Chapter 218: Director Yang of Changhe Prefectural Capital Has Spoken

Yang Ling found a small eatery and helped Wei Ran sit down.

Wei Ran was about to speak when the corner of his eye caught the three black pouches hanging at Yang Ling's waist. His face instantly turned pale.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

Yang Ling said in a deep voice, "Old Fourth, don't you throw up again. If you do, I'll hang you up there too!"

Wei Ran was terrified and immediately straightened his expression.

"Boss, I won't throw up anymore."

Yang Ling nodded with a smile, asked the waiter to bring some tea, then reassured him:

"It's fine. Newcomers to the Divine Realm are always a bit unsettled at first. You'll get used to it as you see more. This is just a small scene."

"This counts as a small scene..."

Wei Ran muttered to himself, then gave a bitter smile:

"It's just that these NPCs are too real. I can't handle it."

"Next, I need to tell you something. Listen carefully."

Yang Ling's expression turned serious.

Wei Ran was momentarily stunned, then a look of gravity crept onto his face.

He knew that when his college roommate of four years wore that expression, he had something truly important to say.

He immediately sat up straight.

Yang Ling briefly explained some information about the Divine Realm.

Wei Ran listened in stunned disbelief. After a long silence, he spoke in a hoarse voice:

"Boss, so you're saying you suspect the Divine Realm is a real world?"

"Everything here is too real. It can't possibly be virtual."

Yang Ling nodded slightly. "The only difference is between us and the natives. For example, our status as players gives us quite a few advantages when dealing with natives.

We can get attribute boosts from equipment, but the same equipment in a native's hands offers no attribute bonuses at all.

We also have exclusive skills, which you should be able to obtain when you undergo your class change."

"But remember, don't treat the people here as mere NPCs. They're living, breathing people."

"Living people..."

Wei Ran glanced at the three black pouches at Yang Ling's waist and immediately averted his gaze.

If those guys weren't NPCs but real people, then his boss here had...

"Old Fourth, we've been together for four years. Do you trust me?"

Yang Ling suddenly asked.

Wei Ran instinctively nodded. "Of course I trust you. Back then, my family was struggling. After paying tuition, I couldn't even afford to eat.

If it weren't for you, Boss, making some money from professional gold farming and always bringing me along for meals, I don't know how I'd have gotten through those years. How could I not trust you?"

Yang Ling nodded silently. "Then let me tell you this—the Divine Realm is the real martial world.

Where there's a martial world, there's bloodshed. I've seen plenty of players die in those conflicts.

From what later players told me, those who died never returned to reality. That means they truly died."

"So... dying in the Divine Realm means actual death?"

Wei Ran gasped sharply.

"Yes. The most important thing here is staying alive."

Yang Ling smiled. "You've done well on that front. You even managed to become a servant for the Chen Family. Some newcomers can't even get a proper meal.

I'd wager quite a few players have starved to death."

Wei Ran gave a rueful smile. "So I guess I'm doing okay, relatively speaking."

"Take this Eight Trigram Technique. With it, you can become a Martial Artist. Just train and level up until you reach level 10, then class change to a Constable."

Yang Ling tossed the Eight Trigram Technique to Wei Ran.

Wei Ran exclaimed in delight, "Boss, you're giving me this Internal Technique?"

Yang Ling: "You don't want it? Then give it back."

"Who said I don't want it!"

Wei Ran quickly tucked it away and, right in front of Yang Ling, chose to cultivate the Eight Trigram Technique.

Yang Ling opened his status panel and took a look.

His profession had already changed from Servant to Martial Artist.

"Let's go. I'll take you to the Vermilion Gold Mine. That's my turf, and there are quite a few players there too."

"For now, just focus on mining to level up and training your technique. Don't worry about anything else."

With that, Yang Ling prepared to get up and leave.

Wei Ran quickly said, "Boss, there's a group of players here in Tingjiang City. Should we bring them along to the Vermilion Gold Mine too?"

"Do you know them?"

Yang Ling asked casually.

Wei Ran nodded. "There's a Azure Dragon Guild in Tingjiang City. But only five core members, all probably Martial Artists.

I've seen them in action. They're really strong—one punch can send a person flying a meter or two!"

"When I first arrived, I was completely lost. I met other players who told me to go find this Azure Dragon Guild.

The job at the Chen Family was also arranged by the Azure Dragon Guild, but I have to hand over half my monthly income to them."

"I'm not very close with them, but I get along well with some of the other players. We hang out for tea and chat during breaks, and we talk about where to go in the Divine Realm."

Yang Ling thought it over. Azure Dragon Guild, five core members?

He figured those five were probably not Martial Artists at all.

Becoming a Martial Artist wasn't that simple. If one or two among them were Martial Artists, that would already be the limit.

"But they're probably at level 10 already, stuck at the class change threshold."

"Level 10 from doing manual labor would mean all their points went into Strength."

"It's normal for them to send an ordinary person flying a meter or two with one punch."

Just as he was thinking this, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

Yang Ling and Wei Ran turned to look and saw a group of Ironclad Department constables rushing down the street.

Suddenly, they seemed to spot something and charged straight into the eatery.

The customers inside were all terrified and dared not speak.

One constable swept his gaze across the room and finally locked onto Wei Ran:

"You're Wei Ran, right?"

Wei Ran nodded blankly. "That's me."

"We suspect you're a heretic cultist of the Immortal God Sect. Come with us."

The man said flatly.

Wei Ran was bewildered. Heretic cultist of the Immortal God Sect? What the hell was that?

He instinctively looked at Yang Ling, because these constables were, strictly speaking, subordinates of subordinates of his boss's subordinates.

Yang Ling remained expressionless and gave a slight shake of his head. Then he looked at the constable:

"I'm with him. Should I come along too?"

The constable was a bit surprised, then smirked:

"Someone volunteering to come? Fine, you're coming too."

Thankfully, the enforcement process was fairly civilized. They didn't put Wei Ran or Yang Ling in any shackles.

The two were led out of the tea house and eventually taken to the Tingjiang City Ironclad Department.

It was a busy day here, with constables constantly bringing people in.

Some were shouting about misunderstandings and claiming they were innocent, but the constables ignored them.

Yang Ling and Wei Ran were thrown into a courtyard, surrounded by constables. Over a hundred people were already standing inside, their eyes filled with confusion, anger, or fear.

Throughout the process, more people were being brought in.

Wei Ran had no idea what was going on, but he spotted a familiar face and whispered to Yang Ling:

"Boss, I see the Azure Dragon Guild's leader."

Following Wei Ran's gaze, he saw a young man around twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

Yang Ling opened the man's status panel and looked at it.

Character: Cao Yifei

Profession: Heretic Cultist

Level: 13

Strength: 13

Agility: 5

Spirit: 3

HP: 130

Faction: Immortal God Sect

"Definitely not a Martial Artist, but he has already class-changed to a Heretic Cultist."

Yang Ling was satisfied. It seemed the Chief Constable of Tingjiang City was already doing his job.

Based on this, he guessed the other cities under Changhe Prefectural Capital were also conducting simultaneous purges of the Immortal God Sect.

Behind all this, Yun Ruo must be pulling the strings.

Just then, a middle-aged man strode over with an imposing gait, accompanied by several Ironclad Department constables.

The middle-aged man wore Ninth-Rank Ironclad Armor and carried himself with an air of authority.

He swept a cold glance over the crowd:

"Director Yang of Changhe Prefectural Capital has spoken. The Immortal God Sect has been declared a heretic sect!

Today, we've brought you all here to determine whether you're cultists.

If you're not, rest assured—we won't wrong an innocent person, nor will we let a single guilty one escape."