Jinshui Amusement Park

A high-end apartment in the wellness district, near the Public Security Bureau.

On a large bed covered with zodiac plushies, Guan Ya jerked upright. The last traces of sleep vanished in an instant.

"Yuanshi! Yuanshi!"

She shouted several times but got no answer. Anxiously scratching her head, she thought, Why is he so unlucky? How can that kid be so unlucky?

An ordinary Spirit Realm Walker might never encounter an S-rank in their entire life. They might encounter one only once, and that would be it.

But Yuanshi had just survived a bug-level trial mission, only to turn around and enter a multiplayer S-rank.

Why on earth had he chosen the name "Yuanshi Tianzun"? Could just anyone handle a name like that?

Guan Ya anxiously hung up and dialed Li Dongze.

"You wouldn't call me after work unless something happened. Let me guess..."

Li Dongze was about to demonstrate his trademark eloquence—witty yet elegant—when Guan Ya rudely cut him off:

"Yuanshi entered a dungeon. Jinshui Amusement Park."

"What?!" Li Dongze's voice shot up, all elegance gone.

Guan Ya heard a series of clatters over the phone. Squad Leader must have jumped up in a hurry, hit the table, and knocked things over.

"Oh, my God. My God..."

Li Dongze muttered the words over and over, his mind in chaos.

Of course the thing he feared most had happened. An S-rank had appeared in a multiplayer dungeon for the Transcendent Stage. Whether it was Centurion Fu or Li Dongze, they had given Zhang Yuanqing the old guide with one thought in mind: better safe than sorry.

Just in case.

Who could have guessed the kid would actually enter an S-rank dungeon?

At that moment, Li Dongze recalled once more the fear and unease he had felt under the thumb of Sheling Tunnel.

Li Dongze took a deep breath, forcing down his surging worry and agitation, along with the overwhelming urge to curse in the least elegant way possible. Then he said quietly:

"I understand.

"I'm just as worried as you are, but neither of us can help him. All we can do is pray that he isn't short-lived, and wait for dawn."

Dungeons at the Transcendent Stage didn't take too long to clear, because Spirit Realm Walkers of this level still needed to eat, drink, and take care of other necessities. If all went well, they could clear a dungeon within twenty-four hours.

If not, it meant they had died inside.

That was why the forum post dared to claim those official Walkers had already perished.

"Got it." Guan Ya sighed and hung up.

She threw herself onto the soft bed, arms and legs spread wide as she stared blankly at the ceiling.

Her purple silk nightgown clung smoothly to her figure, outlining her gentle curves. The hem barely covered her thighs, leaving her long, pale legs on display.

"This is so annoying..."

She murmured under her breath.

Li Dongze hung up and sat in silence for a few seconds. Then he lit up his phone screen and called Centurion Fu. When the young centurion had given him the guide, he had casually told Li Dongze to notify him if Yuanshi Tianzun ever entered the Spirit Realm.

Fu Qingyang had recently been run ragged by the Black Impermanence incident, yet he still found time to keep tabs on Yuanshi. That was how much he valued him.

At the villa.

On the open-air balcony, Ling Jun lounged curled up in a single armchair, dressed in relaxed, casual clothes. A laptop rested on his knees.

He lifted his eyes from the screen to look at Fu Qingyang across from him, then sighed.

"Elder Sun told me that the revived boss was the Lady of Three Paths Mountain from the Mountain God Temple in Sheling Tunnel. She went on a killing spree in a Night Wanderer Spirit Realm, causing the power of a higher-level entity to leak out and invade some lower-level dungeons, changing them.

"Alas, the fact that she can travel between Spirit Realms means her level is higher than we imagined."

Fu Qingyang held a stemmed glass and took a sip of the crimson liquid. He said mildly:

"What does Taiyi Sect plan to do? I gave Uncle Sun the information about the Mountain God Temple right away. You should have been prepared."

Ling Jun shook his head.

"We can't do anything about Spirit Realms whose difficulty has already changed. We can only hope the Night Wanderers clear their dungeons as soon as possible and provide us with guides. Taiyi Sect has plenty of talented people, and there are also many skilled independent Night Wanderers.

"As for the Lady of Three Paths Mountain, it depends on whether my father and the elders can encounter her in a Spirit Realm and cut off the source. Or perhaps they'll come across a scenario at her level and use one Spirit Realm to counter another."

It was rare for a boss inside a Spirit Realm to travel between different Spirit Realms, but it wasn't unheard of. The authorities had observed the same phenomenon many years ago.

This was one of the factors that could alter a Spirit Realm dungeon.

Since the phenomenon was so rare, the authorities also suspected that traveling between Spirit Realms came at a steep cost, but that theory had yet to be proven.

"Anyway, I'm just a Beast King. Night Wanderer business has nothing to do with me." Ling Jun shrugged.

Just then, a Rabbit Girl with a slender waist, long legs, and a curvy figure walked over. She respectfully handed him a phone and said softly:

"Young master, you have a call."

Flower Prince sighed. "Money Prince is surrounded by beauties, with one in each arm. I'm envious."

Fu Qingyang ignored him. Seeing that Li Dongze was calling, he felt a stir in his heart and answered.

"Speak."

"Centurion, Yuanshi entered Jinshui Amusement Park."

Fu Qingyang's expression flickered with astonishment for an instant before returning to normal. His voice remained composed.

"Understood. Give me an update tomorrow morning."

After hanging up, he furrowed his brow. "The Night Wanderer under my command has entered Jinshui Amusement Park."

Ling Jun paused, then offered his condolences. "My sympathies."

Fu Qingyang shot him a cold look. "And what makes you think he won't come out alive?"

Ling Jun burst into laughter. "Then shall we make a bet?"

Fu Qingyang fell silent.

Ling Jun didn't press him. After thinking for a moment, he offered a serious analysis.

"He cleared Sheling Tunnel and has experience clearing an S-rank. According to the Spirit Realm's matching mechanism, Walkers like him are more likely to be assigned high-difficulty dungeons. But a few failures in multiplayer dungeons will lower his rating. Unfortunately, Jinshui Amusement Park is a death-type dungeon. There's no way out."

The scene before Zhang Yuanqing's eyes gradually came into focus. He found himself standing in the amusement park's plaza. The first thing he saw was a towering Ferris wheel, its enormous revolving structure turning slowly beneath a dazzling band of lights.

Below the Ferris wheel was an open-air bumper-car track. A giant swing and a pirate ship stood on either side of it.

Across from the Ferris wheel, a steel track rose and fell like a dragon. An empty roller coaster roared along it as if it carried passengers.

His gaze swept slowly across the amusement park. He saw a carousel playing gentle music, a drop tower that shot straight up and down, and a few scattered buildings with awnings.

He stood in the center of the plaza, beneath the deep night sky.

The amusement park blazed with light, its colors blending into a dreamlike spectacle. Every ride was running, and music played throughout. Though there wasn't a soul in sight, it felt as if people were everywhere.

Lonely yet lively, dreamlike yet horrifying.

"It's so beautiful..."

Zhang Yuanqing heard someone beside him murmur.

He turned toward the voice. The speaker was a young girl with long, straight black hair falling over her shoulders and a delicate, oval face. Her eyes were large and bright, reflecting the dazzling lights like the most beautiful jewels in the world.

Her figure hadn't yet filled out, but she had the fresh beauty of willow branches in early spring.

In an era when perms had entered households across the country, naturally straight black hair was a rare sight. Zhang Yuanqing was surprised by the girl's exceptional looks, but didn't linger on her. Instead, he looked toward the other Spirit Realm Walkers.

There were seven Spirit Realm Walkers in Jinshui Amusement Park this time.

They were looking around at their surroundings or gazing at the rides, their expressions grim.

Zhang Yuanqing understood their urge to curse.

He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, then called out:

"Everyone, I'm glad we made it to Jinshui Amusement Park. We'll have to face danger together in the task ahead, so even though we've just met, we're the closest of partners now.

"Why don't we introduce ourselves and get to know one another? I'll start. My name is Wang Tai. I'm an experienced Spirit Realm Walker. I've been through four solo Spirit Realms and seven multiplayer ones, and I once cleared an A-rank dungeon. Heh, I've always wondered how difficult an S-rank could be."

His calm demeanor and confident tone seemed to reassure the others. As he spoke, the panic in their hearts began to fade.

At a time like this, having a confident teammate could make everyone feel much safer.

Zhang Yuanqing was good at socializing, so he naturally knew how to lighten the mood and win people over.

He introduced only his name, not his occupation. Occupations were sensitive information, and mentioning one during introductions could make wary people refuse to team up.

Seeing Zhang Yuanqing take the lead, someone immediately chimed in:

"Anyone who can enter an S-rank Spirit Realm isn't a novice. If we work together, we'll definitely clear it. It's nothing to worry about. Name's Fire Demon."

The speaker was a young man with dyed red hair. He looked gaunt, with small, sharp eyes and sharply angled brows, giving off an impatient, coarse impression.

A Fire Master, everyone thought in unison.

A man in black pants and a black hoodie had a gloomy expression. He said flatly, "River God."

"My name is Xie Lingxi." The girl with long, straight black hair spoke softly, smiling sweetly and innocently.

A middle-aged man with a blank expression and few words raised a hand and introduced himself a little awkwardly. "Ashamed to be a Father."

What? Spirit Realm IDs were bound to be all sorts of strange, but this middle-aged guy's name was on another level. Zhang Yuanqing was full of complaints, and the others looked just as taken aback.

"What kind of name is that?" muttered a young man in bean-pole shoes and tight pants. Then he lifted his chin and announced, "My name is Great Sage Equal to Heaven. Just call me Great Sage."

Everyone looked toward their last companion. She was a mature woman, around thirty to thirty-five, with a full chest and rounded hips. Her lips were painted a vivid red, and her eyes wore a subtle smoky shadow, making her look alluring and seductive.

She was the picture of a woman in her prime.

Fire Demon and Great Sage Equal to Heaven kept sneaking glances at her. River God in the black hoodie wore a gloomy expression, while Ashamed to be a Father listened attentively, looking like an honest man.

She smiled brightly and said, "My name is Xi Shi."

Her eyes swept over Zhang Yuanqing, glimmering as she spoke in a tone that was half coquettish, half ingratiating. "Little brother, you'll look after me, won't you?"

You're older than my aunt. Xi Shi? What an over-the-top name. Aren't you worried you can't live up to it? Zhang Yuanqing thought, while his face brimmed with heroic confidence.

"Don't worry, we're teammates. I'll look after everyone."

At the same time, he had formed an initial impression of her. She was a woman who knew how to use her feminine charms to her advantage.

After the introductions, the awkwardness between them eased a little. Zhang Yuanqing took the opportunity to seize the initiative.

"S-rank dungeons are full of danger. Why don't we discuss things before it arrives?"

Nobody objected. Xi Shi's eyes swept across them as she asked sweetly:

"Are any of you from an official organization? I heard something unusual happened at Jinshui Amusement Park and its difficulty changed. It would be great if someone had the old guide."