Willpower

Three days later, Journey, Lost City

A flash of light suddenly appeared, and Tang Ping and Luo Xiaoyu materialized side by side in the plaza in front of the City Lord's Mansion.

Tang Ping wore a sleek black outfit. The scabbard of the long sword at his waist gleamed with a dull metallic sheen, and the brim of his hat was pulled low, concealing most of his face and revealing only his sharply defined jaw.

Luo Xiaoyu wore a simple white battle suit, with a long spear strapped to her back, its tip gleaming coldly. Her outfit concealed her face as well, and her posture was straight as a pine. Even from her silhouette, she looked bold and spirited.

"Come on, let's head outside the city and test our skills." Luo Xiaoyu's voice came through the outfit's built-in sound module, tinged with anticipation.

The moment they left the city, the hot wind, laden with sand and gravel, swept over them again. Luo Xiaoyu didn't hesitate. She darted forward, snatched the spear from her back, and unleashed the full force of her Star Rank power!

"Boom!"

The spearhead, wrapped in brilliant energy, slammed into the ground. A tremendous shock wave sent yellow sand billowing into the air, forming a crater dozens of meters across.

Then she spun and swept her spear sideways. Its shadow flashed like a bolt of silk, and streaks of energy tore through the air, cleaving the dunes ahead in half. Yellow sand whirled everywhere, as if a miniature sandstorm had erupted.

At times, she channeled the power of her Domain, instantly gathering the surrounding sand into countless sharp blades that swirled around her before shooting into the distance, leaving behind a dense array of holes.

In just half an hour, the desert outside Lost City had once again endured a bout of "rampant destruction."

Fortunately, the area was already deserted, and water was extremely scarce. Aside from stirring up even more sand, the commotion had caused no real damage.

After smashing another small dune with her spear, Luo Xiaoyu stopped and planted the weapon on the ground. Her shoulders rose and fell slightly. She looked at the system panel on her retina, which remained completely unresponsive, and couldn't hide her disappointment.

Of the dozens of moves she had just performed, from basic spear techniques to Domain-fusion skills, not one had been missing from Journey's system records. Naturally, she hadn't gotten the unexpected reward Tang Ping had received earlier.

"Xiao Yu, it's fine." Tang Ping walked over and patted her shoulder, his tone teasing. "Your money is my money, and my money is still my money. So really, there's no difference between us~"

Luo Xiaoyu fell silent for a moment, then slowly raised her head and studied the man before her. His outline beneath the brim of his hat was still familiar, but the light around him seemed to grow brighter by the day.

To earn a billion Black Dragon Coins in such a short time—wealth that even a peak Star Rank powerhouse might not accumulate in a lifetime—while he was only at the fifth level of Planetary Rank...

Thinking back to the gossip in her family, her female cousins had all said she didn't know what was good for her. She had ignored the sons of Black Mountain's many prominent families and married an "ordinary man" from Earth instead.

But looking at things now, she really was Luo Xiaoyu, after all. Her eye for people was spot-on!

As she thought this, the disappointment in Luo Xiaoyu's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a tender glow. She stepped closer and gently took Tang Ping's hand. Her fingertips felt soft and smooth against his, and her voice grew softer. "Honey..."

Tang Ping instinctively glanced around. The desert stretched empty in every direction, with nothing but the wind howling. He lowered his voice, sounding uncertain. "Honey, out here in the desert... probably not, right? There's sand everywhere. If it gets in, it won't exactly be a pleasant experience..."

Luo Xiaoyu: "???"

The air froze.

The next second, Luo Xiaoyu's expression changed. Her slender, fair hand shot toward Tang Ping's waist, pinched a tender spot with pinpoint accuracy, and twisted hard!

"Hmph! My cousin was right. All you men think about is this kind of nonsense, day in and day out. Disgusting!"

"Ah~! It hurts, it hurts! Let go, let go!" Pinched by the horns, Tang Ping grimaced in pain and couldn't help shouting. The pain in his waist felt incredibly real—no wonder the game had a 100% simulation rate.

"Hmph!" Luo Xiaoyu gritted her teeth and twisted several more times before finally letting go with an indignant huff. She rubbed her wrist. "Come on. Show me the scenery around here. After that, I'll go back and cultivate."

Tang Ping rubbed his waist, speechless.

She was the one who had climbed on top of me first, and now she was acting disgusted with me? Wasn't that the classic case of beating up the cook after eating your fill? But seeing his wife puffed up with anger, he didn't dare argue. He could only nod and agree. "Sure. Whatever you say."

The desert stretched endlessly in every direction. Even if they got lost, it wouldn't matter—they could just use a return scroll to get back to Lost City. Easy as could be.

The two walked side by side through the desert, the yellow sand beneath their feet rustling with every step.

Golden dunes rolled one after another, stretching all the way to the horizon and merging with the glow of the setting sun in a magnificent panorama. Now and then, they spotted enormous whirlwinds dozens of meters across in the distance, sand caught up in the howling wind as it spun wildly between earth and sky, a terrifying spectacle.

After walking for about two hours, they unexpectedly came across a small oasis. Clear spring water gathered in a pool, and several unknown green plants grew nearby. The air was noticeably more humid.

"Perfect place to take a break." Tang Ping's eyes lit up. He led Luo Xiaoyu into the oasis, shed his outer battle suit, and jumped into the cool spring.

Luo Xiaoyu hesitated, then jumped in after him. The spring water washed over their skin, carrying away the heat. They splashed and played in the water, relaxed and carefree. It made for a pleasant dip together.

As the sun began to set, the two sat nestled together atop the highest dune.

The setting sun on the horizon looked like a giant fireball, its rays spreading in every direction as it painted the sky a brilliant orange-red. A few birds called from the direction of the oasis, and now and then they spotted desert beasts strolling lazily in the distance.

The sun slowly sank below the horizon, and a sky full of stars quietly appeared, brilliant as scattered diamonds on black velvet.

They sat there quietly, saying nothing, simply feeling each other's warmth and gazing at the starry sky until sleep overcame them. Then they fell fast asleep in each other's arms on the dune.

The next morning, Tang Ping woke first. The dune beside him had already grown cold.

Luo Xiaoyu was long gone. She had left him a message in his game inbox: "I went back to cultivate first."

Tang Ping smiled and put the message away.

Going with Luo Xiaoyu this time had thoroughly recharged him. At his current cultivation speed, he could now dedicate himself to hard training for half a year. But before going into seclusion, he needed to take care of Lost City's affairs.

Although the Universe Level big shot, Luo Hongguo, rarely got involved in management, Tang Ping couldn't afford to leave him with a bad impression. If Luo Hongguo said a few unkind words about him to Luo Feng one day, it would make it much harder for him to curry favor with Luo Feng in the future.

Actually, there wasn't much to take care of in Lost City.

As for managing the city, he logged into the game community and posted a recruitment notice. He offered a monthly salary of 6,000 Silver Blue Coins to hire an experienced player to manage things on his behalf. The requirements were simple: keep everything as it was, don't change the taxes or city defenses without permission, and contact him immediately if anything unexpected happened.

After all, apart from a mineral lode thirty miles east of the city that produced rare materials for Level Two Origin Force Battle Suits, this desert city had little more than a few unique desert beasts.

Those beasts posed little threat. To players, they were just low-level monsters that dropped materials and granted experience, so there was no need for him to worry about them.

After taking care of the city's affairs, Tang Ping set off for the mineral lode east of the city.

Thirty miles was no more than a short trip for him. From a distance, he saw a huge mine beneath the dunes. A squad of Planetary Rank guards in matching armor stood watch at the entrance, each one steady in bearing and sharp-eyed.

The moment they spotted Tang Ping, the guard captain led the others in dropping to one knee. Their voices were respectful and perfectly in unison. "Greetings, City Lord!"

Tang Ping walked over and gestured for them to stand.

Feeling the guards' genuine respect, he couldn't help but reflect.

No wonder some people were willing to lose themselves in the Virtual Universe for a lifetime. Everything here felt so real. Power, reverence, passion—which man didn't dream of "sleeping with beauties in his arms and waking to hold power over all under heaven"?

In this game, as long as you had strength and luck, you could make that dream come true with ease.

Led by the guard captain, Tang Ping entered the mine.

The entrance was fairly spacious, and numerous players and NPC miners were hard at work digging. Mine carts rolled back and forth, filling the place with activity.

But the farther in they went, the deeper and more shadowy the mine became. Only the miners' headlamps provided any light.

More unsettling still, a bone-chilling wind blew through the passage without letup, carrying an indescribable, sinister chill that pricked at the skin like needles. At the same time, an invisible mental force kept invading their minds, leaving them dizzy and disoriented.

"City Lord, the chilling wind and mental attacks deep in this mine are extremely strange. Even Planetary Rank powerhouses can't hold out for long near the outer tunnels, so no one has dared to mine anything beyond the surface deposits."

The guard captain explained in a low voice, "They say powerful elemental monsters sometimes spawn in this Cold Cave. The president once tried to venture deeper, but he was forced to turn back before he'd gotten very far."

Tang Ping nodded, understanding.

This mine had been captured during a great battle between the Million Legion many years ago, but because of its strange environment, it had instead become a useless place that no one dared to explore.

Yet Tang Ping keenly sensed that the strange conditions in this Cold Cave might serve another purpose.

"Wait here. I'll go in and take a look myself," Tang Ping instructed the guard captain.

"City Lord, please reconsider! It's far too dangerous in there!" the guard captain urged him.

"It's fine." Tang Ping waved a hand, then darted deeper into the mine.

He found a relatively spacious bend in the passage, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes.

The next moment, the bone-chilling wind swept over him again. The health bar on his retina began to fall slowly: -10, -10, -10...

Because he had chosen the 100% realistic experience, the cold wasn't just a change in numbers. It was real, bone-deep frost, as if even his blood were about to freeze solid.

At the same time, the sinister chill seeped through his pores and into his body. It felt as if an icy wire brush were scraping repeatedly across both his body and mind, making his whole body spasm with pain.

"It hurts! It hurts so much!" Tang Ping clenched his teeth. Sweat instantly beaded on his forehead, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

But he didn't stop. Instead, he circulated the Wind-Thunder Secret Canon, deliberately guiding the energy within him to fight against the chilling wind and mental force outside.

Soon, something even more terrifying came.

Boundless baleful energy surged toward him like a tide. In an instant, visions of mountains of corpses and seas of blood filled his mind. Countless wronged spirits howled and wailed, as if trying to drag his soul into hell. Then one hallucination after another followed.

The exhaustion of working late into the night in his previous life. The humiliation of seeing his family bullied. The bottlenecks and despair along the path of cultivation...

Tang Ping's consciousness teetered repeatedly on the edge of collapse. Several times, he wanted to quit the game outright, but he held fast to his resolve and resisted with sheer willpower.

At last, the visions changed. Several voluptuous Alien Race beauties with stunning faces appeared before him. They wore revealing clothes, their eyes seductive, and they walked toward him step by step, offering sweet words and warm smiles, tempting him with every trick imaginable.

Tang Ping's lips curled slightly, and he thought to himself, So this is the lust test at last...

He took a deep breath, forced down the stirring in his heart, and let his mind settle into stillness, paying no attention to the temptation before him.

Time passed second by second. The wind in the mine grew fiercer, and the mental attacks grew stronger, but Tang Ping's will became ever more resolute amid such extreme pain and temptation.

Six hours later.

"Whoosh!"

Tang Ping's health bar dropped to zero, and his body dissolved into a beam of white light. Without hesitation, he chose to revive on the spot. A flash of light later, he reappeared at the bend in the passage.

He immediately opened his character panel, and his eyes blazed with delight:

[Realm: Planetary Level Five (250/1000)]

[Will: Planetary Level Six (605/1000) → Will +5!]

[Lifespan: 22/5000]

[Laws: Wind Domain (7777/10000), Thunder Domain (7777/10000)]

[Secret Art: Wind and Thunder Codex (1788/10000000)]

"Beautiful! That was so worth it!" Tang Ping clenched his fist, overjoyed.

He remembered clearly that in the world of Swallowed Star, willpower was the most important talent!

A powerful will could help someone unleash their potential in dire straits, persevere before a cultivation bottleneck, and even turn the impossible into the possible and change their fate!

He hadn't expected this seemingly useless Cold Cave to be such an excellent place to train his will! Unfortunately, the pain here was simply too terrifying. Ordinary people couldn't endure it. Probably only someone as tough as him would dare to grit his teeth and bear it.

Though he was in high spirits, the thought of the bone-deep pain he had just endured still sent a shiver through him.

In his previous life, he had complained every day about exhausting overtime and the pressures of life. But looking back now, that had been the best era in thousands of years of civilization: he had enough to eat, warm clothes to wear, meat at every meal, and no need to live in fear or face life-and-death crises.

Compared to this extreme agony, the hardships of his previous life were nothing.

He had never suffered so much before.

But when he thought about the future, once he became truly powerful—at least Immortal Level—he would have an endless lifespan. He could spend his days in lavish luxury, living in a drunken haze. He could have as many Alien Race beauties as he wanted and do whatever he pleased, truly enjoying the bliss of eternal life...

At the thought, the hesitation in Tang Ping's eyes vanished, replaced by a determined gleam. He gritted his teeth, dusted himself off, and charged deeper into the mine once more.

"For a beautiful future! What's a little pain? Bring it on!"