Return Evaluation

Inside Tianning Temple, the light in the hall was dim, with only a few shafts of sunlight filtering through the broken windows, dust motes drifting lazily within the beams.

In the center stood a large Buddha statue, covered in thick dust and peeling paint, looking as though it had been there for many years.

As Wang Xuan stepped over the threshold of the main hall, a "ding" sounded in his mind, and a pale blue panel popped up on its own.

[Notification: Side quest "Secret of the Linked Cities Treasure" completed.]

Before Wang Xuan could examine the rewards, he heard a series of faint "crack-crack" sounds coming from ahead.

He looked up.

The surface of the dusty Buddha statue in the center of the hall began to crack, the fissures spreading like a spiderweb until the stone skin began to peel away in flakes.

Where the stone skin fell away, it did not reveal clay, but a brilliant, shimmering gold; the true base of the statue was, shockingly, a Buddha cast in pure gold.

Wang Xuan squinted, the golden light flashing so brightly it made his eyes swim.

At the same time, a pitch-black hole quietly opened beneath the Buddha pedestal.

The opening was small, just enough for a person to crawl through, and it was pitch black inside, deep and bottomless.

"The treasure of Emperor Liang Yuan..." Wang Xuan murmured.

Seeing the legendary treasure within reach, Wang Xuan did not rush forward in excitement; instead, he took two steps back.

Golden Wave Demon Flower.

The deadliest poison in the world of Secret of the Linked Cities, fatal upon contact; it was the very thing that old bastard Ling Tuisi used to harm Ding Dian. All the gold and silver treasures inside this vault were coated in this poison.

Wang Xuan had no interest in this gold and silver.

Having killed Yu Jinghong, Yu Qingtian, and Shen Chenzhou, the gold and silver he had looted from their storage bags was already piled up like a small mountain—more than he could spend in a lifetime.

Moreover, touching this poisoned gold was a death wish. Although he possessed the strength of the Three-Unity Great Xiantian, he did not want to gamble his life on whether he could withstand such a potent toxin.

"Boring."

Wang Xuan turned and left without a shred of hesitation.

In any case, this world would be destroyed and reset in less than a month; whoever wanted this treasure could have it.

He stayed in the world of Secret of the Linked Cities for another three days.

He did nothing during these three days, simply finding a clean inn in Jiangling City to stay in, eating and sleeping.

Ever since he entered this world and obtained the Iron Cloth Shirt, he hadn't had a moment's rest; he was either killing people or on his way to kill them, his nerves constantly stretched taut.

Now that the Royal Clan was wiped out, the main quest finished, and the side quests cleared, he could finally catch his breath.

Three days later, Wang Xuan felt his spirit had mostly recovered.

There was no point in staying here any longer; the martial arts ceiling of this world was reached, and it offered no further help in increasing his strength.

He summoned the panel and selected "Return."

His vision blurred, and the familiar sensation of weightlessness washed over him.

When his vision cleared, he was no longer in the inn room.

He was in a pure white space, boundless and infinite, with a smooth white floor beneath his feet.

The mechanical, cold voice of the Heavens Tower rang directly in his ears.

"Detecting player Wang Xuan, evaluating performance in the Secret of the Linked Cities world..."

"Strength evaluation: Surpassed Xiantian, reached the third level of Three-Unity Great Xiantian. Rating increased significantly."

"Quest evaluation: Completed side quest 'Secret of the Linked Cities Treasure', obtained Divine Illumination Scripture, rating increased."

"Quest evaluation: Completed main quest, rating increased."

"Achievement evaluation: Achieved 'Thousand-Man Slayer' (thousands of players died from contract backlash due to your killing of the Royal Clan), achievement rating increased."

"Kill evaluation: Killed three cheating players, rating increased."

"Plot intervention evaluation: Killed plot characters Blood Blade Ancestor, three of the Four Wonders of the South, Wan Zhenshan, Yan Daping, and Qi Changfa. Rating increased."

Wang Xuan was stunned when he heard this.

Cheating players?

Yu Jinghong? Yu Qingtian? Shen Chenzhou?

"So, the methods the Royal Clan used to boost their strength were considered cheating by the logic of the Heavens Tower?"

Wan Zhenshan? Yan Daping? Qi Changfa?

The three at the bookstore entrance?

At the time, he had only thought those three were setting an ambush and seeking death, so he killed them casually without checking who they were. Now that the Heavens Tower mentioned it, he finally realized.

It turned out those three martial brothers from Secret of the Linked Cities had delivered themselves to his doorstep.

"Plot intervention evaluation: Rescued Ding Dian, changed his death script. Rating increased."

"Plot intervention evaluation: Changed Ling Shuanghua's death script. Rating increased."

"Plot intervention evaluation: Changed Di Yun's destiny. Rating increased."

"Plot intervention assessment: Shui Sheng's fate altered. Rating increased."

The mechanical voice paused for a moment, then continued.

"Calculating comprehensive rating..."

"Player Wang Xuan, final evaluation for the Secret of the Linked Cities world: SSS-rank."

"Commentary: Dominated the martial arts world for three hundred years, the Blood Blade slaughtered every enemy!"

"Distributing rewards..."

Several items appeared out of thin air in front of Wang Xuan, hovering in mid-air.

A card glowing with blue light, inscribed with "Heavens Tower Plot World Teleportation Card x10".

A card glowing with purple light, inscribed with "Heavens World Plot Card x10".

There were also two golden cards; one read "Designated Top-Tier Martial Arts Manual of the Heavens Tower Second Floor (Card)", and the other read "Designated Divine Weapon of the Heavens Tower Second Floor (Card)".

Finally, there was a hazy white orb of light that constantly shifted shape, with tiny, flowing runes faintly visible within it.

"Reward: Heavens Tower Hidden Authority, 0.5 percent."

"Congratulations to the player for passing the first floor of the Heavens Tower. Plot world memories retained. Note: Do not leak information about the plot world; violators will be erased!"

The Heavens Tower Plot World Teleportation Card was easy to understand literally. The next time Wang Xuan entered a Heavens plot world, he would no longer need to travel to the Heavens Tower to teleport through the gate. Regardless of where he was on the Origin Earth Star, he could use the card to enter the plot world directly. However, he had to be careful: the card could not teleport him to any plot world at will; it could only teleport him to the next floor's plot world. If the current plot world had not been fully cleared, he would not be able to skip floors.

The Heavens World Plot Card was likely a resurrection coin. Players had five opportunities to enter plot worlds, and possessing one plot card was equivalent to gaining an additional entry opportunity.

Wang Xuan only glanced at the martial arts and divine weapon cards before turning his attention to the Heavens Authority 0.5% reward. He studied it repeatedly, but the panel showed no reaction, displaying only cold text.

"Please select ten items from this world to bring out (excluding non-world items such as the Primary Storage Bag)."

A roulette wheel appeared before his eyes, containing nothing but a single Blood Blade.

Wang Xuan felt a bit helpless. In the Secret of the Linked Cities plot world, he truly had nothing to his name. He hadn't even taken the treasure from Tianning Temple, so he had nothing to choose from even if he wanted to.

"Blood Blade!"

As soon as he spoke, a curved Burmese saber flew out from the roulette wheel, featuring a golden dragon-head hilt and a pitch-black scabbard.

"Selection confirmed. There are no extra items for the remaining nine selections; selection process ended!"

"Teleporting back."

A flash of white light swept past.

"Heavens Tower, you cheated me out of nine selections..."

Wang Xuan felt his feet touch solid ground, and a cacophony of human voices exploded in his ears.

He opened his eyes to the familiar Tower Gate Plaza, but it was completely different from the last time he was here.

People, it was nothing but people.

The area around the plaza was packed with a dense crowd. Most were young, but further back were many older individuals, all craning their necks to look in his direction.

Wang Xuan was standing exactly at the fixed point where the tower gate teleported people out.

Now, this spot had become the focal point of the entire plaza.

Countless gazes fell upon him—some curious, some shocked, some envious, some jealous, and many filled with inquiry and scrutiny.

"He's out! That's him!"

"Wang Xuan! The one who killed the Royal Clan members!"

"He looks so young... is he really that fierce?"

"Nonsense, didn't you hear the world announcement? SSS rating! 'Dominated the martial arts world for three hundred years, the Blood Blade slaughtered every enemy!' Have you ever heard an evaluation like that before?"

"No... let alone SSS, even the Royal Clan and the Longevity Families haven't seen an SSS-rank evaluation in a long time."

"What kind of talent did he awaken to be able to kill Royal Clan members in a low-martial world?"

The buzzing of discussions grew loud, like a boiling pot.

Wang Xuan frowned; he hadn't expected such a grand reception upon his return.

But he quickly realized why.

Yu Jinghong, Yu Qingtian, and Shen Chenzhou—three members of the Royal Clan—had been killed by a bottom-tier player in a low-martial world.

This news had likely spread like wildfire.

The Royal Clan members were not a monolith; there was hostility and competition among them.

Since the Yu Clan and the Shen Clan had lost so much face, their rival Royal Clan members would certainly be happy to spread this news everywhere, the further the better.

As for the bottom-tier players...

Wang Xuan glanced at the excited, enthusiastic, and even worshipful gazes around him.

These people had been suppressed by the Royal Clan for too long. Suddenly, someone had emerged and cut down the high-and-mighty Royal Clan members—three of them, no less.

This feeling was probably similar to a corporate slave seeing someone fire their boss; even if they didn't dare to do it themselves, watching someone else do it felt satisfying.

Wang Xuan said nothing and began walking out of the plaza.

He had to leave this place first.

The crowd parted to clear a path, and no one dared to stop him.

His mind was occupied with something else now.

He had killed three members of the Royal Clan, forcing them out of the story world.

According to the rules of the Heavens Tower, death in a story world was not a true death; it was merely a forced ejection that caused mental trauma, requiring time to recover.

But those three people must have already returned to Origin Earth Star by now.

Wang Xuan touched the three storage bags in his pocket and the red, bound text on the panel before him.

Trouble was coming.

Origin Earth Star was a safe zone where the rules of the Heavens Tower suppressed players, preventing them from harming one another.

The Royal Clan could not do anything to him openly.

But what about in the shadows?

Resource blockades, information blockades, verbal deception... or perhaps, simply having him sent to another planet?

Wang Xuan's heart sank; he had to find a way.

As he pondered, he suddenly felt several distinct gazes land on him.

They were not curious, nor were they admiring.

They were scrutinizing, cold, and carried a condescending sense of evaluation.

Wang Xuan followed the sensation and looked over.

At the edge of the plaza stood several individuals in magnificent attire. There were both men and women, all of them striking and youthful, with a rune shimmering faintly between their brows. Within a ten-meter radius around them, not a single player dared to stand.

They looked at Wang Xuan with eyes devoid of much emotion, as if they were observing an... object.

Or perhaps, a "variable" worthy of attention.

Wang Xuan met their gazes.

Those people did not look away; instead, one of them slightly lifted their chin, revealing a smirk.

"Big Brother Wang Xuan, what level of talent did you actually awaken?"

Someone in the crowd finally spoke up, their voice loud, though it was impossible to tell who had said it.

As this question was asked, some players' eyes were filled with curiosity, but more players' expressions shifted as they quietly sized each other up in the crowd.

"Wang Xuan, don't make a sound, don't trust anyone, don't believe a word anyone says, go home!!"

A faint voice reached Wang Xuan's ear, as if someone were speaking directly into his ear canal.

It seemed he was truly "famous" this time.

Not only was he famous, but he had also become a "hot commodity" in the eyes of some, or perhaps... "trouble."

Wang Xuan walked out of the plaza in silence, looking back once at the tower gate that soared into the clouds.

He would have to wait five days before entering again.

During these five days, he had to lay low on Origin Earth Star.

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