11:30.
There is still half an hour before the second stage officially begins.
Ox-Horse Factory.
The three workstations, resembling arenas, are arranged in a triangular pattern.
The sewing machines are arranged in a square formation on the left, their pedals aligned neatly, like soldiers awaiting inspection.
The assembly line in the middle has been tested and is now ready, with the parts boxes stacked neatly.
On the right, in the picking area, there are dozens of rows of shelves piled high with wooden crates of all sizes.
Ingrika stood on the high platform, testing the sound in front of the Heaven-Peering Mirror.
"Hey, hey? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, ten, hook, circle, spiky!"
Her voice echoed through the mine, causing dust to fall from the overhead rock walls.
Several ghost messengers stood expressionless below the stage, letting dust settle all over their heads and faces.
Eleven contestants are already seated in the waiting area.
Only two seats are empty.
Jiangnan was the winner of the first stage.
There's also Lu Mingfei was imprisoned here as an employee.
Qin Jiudao sat in his seat, his hands resting on his knees.
He appeared as steady as an old dog, but in reality, the soles of his feet had worn two shallow dents into the ground.
Why hasn't Jiangnan arrived yet?
He glanced at the empty seat next to him, then quickly looked away, pretending not to care.
But his constantly trembling right leg gave him away.
"Could something have happened to them on the way?"
"But what if he really doesn't come? Where am I supposed to find him?"
"How can we confirm whether he is indeed the Dragon God?"
Qin Jiudao felt ants crawling on his body.
Not just one, but a whole flock.
Starting from the soles of the feet, it climbs up the calves, past the knees, and into the trouser legs.
Itch.
Urgent.
Dry.
He wanted to stand up and walk a few steps, but he was afraid that someone would notice something was amiss.
I wanted to drink some water to calm myself down, but I was also afraid that I would need to go to the toilet and miss the adults coming in.
He could only sit there, his hands gripping his knees.
"How many years has it been..."
He silently calculated in his mind how many years had passed since the day the Dragon God fell.
But that number was so large that he himself couldn't remember it.
All he remembered was that the bells of the Dragon Xia Imperial City rang ninety-nine times that day.
All I remember is that he and the remaining Dragon God cried for an unknown amount of time amidst the mournful cries of their blood.
Finally, they decided to find a way to resurrect the Dragon God.
Later, the Void began slaughtering the Dragon God's former subordinates.
One after another.
They fled, Void pursued them.
They escaped from the Weird Island to the Polar Icefield, and from the Polar Icefield to the Canglan Continent.
After tossing and turning, I returned to the Weird Island.
Fewer and fewer people surrounded him until he was all alone.
The curse took root in his chest, and every night it felt as if countless mouths were gnawing at his internal organs.
He gritted his teeth and persevered, not because he was afraid of dying, but because he had heard that Phoenix Emperor was in Soul Return Town.
The presence of the Phoenix Emperor means that the things left behind by the Dragon God are here.
This means there is still hope.
And now, that hope might be sitting less than ten steps away from him.
"Wait a little longer."
Qin Jiudao took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He swallowed hard, and tapped his fingers on his knees even faster.
Backend.
Shangguan Shuyi and Shen Yingchun stood behind the curtain, observing the activity inside the venue through the gaps.
"Commander Shen, please rest assured."
Shangguan Shuyi held a register in her hand, flipping through it noisily.
"I've already drafted the competition rules; they're absolutely fair and just, without a single flaw."
Shen Yingchun stood with her hands behind her back, her gaze sweeping over the contestants before finally settling on the empty seat.
Tell me about it.
"Contestants will select two employees from the Ox-Horse Factory in order of their ranking in the first stage to form their teams."
Shangguan Shuyi closed the roster and pointed to the three workstations with her folding fan. "Sewing machine, screw tightening, and picking—three tasks."
"The contestant himself/herself acts as the team leader, responsible for supervision and management."
"The final rankings are based on the average score across the three events, with the top four advancing."
"Um."
Shen Yingchun nodded; there was nothing wrong with this rule.
Those who rank higher are selected first, which seems to be an advantage, but it also depends on the supervisor's management ability.
It's not enough for you to be good yourself; you have to make your team members good too.
"That Dragon God..."
Upon hearing these four words, Shangguan Shuyi's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
A phantom pain shot up from my tailbone and straight to the top of my head.
She instinctively squeezed her legs together.
"Cough."
Shangguan Shuyi forcefully suppressed the memories that were coming and going, and said solemnly, "This subordinate had already made arrangements."
"I've already given the order to have all the efficient employees logged into their data."
"When we're selecting players later, the best and worst performers will be placed in particularly conspicuous positions."
She glanced at Shen Yingchun's reaction and added.
"Given Dragon God's previous style of doing things, he would definitely have chosen it immediately upon seeing the hard data."
"That's right."
Shen Yingchun wholeheartedly agreed.
That person always pursues efficiency; if something can be done in one step, they will never take two.
If something good is placed in front of him, he'll take it all without even looking at it; that's in line with that lord's style.
"But..."
Shen Yingchun changed the subject, pulling a piece of paper from her sleeve. "There's an exception; could you give me some advice?"
Shangguan Shuyi took it and unfolded it to take a look.
The Lu Mingfei.
He finished sixth in the first stage.
After entering the Second Ring Town, he was sent to Ox-Horse Factory for forced labor due to a serious crime.
Shangguan Shuyi's face instantly darkened.
"Disqualified."
She folded the paper twice and stuffed it back into Shen Yingchun's hand, her tone resolute.
"How could you possibly find a criminal to be the husband of Phoenix Emperor?"
"Even if it's just a formality, that won't do! What will people think if word gets out?"
"They're saying our Phoenix Emperor can't get married, so they have to use rapists to make up the numbers?"
"That's what I think too."
Shen Yingchun carefully put the documents away. "Then let's do it your way and transfer him to the employee group."
"Let's do it this way."
The two reached an agreement and were about to continue discussing the details when a voice interrupted from the side.
"When does this stupid competition even start?"
Liu Ruyan appeared out of nowhere, wearing a spare Daoist robe borrowed from Shangguan Shuyi.
She crossed her arms and impatiently tiptoed to peer into the arena.
"Why hasn't that bastard come back yet? Didn't he say he was coming to participate in the competition?"
Shangguan Shuyi would reflexively feel a backache whenever she saw her.
"Almost there, almost there. Sit down and have some water."
"I won't drink it!"
Shen Yingchun looked Liu Ruyan up and down and recognized her face.
Isn't this the same mount that the Dragon God rode on his neck at the hotel yesterday?
He quickly went through Phoenix Emperor Phoenix's instructions in his mind.
Lock the man up.
The woman is part of the plan.
But this...
Are mounts considered people?
Shen Yingchun decided to test the waters first.
"This young lady."
He forced a smile and said in a friendly tone, "This will be the competition venue in a little while."
"It's noisy, chaotic, and boring. How about I send someone to take you Shen Residence to rest?"
"There's plenty of food and drink over there; it's much more comfortable than here."
Liu Ruyan glanced at him sideways.
Who do you think you are? Do you even have the right to talk to me, the Sword Emperor?
Shen Yingchun's smile froze on her face.
"No, what I mean is..."
What does that mean?
"This Sword Emperor can go wherever he wants. Who are you, a mere gatekeeper, to tell him what to do?"
Liu Ruyan got more and more excited as she spoke, "Look at you, at your age, your beard is all white!"
"Instead of staying home and taking care of your grandchildren, you're out here meddling in everything. Are you just bored?"
Shen Yingchun's face flushed red and then turned pale.
As the commander of the ghost messengers and the third-in-command of Soul Return Town, who wouldn't bow and scrape before him and call him "Commander"?
Today, a little girl yelled at me to my face while I was guarding the gate.
But there's no way around it.
After all, it's the Dragon God's mount.
Shen Yingchun really couldn't refute the claim that even the chickens and dogs of the family would rise to power.
Shangguan Shuyi tried to smooth things over, saying, "Commander Shen, just let her stay there. I'll keep an eye on her."
"But..."
Shen Yingchun wanted to say something, but swallowed the words back.
He glanced at Liu Ruyan, then at Shangguan Shuyi.
Faced with these two unsuspecting people, he finally sighed.
Forget it, I'll just ignore it.
If Phoenix Emperor asks later, just say that Shen Yingchun really doesn't know whether a mount counts as a person.
After all, in the entire Soul Return Town, only the Dragon God uses people as a means of transportation.
"Then let's do it your way."
Shen Yingchun straightened her collar, regaining her commanding presence. "I have matters to attend to at home, so I'll leave this to you."
He turned and took a few steps. As he passed a ghost guarding the entrance to the passage, he slightly turned his head and lowered his voice.
"Send the order to gather troops and surround the Shen Residence."
"Except for the Bloodblade Ghost Guards who are protecting the underground furnace, everyone else will be transferred there."
Not even a fly can get out.
"Yes!"
The ghost messenger obeyed and silently retreated into the shadows.
As Shen Yingchun walked out of the Ox-Horse Factory, the sunlight made him squint.
He stood on the steps, looked up at the sky.
The sky was so blue, it didn't seem like the sky of the Weird Island.
"Dragon God."
He said this silently to himself.
"Please forgive Phoenix Emperor, and please forgive us as well."
"There's no other way to get Soul Return Town; this is our only chance."
"Please also bless us so that we may succeed."
"Only then... can we truly be considered human..."
"The living..."
A gust of wind blew by, stirring up the sand and dust on the ground.
Shen Yingchun blinked and suddenly saw a black dot in the sky, moving rapidly toward them.
"Um?"
He squinted, trying to make a careful look.
The black dots are getting bigger and clearer.
It wasn't a shooting star.
It's a person.
Bang!
Jiangnan, dressed in the Dragon God Imperial Armor, landed in front of Shen Yingchun.
The golden armor shimmered in the sunlight, and the dragon wings on its back slowly folded in.
The resulting gust of air caused Shen Yingchun's beard to flutter backward.
The armor turned into specks of light and dissipated into the air.
Jiangnan, dressed in that flying fish robe, didn't even dawdle in her breathing.
Shen Yingchun was so frightened that her knees buckled and she knelt on one knee.
"Greetings, Lord Dragon God!"
Jiangnan glanced down at him, nodded, and walked straight into the gate of the Ox-Horse Factory without stopping.
Shen Yingchun knelt on the spot and waited for a full five seconds.
Only after confirming that the person had really gone far away did he breathe a sigh of relief and stand up.
"Thank goodness."
It seems that the Dragon God did not implicate him in his daughter's sins.
The move of sacrificing family for the greater good was the right one.
He looked up in the direction where Jiangnan had disappeared, and then remembered the wish he had just made.
May you succeed.
An inexplicable intuition suddenly welled up in my heart.
This small Soul Return Town.
Dragon God reincarnation...
Phoenix Emperor's strategy...
The Desolate God Society harbors secrets...
The three powers of China, the Eagle Country, and the Cherry Blossom Country are engaged in open and covert struggles...
Plus that thing underground...
All the threads were tangled together, getting tighter and tighter.
A storm is coming.
As for Shen Yingchun, a dignified commander of the ghost messengers, he probably wouldn't even be considered a boatman in this storm.
At best, it's just a fallen leaf being carried away by the waves.
"Well."
Shen Yingchun sighed and muttered to herself, "As the old saying goes, when gods fight, mortals suffer."
"When gods clash, we little fish and shrimps are destined to drift with the tide."
He dusted off his cuffs, straightened his back, and his eyes sharpened.
"But then again, soldiers are paid and ordered to obey orders."
"If the sky falls, someone tall will hold it up; if someone tall can't hold it up, then we all die together. We're all going to die anyway, so what's there to be afraid of!"
He straightened his clothes and strode towards the Shen Residence.
He is a soldier.
Soldiers must obey only orders.
Inside the Ox-Horse Factory.
The moment Jiangnan stepped onto the field, the atmosphere of the entire space changed.
It wasn't that he released any kind of pressure, nor did he do anything special.
He simply walked in, and all eyes involuntarily turned to him.
Zhao Yan was the first to react.
He sat in a corner of the contestants' area, leaning slightly forward, his eyes fixed on Jiangnan's back.
That figure, that gait, that composure of walking on a knife's edge as if strolling in one's own backyard.
It's exactly the same silhouette as the one in the Scarecrow kill log.
No need for further explanation.
Zhao Yan silently repeated the code name to himself.
He'd seen far too many experts; those S-class superhumans in the base, weren't they all incredibly arrogant?
But this one is different.
His arrogance wasn't displayed on his face; it was ingrained in his bones.
It felt like he was born to stand above everyone else.
Aeria rested her chin on her hand, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"What a handsome young man."
He licked his lips, his eyes holding a light that made the male contestants next to him feel uneasy.
"I really want to be with him..."
"Okay, let's have a close-up chat."
He squeezed his legs together and let out a soft groan that only he could hear.
The other seven contestants had much simpler ideas.
"Is this the leader of the first stage?"
"The one with fifty thousand taels?"
"It doesn't look like it has three heads and six arms... but it's definitely quite intimidating."
"Stop talking, he's looking over here."
Several people lowered their heads in unison, pretending to study the grain of the table in front of them.
Only one person, from the moment he entered from Jiangnan, became a statue.
Qin Jiudao.
His mouth was open, as if he wanted to say something, or as if something was blocking his throat.
"It really is..."
His lips were trembling, his fingers were shaking, and something was rapidly gathering in his eyes.
This face.
That arrogant, punchable look.
This flying fish outfit, though styled differently, exudes the same elegant charm.
It was him.
That's him!
Qin Jiudao felt a roar in his ears.
My vision began to blur.
He was so excited he almost fainted.
"Calm down! Qin Jiudao! Calm down, you!"
He mentally slapped himself repeatedly.
"There's no concrete evidence yet! It's just a resemblance in appearance! It's just a similar vibe!"
What if I admit I made a mistake?
"What if Phoenix Emperor deliberately found someone to impersonate him to comfort us?"
"You're the Heavenblade Dragon King! You've lived for thousands of years! You can't just cling to someone's leg and cry in front of so many people!"
He took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the emotions that were about to burst forth.
But those eyes remained fixed on Jiangnan.
Jiangnan didn't look at anyone.
He walked straight to the empty seat, sat down, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes.
Throughout the entire process, his gaze did not linger on any of the contestants for even half a second.
It's not that I'm deliberately ignoring it; I genuinely don't care.
There were only three things on his mind.
I received the Mountains and Rivers Brush.
I obtained the Mortal Fireworks Painting.
Enhance strength.
Then go find that white-haired old man and kill him completely!
Soon, it was twelve o'clock.
Ingrika finished testing the sound one last time, and the sound traveled throughout the entire Ox-Horse Factory through the Heaven-Peering Mirror.
The message was also transmitted to every mirror on both the Third Ring Town and Second Ring Town, which were broadcasting simultaneously.
"Fellow citizens of Soul Return Town! Fellow warriors! The second stage of the competition is about to begin!"
She raised the megaphone in her hand high, her golden braids flying behind her head.
"Now, please welcome the chief organizer of this groom selection competition, Shangguan Shuyi, to start the live broadcast of this competition!"
"Heaven-Peering Mirror, activate!"