That night, before the smoke and dust at Yuanmeng Middle School had fully settled, every battle that had taken place there had already reached the desks of those steering the major powers through various secret channels, delivered in written form.
"Demon? A Demon of Revered Name?"
"A Demon of Revered Name was Slashed before it could even be born?"
"I want every scrap of information on this incident! At any cost!"
The Demon had fallen like a meteor, and the news from that place was like a boulder cast into a still lake, stirring towering waves in the hidden world.
The name "Senior Student Zhou" appeared on countless computer screens. That vast, mysterious realm hidden behind the world had turned its gaze toward the youth who had only just emerged into prominence.
On the surface of Tinghai.
This was a lobby buried deep underground. There were no windows on any of its four sides, only a row of large exhaust fans slowly turning on the ceiling, casting swaying patches of light and shadow below.
Yet this underground lobby was neither dark nor cramped. The spacious hall was covered in vivid red carpeting, while gilded chandeliers cast soft light. Attendants in white gloves and masked young women carried wine through the crowd; a casual tip here was enough to live extravagantly in Tinghai for half a month.
Yet this was not a cocktail party, nor was it an auction house. It was simply a Black Market tavern hidden beneath Tinghai.
—The sort of tavern common in adventure stories, reeking of pungent sweat and cheap alcohol, where ragged Adventurers and kobolds raised cups of cheap wheat brew, exchanged intelligence from the forest frontier, and casually accepted commissions to destroy goblin nests.
But this place was neither cheap nor foul-smelling. Masked Extraordinary individuals