Spirit Realm

Li Dongze chose his words carefully.

"The Spirit Realm is a supernatural force that science currently cannot explain. We've been trying to analyze it and understand it, but we still don't have a complete understanding of it. The Spirit Realm exists within reality, yet is separate from it. Only those who are chosen can enter."

"And the way it chooses people..." He took a sip of wine and smiled. "You should have experienced that yourself."

"That card?" Zhang Yuanqing responded at the right moment.

Li Dongze nodded slightly.

"It's called a Role Card. Anyone who obtains one will receive a trial mission. Passing the trial grants them a corresponding profession, along with its skills and traits.

"We still haven't figured out how the Spirit Realm chooses Walkers, and the way it issues Role Cards isn't fixed, either. Sometimes a card appears inside your body; sometimes you pick one up by the roadside; sometimes you accidentally click a link online.

"Completing the trial mission is only the beginning. If Spirit Realm Walkers want to level up and grow stronger, they have to keep accepting missions and entering the Spirit Realm. But you don't need to worry. Missions don't appear too often, and not every Spirit Realm scenario puts your life at risk. On the contrary, some of them can be quite interesting.

"Take me, for example. I'm a level-three Scout. For the past two years, I've entered the Spirit Realm once a month, but only once every three months has it been a solo instance. I nearly died in one of those. The rest were multiplayer instances, which are relatively safer and more interesting. Heh. If you want supernatural powers, you have to pay a price."

Li Dongze paused to give Zhang Yuanqing time to ask questions.

"So, they're like game dungeons?" Zhang Yuanqing offered.

Li Dongze smiled.

"I like talking to young people like you. You understand things quickly and are eager to try new things."

After praising him, he nodded.

"That's right. It's like playing a game. The Spirit Realm is made up of dungeons. Some are solo, while others involve teams or player-versus-player battles. Solo dungeons are the most dangerous, with the highest mortality rate.

"Multiplayer dungeons are relatively better. Some are lethal, while others are punitive. The latter only deduct a certain amount of experience."

Zhang Yuanqing asked, puzzled, "Why do solo dungeons have the highest mortality rate?"

Li Dongze thought for a moment. "In multiplayer instances, you'll encounter Spirit Realm Walkers from other professions. But a solo instance is tailored to your own profession. Take Scouts, for example. At the Transcendent Stage, their abilities are Insight, tracking, and analysis.

"So, the three solo instances I've experienced involved playing a detective and solving a case, hunting down criminals in the jungle while they hunted me in turn, and surviving in the wilderness. Also, every profession has different Spirit Realm dungeons at the Transcendent Stage and the Saint Stage."

My profession is Night Wanderer, and I got a supernatural-horror dungeon. Phew, thank goodness there are multiplayer dungeons, or I'd have pissed myself in the Spirit Realm sooner or later. Do the dungeons change at the Saint Stage? Zhang Yuanqing listened and nodded.

"Did Lei Yibing go missing because he entered the Spirit Realm?" Zhang Yuanqing asked gravely.

He desperately needed an official's confirmation to verify his guess. If Brother Bing had entered the Spirit Realm, then things weren't that bad yet.

Li Dongze thought for a moment before answering.

"After Lei Yibing went missing under mysterious circumstances, the officials at the Hangzhou police station took over the case. Their conclusion was that he had died in the Spirit Realm."

Zhang Yuanqing felt his heart stop for a moment. Anxiety and panic surged through him, impossible to suppress. "Why?"

Li Dongze explained, "Because too much time has passed. A normal Spirit Realm dungeon lasts at least a few hours at the Transcendent Stage, and at most a day or two. Lei Yibing has been missing for four days. The Transcendent Stage covers levels one through three."

"What about beyond the Transcendent Stage?"

"I'm not sure, but there should be longer dungeons."

Maybe Brother Bing is a powerful Spirit Realm Walker. Zhang Yuanqing could only console himself that way.

At this point, there was nothing Zhang Yuanqing could do about Brother Bing's disappearance. He lacked both the ability and the knowledge to help.

By comparison, joining the official organization and then finding a way to save himself was the most important thing right now.

"Oh, right. Before I introduce you to the official organization, there's one more important thing." Li Dongze took a sip of wine to moisten his throat. "What's your Moral Value?"

"Sixty points. That's the starting value," Zhang Yuanqing answered honestly.

Li Dongze nodded. "For a newbie like you, Moral Value is the biggest pitfall. Make sure you remember that."

"Why do you say that?" Zhang Yuanqing asked without hiding his confusion.

"Do you remember the note under Moral Value?"

I do. It told me to be a good person. Zhang Yuanqing almost put on Andy Lau's face.

Li Dongze grew serious.

"The starting value is sixty. If it drops below that, the Spirit Realm's punishment mechanism will be triggered. It'll report your location to every Spirit Realm Walker in your city and issue a mission to eliminate you."

Zhang Yuanqing gaped and blurted out,

"Does that mean I can never do anything bad for the rest of my life?"

I mean, I'm not saying I want to do bad things. But being a saint sounds exhausting.

Also, what's the standard for measuring Moral Value? If things like jerking off or looking at porn count as moral decay, I'm done for.

Zhang Yuanqing didn't dare ask. They weren't that familiar yet, and he didn't want to leave a bad impression on his future boss.

Li Dongze laughed, apparently enjoying the look on a newbie's face. He explained leisurely,

"You don't need to be so nervous. Based on our observations, stealing, robbery, and assault cost a Spirit Realm Walker one to five points of Moral Value, depending on the severity. Murder costs ten points. If an act causes serious consequences, such as multiple deaths or injuries, the deduction depends on how severe it is.

"As for private moral failings, those don't affect your Moral Value. And just as Moral Value can be deducted, it can also be accumulated. That's why you should be a good person."

This mechanism sounds like it was deliberately designed to restrain Spirit Realm Walkers. But why does the Spirit Realm want to restrain them?

Morality and law are both things humans created to maintain order. Other living creatures in nature don't need them.

In other words, unless the Spirit Realm is on humanity's side, the existence of Moral Value doesn't make much sense.

But the Spirit Realm is a supernatural phenomenon.

Zhang Yuanqing instinctively felt that this restriction was unreasonable. But since Li Dongze hadn't explained it, he probably didn't know the reason either.

From their conversation so far, it was clear that the official organization had limited knowledge of the Spirit Realm.

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly understood. "I see. No wonder it's such a big pitfall for newbies. So how do you accumulate Moral Value?"

Newbies often used their newfound supernatural powers to do things they'd wanted to do but couldn't before, such as making money.

And the quickest ways to make money were all written in the criminal code.

What else? Hmm, I wonder if supporting poor young women lowers your Moral Value. By the Spirit Realm's standards, would that count as a private moral failing or as breaking the law?

Zhang Yuanqing didn't dare ask. They weren't familiar enough yet, and he didn't want to leave a bad impression on his future boss.

"Accumulating Moral Value is just as easy as losing it. Do good deeds. In fact, Spirit Realm Walkers in many Evil Professions are keen on charity and donations, because that's the fastest way to accumulate Moral Value. As long as you have enough money, you can kill people without restraint." Li Dongze let out a chuckle.

"Pretty ironic, isn't it? You never know what kind of people those philanthropists are behind closed doors. Even more ironically, human lives can be measured in money. That's how things work in reality, and it's how they work in the Spirit Realm.

"Also, Spirit Realm Walkers don't lose Moral Value for killing one another."

Once Zhang Yuanqing had started to digest this information, Li Dongze continued.

"Next, let's talk about the official organization.

"Our official organization is called the Five Elements Alliance. It's made up of five major factions: the Hundred Flowers Society, the White Tiger Corps, the Red Fire Gang, the Water God Palace, and the Central Court. Each faction represents one of the five professions: Wood Demons, Scouts, Fire Masters, Water Ghosts, and Earth Monsters."

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help thinking, Why is the official organization made up of nothing but monsters and demons?

"Besides the Five Elements Alliance, there are a few other organizations with official backing. I'll send you their information later." Li Dongze ran his fingers over his wineglass as he spoke.

"The Five factions within the Five Elements Alliance formed their alliance within the last twenty years. Before that, they operated independently and didn't get along very well. It has to do with the interactions between the five elements, as well as differences in the habits of each profession."

Li Dongze took a sip of wine and shrugged. "Take those Wood Demons in the Hundred Flowers Society, for example. They're a bunch of extreme environmentalists and members of animal protection societies. Good grief, they actually tried to get the Five Elements Alliance headquarters to ban members from eating dog meat. Even God isn't as ridiculous as they are. Every time I see their sickening, animal-loving faces, I want to kick them hard in the ass with my leather shoes."

Li Dongze went on to harshly criticize the four professions besides the White Tiger Corps.

This gave Zhang Yuanqing a fairly clear impression of the Five Elements Alliance's other factions. There was the Red Fire Gang, who would rather throw a punch than say a word, and the Water God Palace, whose members were gloomy and liked cultivating viruses and bacteria.

Then there was the Central Court, whose members were land barons engaged in real estate and mining.

"Only the Scouts of our White Tiger Corps are wise, calm, and decisive. Ours is the perfect profession." Li Dongze concluded.

Zhang Yuanqing thought, Do the other four factions agree with you?

"Heh, the more we talk, the more it sounds like a game, doesn't it? Some people in the Five Elements Alliance even call the Spirit Realm a 'game server.' Spirit Realm Walkers have character panels and items, and they have to complete missions. Each Spirit Realm is like a dungeon. There are different professions, too. The Red Fire Gang are reckless and impulsive, and they love preaching violence. They're like berserkers. The Water God Palace can control water, so they're water mages. The Hundred Flowers Society can raise pets and treat the sick and injured, so they're priests and summoners. The Central Court are tough as nails, the typical tanks."

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't resist teasing him, either.

"So are you Scouts the eyes that cost seventy-five gold a pop in games?"

Li Dongze froze. He couldn't help tightening his grip on the handle of his cane, his expressionless face unchanged.

"If I were a Fire Master from the Red Fire Gang, I'd have already smashed your dog's head in with a stick."

"Sorry!" Zhang Yuanqing promptly apologized.

After the joke, the atmosphere between them grew more relaxed. Li Dongze smiled.

"Once Scouts pass the Transcendent Stage, they gain extremely strong solo-combat abilities. I'm not bragging when I say this is a nearly perfect profession.

"Of course, among the orthodox professions, Night Wanderers are widely considered the strongest. I mean orthodox professions, not Evil Professions. Even we Scouts have to admit that Night Wanderers are a little more perfect than we are."

Huh? Night Wanderers are that strong? Can they take on ten people at once? Zhang Yuanqing's heart leapt. "Could you tell me about the Night Wanderer profession?"

Li Dongze laughed, but understood the young man's admiration for the strong. He said,

"In the early stages of the Transcendence Realm, Night Wanderers already have formidable assassination abilities and impressive explosive power. They can also communicate with souls, refine corpses, and control spirits. They have a wide range of skills and are powerful in combat.

"However, Night Wanderers are extremely rare. At present, the Songhai City branch doesn't have a single one. That's because Songhai has very few Night Wanderer Trial Spirit Realms. Also, Taiyi Sect in the Capital keeps recruiting Night Wanderers from all over the country."

At this point, he naturally asked his new employee about his profession.

"What's your profession? I hope you're not a Fire Master. I hate rude, hot-tempered young people the most."

P.S. The update time in the morning is between nine and ten, and the evening update is between ten and eleven. That's how it'll be during the public release period. It might change later; I'll let you know then.