Arriving in Chang'an

Yan Qing naturally didn't have the privilege of choosing one of three job advancements like a game character. He could only, like the people of this world, become either a Martial Dao Herald or a Scholarly Dao Herald.

In terms of development potential, a Scholarly Dao Herald was slightly better than a Martial Dao Herald after the fourth advancement, because the Martial Dao's main stat, Vitality, and related basic skills would become less and less effective in the later stages. However, the combat power of a Martial Dao Herald from the first to the third advancement completely overwhelmed that of a Scholarly Dao Herald. Moreover, Yan Qing didn't have a Secret Realm for Scholarly Dao, so he could only, like the vast majority of people in this world, use Martial Dao Herald as his starting point for transcendence.

Only a very few geniuses and nobles who could squander Scholarly Dao proficiency manuals could blindly pursue the theoretically highest strength like game players.

The reason he had delayed his job advancement until today was because Martial Dao job advancement had two rigid requirements: Level 10 and any Basic Body Technique skill at max level. Yan Qing already had max-level Footwork, but max-level Footwork only allowed him to level up to five or six. He needed at least one more max-level skill to reach Level 10.

Three days ago, Night Four had dropped a Basic Saber Technique manual from a Secret Realm, but Yan Qing had other uses for this manual, so he planned to wait for the next manual. He just didn't expect that this wait would last three days. In the following days, the drop rate of the Suppressor of Three Mountains Secret Realm was abnormally low. Apart from Spirit Jade and supplies, it didn't drop anything at all. Fortunately, a Basic Saber Technique manual finally dropped this morning, otherwise Yan Qing would have to participate in this Chang'an journey with the strength of an ordinary person.

Although a first-advancement Herald was still an insignificant weakling in this world, for Yan Qing, this was the moment he truly stepped onto the path of transcendence. The surging Vitality, the freely controlled spiritual power, nothing could make Yan Qing more deeply aware that he was no longer in the original world—that ordinary, unremarkable world without any miracles!

The past was a paradise for the weak, but now it is a jungle for the strong.

Yan Qing gripped the White Iron Straight Blade tightly, looking at his reflection in the blade.

From now on, only the blade in his hand matters.

Before the cold iron is blunted, who can step out of the long night?

"It's time to go."

Yan Qing lightly twirled the blade in a sword flourish and sheathed it. Such mortal-level skills were as simple as breathing for him with his max-level Basic Saber Technique. He picked up the game console and confirmed one last time that there were no flaws in all the coping strategies he had arranged in 'Automatic Evolution'—there would definitely be accidents, and all he could do was minimize the impact of accidents on the plan as much as possible.

The sound of chairs dragging could be heard outside. Although it wasn't time yet, it was clear that some people couldn't wait to take their places in advance. However, before joining up with his 'thieving friends', Yan Qing had one last thing he had to do.

Inside the Thieves' Den, everyone had different thoughts.

Because they were about to descend upon Vermillion Bird Avenue in Chang'an City, it was impossible for them to continue wearing masks—if they attracted attention on the street because of their masks, it would be counterproductive.

Disguise was inevitable, and from everyone's perspective, they felt that the other two would have a hard time keeping it up.

Yaoshi Yuan's disguise was the most thorough. From her figure to her face, you couldn't see any trace of her original self. At first glance, she just looked like a rather handsome young man.

Ying Ru Shi's disguise was the most clever. She pretended to be a mask vendor, wearing a half-fox mask, so that people wouldn't find it strange that she was wearing a mask.

Shang Xin Lei's disguise was the most perfunctory—she wore a pair of black sunglasses, which looked like exquisite products hand-polished from gemstones.

Seriously, this is even worse than wearing a mask. Northerners have at least seen masks, but no one has ever seen such a novel thing as sunglasses!

Moreover, sunglasses can't hide your appearance!

Just as the two were complaining about Shang Xin Lei's clumsy disguise, they suddenly heard the sound of the door opening. They turned their heads and were stunned.

The hall fell silent for three seconds, before Shang Xin Lei's laughter broke the silence.

"Pfft, hahaha, Yellow Dog, what the hell is that thing on you!" Shang Xin Lei covered her stomach and laughed wildly, "Did you hit your head?"

That's right, Yan Qing's disguise method was simple, crude, and efficient—he wrapped his head tightly with a bunch of bandages, leaving only his eyes, nose, and mouth exposed, looking like a severely burned bandaged monster.

Yaoshi Yuan couldn't hold back any longer: "If you don't have time to disguise yourselves, you can ask me for help. Do you know what disguise is? Disguise is about not attracting attention. Look at you, this is even worse than wearing a mask!"

Ying Ru Shi tried to smooth things over: "Okay, okay, it's probably their first time, so they're not used to it..."

Yaoshi Yuan gritted her teeth and said, "Don't 'okay, okay' me. You're not much better than them. Who goes around selling a bunch of masks without even a cart? More importantly, what if someone wants to buy a mask? Compared to the two of them, you're more likely to be pestered by others!"

"This is about going to Chang'an to steal Bingzi Jiaolin, can you guys focus a little!"

Yaoshi Yuan was truly exasperated. She had finally made up her mind to complete this mission and take Bingzi Jiaolin for her own use, but her three teammates were more outrageous than the last. Now she was a little desperate—could it be that her first mission would end in failure, and she would have to trouble her father to bail her out?

If that were the case, what confidence would she have to criticize her father's regressive actions, and what qualifications would she have to restore the glory of the Yaoshi family?

"Focus?" Shang Xinlei checked her belongings. "Oh dear, I forgot to bring snacks. What a pity, the kitchen prepared steamed crab meat dumplings today..."

Yan Qing felt his mouth watering like crazy, and Ying Ru Shi asked curiously, "Dumplings?"

Shang Xinlei explained, "They're similar to dumplings, but the filling includes shrimp, fresh pork, barbecued pork, bamboo shoots, and crab meat, so they taste very fresh and sweet..."

"Enough!" Yaoshi Yuan slammed the table heavily. "You guys take off your masks, glasses, and bandages. It would be better to show your faces directly than to descend upon Chang'an so conspicuously—"

「Confirmation that all members are present.」
「Mission begins in five seconds, landing location: Vermillion Bird Avenue, Chang'an City. Five, four, three...」

A strange yet familiar voice-over sounded in everyone's ears. Before they could react, the five-second countdown passed in an instant. As their vision went black, the sound of bustling footsteps and noise from the distant crowd rushed into their ears before they even opened their eyes.

From the start of the countdown, Yan Qing had been gripping the hilt of his White Iron Straight Blade. His body tensed, and he retreated while opening his eyes, discovering that the four of them had appeared at the end of a small alleyway at a corner. To get to the main street from here, they would have to pass around a corner, so it would be impossible for people on the main street to see their appearance.

"This is behind Tongren Hall." Ying Ru Shi immediately determined their location after looking around. "Let's go, it's about half a li from here to Anguo Temple."

Yaoshi Yuan was skeptical. Even she, a Local of Chang'an, couldn't recognize where this alley was. "How do you know?"

"There are four alleys like this in the sand table, and the surrounding buildings of three of them don't match. The answer is naturally the alley behind Tongren Hall." Ying Ru Shi said, "The Thieves' Den couldn't possibly teleport us to a place outside the sand table."

"You memorized the sand table?"

"With five days, isn't it only natural to memorize the sand table?"

After speaking, Ying Ru Shi walked out, with Yan Qing following closely behind.

Shang Xinlei glanced at Yaoshi Yuan, patted the latter's shoulder, and comforted her, "Don't worry, I didn't memorize it either. I guess Yellow Dog didn't either. Only White Fox is a genius. Hmph, let's isolate her together!"

"Didn't we say not to make contact with each other rashly?" Yaoshi Yuan suppressed the urge to shake her off and glared at her fiercely.

"Sister, you're so hard to please. White Fox is a genius, Yellow Dog has intelligence, we two little wastes should stick together for warmth." Shang Xinlei shook her head and sighed, lightly catching up with the two people in front.

Who said I'm a little waste!

Yaoshi Yuan thought through gritted teeth, but immediately she was suddenly shocked—Red Snake actually discovered she was a woman? Impossible, she clearly disguised herself so well!

The four walked on Vermillion Bird Avenue, and as expected, they were very eye-catching, with passersby frequently turning their heads.

Fortunately, it was only half a li, and they soon reached the commercial district near Anguo Temple. The surrounding pedestrians were like weaving shuttles, shoulder to shoulder, and they were mixed in the crowd... but they were still very conspicuous.

A combination of a bandage monster + a masked merchant + sunglasses was still too avant-garde for Chang'an City.

"Let's go there and order some noodles to reserve a spot first," Yan Qing suddenly said.

The place he was pointing to was a noodle shop called "First Noodle".

Yaoshi Yuan frowned, "What noodles are we eating? Time is tight, we only have two quarters of an hour, we have to..."

"I want to eat too!"

"I also want to taste the flavors of Chang'an."

Shang Xinlei and Ying Ru Shi interrupted Yaoshi Yuan at the same time.

After Yaoshi Yuan's face darkened, Yan Qing explained,

"We have to stay on Vermillion Bird Avenue for a quarter of an hour after we come out later to go back. If we don't secure a spot now, we'll just be wandering around on the street, which is riskier."

Yan Qing walked away after speaking, clearly just informing them, not discussing.

Yaoshi Yuan felt very stifled. At any other time, who would dare to reject her opinion except her father? But in the Thieves' Den, she couldn't count how many times her opinion had been rejected by Yellow Dog. Even the entire plan was made by Yellow Dog, and she couldn't even know the details.

Looking at the three people in front, Yaoshi Yuan's anger piled up in her heart.

White Fox was self-righteous and mocked her for not remembering the sand table, she should be killed;

Red Snake saw through her disguise and mocked her for being useless, she should be killed;

Yellow Dog ignored her opinion and took away her leadership, even more deserving of death!

No, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. I don't want to pretend anymore. I'll summon the Divine Strategy Army of Chang'an to crush you all to death!

"Black Wolf, Black Wolf!"

Yan Qing's urgent call suddenly came from the front, "Our table has been taken!"

Yaoshi Yuan took a closer look and saw that the table in front of Yan Qing and the others had been taken by two burly men.

The burly man glanced at them, "What do you mean taken? I clearly got here first. If you walk slowly, just honestly wait in line—"

Yaoshi Yuan walked up to them, looking at them expressionlessly.

The strong man still looked disdainful, "What, you want to fight? This is Chang'an, do you think you hillbillies can run wild—"

Thump!

Yaoshi Yuan reached out and grabbed their collars. She had a great figure, with long legs and arms. Even though these two were a little taller than her, she still lifted these two men, each weighing over a hundred pounds, like dolls! The two men's legs swayed, knocking over the chairs.

Before they could resist, she flung them out of the noodle shop.

Faced with this fierce person who could lift them up with one hand, it was definitely a Martial Dao Herald. Although Chang'an protected them from getting hurt, the strong men didn't dare to offend the Herald. They didn't say a harsh word, got up on their own, and scurried away.

"It's a good thing you're here, Black Wolf."

"Yeah, Black Wolf, your Vitality must be very high, right?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to rely on you to attack later, Black Wolf."

Yaoshi Yuan's expression was still indifferent, but perhaps it was because her Vitality was surging, her face was much rosier. She sat down and said calmly, "Hmph, I knew I couldn't rely on you."

Yan Qing, Ying Ru Shi, and Shang Xinlei exchanged glances secretly.

As early as the second meeting, they vaguely felt that Yaoshi Yuan's mood was prone to great ups and downs. When Yaoshi Yuan's mood kept falling, she would directly flip the table—for example, directly ending the meeting on the second day.

However, Yaoshi Yuan also liked to make suggestions and even issue orders. If you disagreed with her, she would be secretly unhappy, and when the unhappiness accumulated, she would easily lose her temper. Logically speaking, this kind of person was the most troublesome, but Black Wolf was surprisingly easy to deal with—as long as she overpowered them, she would return to normal.

Unanimously, they all knew that they had to give Black Wolf a chance to perform appropriately.

When the waiter came over, Yan Qing asked, "Four bowls of Fresh Meat Wonton Noodles, how long will it take?"

Seeing this table of strange guests of all kinds, the waiter's expression didn't change at all, and he responded with a smile, "Sorry, guests, there are a lot of customers now, so you may have to wait a quarter of an hour."

"A quarter of an hour, that's fine, you guys start cooking then, we'll go to Anguo Temple to get something and come back."

"Okay!"

Yan Qing raised his head. At this moment, the sun was high in the sky, and the sunlight fell almost vertically. Standing still, he could hardly see his own shadow.

The time has come, he thought.

At the same time, the Charity House behind Anguo Temple welcomed three uninvited guests. The miscellaneous monk who was wiping the floor saw three identical people open the door and walk into the entrance hall, and asked in a daze, "The three of you are...?"

"An Qi."

"An Ba."

"An Jiu."

The update for the first chapter will be at 12 o'clock from now on.