Three Aspects

The manner of entry varied from one Ash Zone to another.

Generally speaking, when entering a combat-type Ash Zone, all entrants would most likely gather together and appear in the same location.

Comprehensive-type Ash Zones were the opposite: all entrants were scattered across different locations within the Ash Zone.

This time, the latter happened in the Fierce Martial Metropolis Ash Zone.

As a result, Xia Lin did not find Bai Guang right away, and Li Peipei did not find Gu Hua right away either.

Or rather... they had never intended to look for their teammates right away.

Such was the nature of Ash Zone Walkers.

Aside from teammates they knew inside and out, they had to remain wary of any other Ash Zone Walker.

There was strength in numbers...

But no one could stand a backstab from a comrade.

To eliminate the possibility of a backstab, it was better to go alone than to band together!

Besides, the leading figures who had entered the Ash Zone this time were all Sequence holders, and Xia Lin was an unruly sort himself. Why would he choose to trail behind someone else and live off their scraps?

On the outskirts of Fierce Martial City stood a dilapidated martial arts hall.

The hall was located in the slums. It was sizable, but somewhat run-down.

A plaque with peeling paint hung over the entrance, bearing the four large characters for "Three-Phase Martial Arts Hall."

Footsteps sounded in the street. Bai Guang arrived in front of the Three-Phase Martial Arts Hall, and as he looked at the dilapidated building, the corners of his mouth slowly rose.

"Here to learn martial arts? Don't come here."

"They don't teach fighting here. The hall master just makes things difficult for people."

A toothless old woman sat on a wooden stump beside the hall's entrance, picking lice as she spoke to Bai Guang.

Bai Guang's smile widened.

"Oh? But I heard this was a top-tier fighting hall, and that its master retired from the Savage Martial Arena. He even fought in top-tier Savage Martial Arena matches."

Another old woman bared her broken teeth. "That was all ten years ago. Old Zhou can barely even go to the toilet by himself now~~"

"Who can barely go to the toilet? Who are you talking about!? All you old gossips do every day is make things up! Get back home and look after your grandkids!"

The full-bodied voice rang out from inside the hall, prompting the old women to giggle and mutter like a flock of elderly ducks.

With a creak, the doors of the Three-Phase Martial Arts Hall swung open, and a figure leaning on a crutch appeared in the doorway.

He was around fifty, in the prime of life, with a tall, powerful build. But his right trouser leg hung empty. He was disabled and had not replaced the missing limb with a prosthetic, instead using a crutch as a leg to help him get around.

This was Zhou Yan, the master of the Three-Phase Martial Arts Hall.

Bai Guang wondered whether he had come to the wrong place.

How could a place bearing the name Three Aspects have fallen on such hard times?

But Zhou Yan's next words instantly dispelled Bai Guang's doubts.

"Ghost martial arts?"

Bai Guang was taken aback for a moment, then immediately nodded. He bowed respectfully and spoke in a solemn tone.

"Greetings, senior."

"Mm." Zhou Yan calmly accepted Bai Guang's salute, then stepped aside to clear the doorway. "Since you practice ghost martial arts, you're one of us. Come in."

Bai Guang stepped into the Three-Phase Martial Arts Hall.

Following Zhou Yan, Bai Guang walked very slowly.

Because Zhou Yan walked slowly.

And even more so, out of respect.

As Sequence 73, Bai Guang knew more than ordinary Ash Zone Walkers.

Ash Zones could be real or false.

False Ash Zones were like game dungeons, designed by the Ash Zone System itself. The people and objects within them were like NPCs in a game, more like a backdrop for the Ash Zone Walkers' adventures.

Their counterparts were real Ash Zones.

These Ash Zones were not illusions, but worlds that truly existed.

The Ash Zone System selected such a place as an Ash Zone, deposited Ash Zone Walkers into a real world within the known universe, and provided them with initial identities.

The people in these Ash Zones were by no means puppets governed by programming.

They had their own pasts, their own lives, and even their own backgrounds and backers.

Bai Guang disliked false Ash Zones because they offered little variation and were rigid and lifeless.

He preferred real Ash Zones, because only in a real Ash Zone could he trigger something unexpected and come into contact with powerful factions and individuals he might otherwise never encounter in his entire life.

For example, the Three Aspects Gang, directly subordinate to Superstar, one of the Six Pillars!

Zhou Yan led Bai Guang to the hall's main room and invited him to sit, then began making tea while leaning on his crutch.

Seeing this, Bai Guang immediately sprang to his feet. "Please, sit down, senior. I'll do it, I'll do it."

He boiled the water and brewed the tea in one smooth sequence, his movements remarkably deft.

Only after he had served the hot tea and drunk half a cup, and saw that Zhou Yan looked relaxed and was in a good mood, did Bai Guang ask cautiously.

"Hall master, why is our Three-Phase Martial Arts Hall here so..."

Bai Guang found it hard to say the word "dilapidated," but fortunately Zhou Yan understood what he meant.

He set down his teacup and chuckled.

"As a faction subordinate to our Three Aspects Gang, a martial arts hall bearing the name Three Aspects really shouldn't be this run-down."

After another sip of tea, Zhou Yan continued.

"The thing is, I only set this hall up on a whim, just for fun. It's an amateur venture. The higher-ups don't even recognize it."

Then remarks came tumbling out: "I spent my whole life working for the Three Aspects Gang, so nobody's going to care if I use the name Three Aspects"; "After I retired, the hall master sent me to this world, and I opened a martial arts hall to pass the time"; "I fought one top-tier Savage Martial Arena match, and that was enough for me. There's no fun in bullying people who don't understand martial arts"; "Pretending to be a cripple and bickering with old ladies every day is great fun." From these, Bai Guang guessed most of Zhou Yan's background.

He was a full-fledged member of the Three Aspects Gang.

A supreme figure living in seclusion amid the bustle of the city!

Zhou Yan looked Bai Guang up and down, as though seeing right through him.

He took another sip of tea and said with a smile, "An Ash Zone Walker?"

Bai Guang was not surprised that Zhou Yan had identified him as an Ash Zone Walker.

The identity of an Ash Zone Walker was no secret to anyone of even modest standing.

He nodded and said with a cheeky grin, "Senior, for the sake of the Three Aspects Gang, you have to help me in this Ash Zone."

Zhou Yan waved a broad hand. "Speak your mind. We don't beat around the bush in the gang."

Bai Guang said, "I want the Blood Fiend Breathing Technique."

Zhou Yan raised an eyebrow, his smile vanishing.

He stared straight at Bai Guang, making his scalp tingle.

At last, Zhou Yan shook his head. "Registered members aren't allowed to practice the Blood Fiend Star Art. If you were a full member, you wouldn't need to come to me for it. I can't make an exception for you."

Disappointment welled up in Bai Guang's heart, but Zhou Yan's next words made his expression brighten. "Still, our meeting was fate. I can't teach you the Blood Fiend Star Art, but other true arts-breathing techniques-are another matter. And I can't be bothered to keep the methods I created myself to myself."

"They aren't as effective as the Blood Fiend Star Art-oh, that's what the Ash Zone calls the Blood Fiend Breathing Technique—but they're more than enough for a level-five Ash Zone Walker like you to break through your limits."

"But there's one condition."

Bai Guang rose and bowed respectfully, his expression solemn. "Please tell me, senior."

Zhou Yan's smile vanished, and he said gravely, "An art must not be passed on lightly! And I certainly won't teach Traditional Martial Arts to a waste!"

"Step into a top-tier Savage Martial Arena match, fight, and come out alive. Let me see what you're made of!"

[Side quest issued...]

Just as Bai Guang was immersed in the joy of receiving a side quest, another knock sounded at the door behind him.

Zhou Yan raised an eyebrow, and with a thought, the doors opened on their own. An enormous mountain of flesh came into view before Zhou Yan and Bai Guang.

It was Li Peipei.