugh. "Heh! With your strength, the top eight is about as far as you'll go. It only gets harder from here. Stopping now wouldn't be the worst thing."

"Hmph. A pathetic attempt at reverse psychology. Just watch me bring you back a championship."

"It's not reverse psychology. You should know your own limits."

"Auntie Xiao Yuan, you're not wifely at all. You should know that a good wife and loving mother is supposed to cheer her man on at a time like this."

Zhang Yuanqing heaved a wounded sigh. "I can't stay here anymore. I'm leaving."

"So why are you still hanging around?"

"I'm keeping you company a little longer, out of the kindness of my heart."

***

Along a street filled with bars, a bar on the corner of the street sat with its doors firmly shut. Inside, the space was cavernous. All the walls had been knocked down to create a single area rivaling a grand hall.

At the center lay a crystal clear pool, and beside it rested a circular waterbed four meters across. Scantily-clad women lounged about, some curled up in sleep on the bed, while others splashed playfully in the pool.

A long table by the poolside was laden with lavish dishes and plates of fruit. The spread was replaced every two hours, whether or not the food was finished.

The Lust Divine General, dark-skinned and gaunt as a rail, lounged in a recliner. Two beauties sat on each side of him, kneading his shoulders, while two more at his feet massaged his thighs. Yet another peeled grapes and fed him slices of melon.

The Lust Divine General fashioned himself after the tyrant King Zhou[1] in all things. Wherever he went, he arranged his quarters to match the standard of an imperial pleasure palace, complete with pools of wine and forests of flesh.

He was quite fond of Songhai. As a first-tier metropolis, the city drew women from every corner of the nation, spanning every profession and body type, each of them carrying the distinct beauty of her homeland.

When they'd first been brought to him, every last one of them had resisted to the death. But under the Lust Divine General's "enchantment," they quickly came to accept their roles as "consorts," "concubines," and "slaves," devoting themselves wholeheartedly to his service.

Yet the Lust Divine General held no real attachment to these women. His mind was consumed by the image of that mature, alluring woman he'd seen when he'd first arrived.

Even though he was an Enchanting Demon, he did not have a strong bloodlust. His obsession lay solely in the hunt for beautiful women.

Someone rapped twice on the brown double doors of the bar's entrance. A woman in a swimsuit, standing at the entrance like a hostess, pulled them open.

A muscular man in a black tank top strode in along the red carpet. He kept his gaze away from the shapely figures scattered about the hall and went straight to the Lust Divine General. He lowered his eyes and bowed.

"Divine General, we've located that woman's address. She's at Wuhen Inn, in Jinshan City. Additionally, I've learned that she once followed Blood Swallow of the Psychic Assembly, the owner of Shijing Farmhouse Inn. She later left the Psychic Assembly over irreconcilable differences. The Psychic Assembly would have hunted her down, but Blood Swallow shielded her from their wrath."

The Lust Divine General was reclining on the bed with his eyes shut. "Irreconcilable differences?"

The subordinate maintained his deferential posture. "Reportedly, the woman has a very strong moral compass. She believes that good and evil are matters of the heart, not of class or alignment. She refused to commit evil acts and constantly clashed with other Psychic Assembly members."

The Lust Divine General opened his eyes. They gleamed with excitement.

"A powerful sense of morality? Interesting," he murmured. "How very interesting. This woman is the most exciting and delightful prey I've encountered in years."

An Evil Walker with genuine moral principles? That trait alone was enough to rouse the destructive urges of most other Evil Walkers. We're all crows here. What gives you the right to play at being a swan?

On top of that, she was a devastatingly beautiful and mature woman.

"She's just a freelance practitioner now, Divine General," the subordinate said. "Shall I take a team to seize her?"

The Lust Divine General idly ran his hands over the woman beside him, his voice even and unhurried. "There's no rush. Dealing with a Level 5 Hex Master requires patience. Contact Blood Swallow for me. Tell her I want a meeting."

The woman he desired was a regular at the Bing Zhu Sect's black market. From the files Tianlingling had left behind, he learned she was a Level 5 Saint, a Walker of considerable power.

The Lust Divine General was not ruled by lust. He would lay his plans slowly and spring the trap swiftly, ensuring he captured that beauty without a hitch.

***

The next morning, Zhang Yuanqing returned to his room after breakfast, using the excuse that he had no classes before noon. He locked the door and, as was his routine, summoned Corpse No. 1 from the wardrobe, nourishing it with the Power of the Dark Moon for half an hour before releasing Little Goofball and allowing him to roam freely. The infant spirit crawled around happily, bumped his head against the bedroom door, then phased right through it.

Zhang Yuanqing kicked off his shoes and laced up the new running shoes his aunt had bought him, then opened the official forum and waited for news. If everything went smoothly, headquarters would post an announcement that day, which meant the finals would be either today or tomorrow.

His aunt had gone to the mall after work yesterday to buy him shoes. That woman had been in a strangely generous mood when it came to her nephew lately. She'd even split the yolk of her salted duck egg with him at breakfast this morning. Such a thing was practically unheard of.

The minutes ticked by. At nine o'clock, Zhang Yuanqing, who had been refreshing the forum nonstop, spotted a red highlighted, pinned post appear on the front page.

【#Tournament Schedule Change Announcement#】

【The purpose of the official Tournament is to select talent and give young competitors early exposure to slaughter dungeons. In keeping with this principle, following deliberation by the headquarters Council of Elders yesterday, the Transcendent-tier Tournament will be restructured.

【To align with the slaughter dungeon format, the top eight competitors will be placed into a high difficulty dungeon and left to compete freely, with final rankings determined in a single round. This is the most meaningful and fairest method available.

【To ensure impartiality, the dungeon will be jointly created by the five Alliance Chiefs and the Taiyi Sect Master at 9 AM tomorrow. The following intelligence can be disclosed at this time: the dungeon difficulty will be S-rank.】

Zhang Yuanqing stared in disbelief. The thing that shocked him wasn't the S-rank difficulty. The top eight could reasonably be called the cream of the crop among official Transcendent-tier Walkers, the elite among the elite. Throwing them into an S-rank dungeon made sense. What he hadn't expected was that the five Alliance Chiefs and the Taiyi Sect Master could create dungeons.

Wasn't that something only the Spirit Realm itself could do?

He quickly exited the forum and tagged Fu Qingyang in a message in the White Tiger Guard group chat.

Yuanshi Tianzun: @Fu Qingyang, Centurion, what does it mean that the five Alliance Chiefs and the Taiyi Sect Master are creating a new dungeon? What kind of joke is this? Since when can they do that?

#Yuanshi Tianzun recalled a message#

Yuanshi Tianzun: @Fu Qingyang, Centurion, what does it mean that the five Alliance Chiefs and the Taiyi Sect Master are creating a new dungeon? Can the Alliance Chiefs actually do that?

Shichiro: Too late. I already took a screenshot.

Fu Qingyang: Two months ago, a high-level boss with the Nocturnal Specter class leaked enough of their aura to change Transcendent-tier dungeons just trying to find someone. Why would you think the five Alliance Chiefs and the Taiyi Sect Master can't manage it?

Fu Qingyang: Of course, what they call "creating a dungeon" is, I believe, using their authority to merge dungeons their factions have already cleared to form a new, uncleared dungeon. It's not what you're imagining, which is conjuring a Spirit Realm dungeon out of thin air.

Understanding dawned on Zhang Yuanqing. Using a guild leader's authority to merge dungeons. That's more reasonable. That scared me half to death. I actually thought those Alliance Chiefs could create Spirit Realm dungeons out of nothing.

Ling Jun: Competing for the championship inside a dungeon is very advantageous for you. But remember, whatever you do, don't face the top three too early. You'll be eliminated on the spot.

Little Axe: Yuanshi, try to land in the top three. If you don't make the top three, there's no difference between fourth and eighth. If this were a standard arena fight, I wouldn't give you great odds, but since it's inside a dungeon, you've got a real shot.

World Sweeper: If you make the top three, I'll livestream an argument with my wife.

Several of the White Tiger Guard's most active members popped up one after another to rally behind Yuanshi Tianzun.

That's actually kind of touching. But if you all hype me up like this and I don't make the top three, won't I look like a complete fool?

Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly sent a red envelope, and that finally shut them up.

He switched back to the forum and found yet another swarm of official Walkers discussing him.

⤷ Call Me Queen: Haha, an S-rank dungeon! It's S-rank! Has anyone in that group ever set foot in an S-rank dungeon? Yuanshi Tianzun has cleared two of them.

⤷ Princess Consort: Honestly, I'm suddenly way more excited to see Yuanshi Tianzun perform in a dungeon than I ever was about the arena.

⤷ Long Road Ahead: If we can actually go inside to spectate, then yeah, I'm looking forward to Yuanshi Tianzun's performance too. Before this, hearing that he'd cleared two S-rank dungeons sounded like a fairy tale. I couldn't wrap my head around it no matter how hard I tried.

⤷ Grand Scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion: We're planning to redo the rankings. This time, we'll weigh them more heavily toward competitors' past dungeon records. Updated rankings go live tonight at eight. I hope everyone supports us.

⤷ Creamy Yukiko: Watching Yuanshi Tianzun tackle an S-rank dungeon in person? Holy crap, I'm suddenly pumped. Isn't this way more exciting than the arena?

⤷ Passionate Jenny: Uh, I don't think they said we could spectate? But they didn't say we couldn't either. We'll see tomorrow's notice. Hopefully it's not a sealed dungeon.

⤷ Days Gone By: The dungeon is being created by the Alliance Chiefs. They'll have extremely high authority over it. They'll probably account for spectators.

Zhang Yuanqing's mouth twitched. Why do I feel like I'm being paraded around like a performing monkey?

He scrolled down. The comments were full of people eager to watch him tackle an S-rank dungeon. Naturally, there was excitement about the other competitors and the competition itself, but Yuanshi Tianzun's star power was undeniable.

After all, conquering S-rank dungeons was exactly how he'd made his name.

***

In her room at the Huayu Hotel, Xie Lingxi sat at her computer in a miniskirt and fitted tee, scrolling through the forum with obvious relish.

As she read, a grin of excitement spread across her pretty face before she could stop it. An S-rank dungeon? Tsk tsk. I have a feeling Bro Yuanshi could wipe the floor with them. Can't get too cocky though. Those guys are elites too.

"Grand Scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion... Oh, one of the Five Elements Alliance's Scholars. They're redoing the rankings? Eight o'clock tonight," she mused aloud. "Bro Yuanshi should make the top three now, right? At least fourth, surely. It's the perfect chance to see how the other competitors' dungeon records stack up. The top three should have cleared high-difficulty dungeons too."

While Xie Lingxi was absorbed in the comments, her female assistant pushed open the study door and slipped inside.

"Miss, it's Madam on the line," she whispered, one hand covering the phone speaker.

"My mom?" Xie Lingxi took the phone, cleared her throat, and answered in a honeyed voice, "Mama, what's up?"

A woman's voice floated through the speaker.

—My darling baby, Mama's missed you so much!

The voice was soft and sultry, belonging less to a married woman who'd borne children and more to a young temptress.

Xie Lingxi matched her sweetness. "Mom, I miss you too."

Her mother was overjoyed and launched into a breathless monologue about how much she missed her daughter, how she couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, peppering every other sentence with "darling baby" and "my good girl."

After about fifteen minutes of this, Mama Xie cleared her throat.

—Lingxi dear, your father went into a dungeon. You know about that, right?

"Of course!" Xie Lingxi said.

Her mother's voice took on a note of pleading.

—Well, um, could you maybe send someone back to me with his invitation? Mama wants to go watch the tournament tomorrow.

Xie Lingxi blinked. "Why would you watch a tournament? Just stay home and have tea parties with the other ladies."

Her mother sighed.

—All the ladies want to go watch. They heard the format changed. The top eight are all going into an S-rank dungeon to compete, and apparently that Yuanshi Tianzun has cleared two S-rank dungeons. Everyone wants to see it for themselves. Ever since the announcement went up, people have been reselling invitations for a hundred thousand yuan each, and Mama still couldn't snag one. For a top tier event like this, if Mama doesn't go, the other ladies will laugh at me.

Mama Xie's voice was soft, coquettish, and wheedling, the very picture of a simple minded, pampered socialite.

—My darling's been in Songhai so long. Mama's been so bored all by herself. I just want to go watch the match. My darling baby, you'll do this for Mama, won't you?

"Fine, I'll have someone send it to you."

Her mother cut in before she could say anything else.

—Great, then it's settled! Mama still has tea to drink. Hanging up now. Be good, baby!

Xie Lingxi listened as the line went dead, handed the phone back to her assistant, and said with a perfectly composed expression, "Send my mother an empty package."

The assistant hesitated. "But..."

Xie Lingxi snorted. "That scheming witch, acting all sweet and innocent with me. That routine works on my dad just fine, but her charms don't work on me. Tch!"

Like mother, like daughter, one might have observed. After all, it wasn't hard to see where Xie Lingxi had learned how to perform her own version of a tea ceremony.

1. King Zhou was the last king of the Shang Dynasty of China. His story was a cautionary tale for what would happen to a Kingdom if the ruler gave into corruption and moral depravity. ☜