Dungeon Entry Ticket
"That's it then. I can't possibly become his underling, so we'll just have to settle this." Lin Xu said calmly, "Let's see who uses their own methods."
He keenly sensed Zhang Meng's fluctuating emotions. "Don't worry, I've already allied with the Jiang Clan. There are many in Meng City who are dissatisfied with Chen Lingfeng; we're not fighting alone."
As they spoke, the three of them arrived at the narrow passageway beside the building. The underling stayed at the entrance to guard the passage, while Lin Xu turned around and looked at Zhang Meng.
"Brother Xu, I understand what you mean. With me keeping the Black Tiger Gang in check, there will definitely be no problems!" Zhang Meng's heart tightened, and he quickly expressed his support.
Lin Xu shook his head, and the Glazed Spirit Lamp in his hand flickered. Under Zhang Meng's astonished gaze, the candlelight turned into a tiny point of light. "Brother Xu, what is this...?" Zhang Meng looked at the Spirit Kindling nervously.
"You can think of the Dharma Seed as a seed of profession. As long as you accept it, you can open your Divine Aperture and become a Daoist!" Lin Xu said softly, but to Zhang Meng, it was like a thunderclap!
Master, Master, a mage is always a master.
Even in this era of extraordinary rise, spellcasting professions are inherently more noble than melee fighters!
Whether it's enchanted equipment, powerful spells, or even the dream of flying and teleporting, these are things that melee classes crave but cannot obtain, and things that magic-based classes excel at.
As someone on the fringes of the adventurer community, Zhang Meng was acutely aware of the gap between himself and a mage. If he hadn't been unwilling to settle for mediocrity, why would he have given up a permanent position?
In the end, he woke up from his dream in middle age and found himself a new government-affiliated job...
"Brother Xu, no, Master Xu! This... this Dharma Seed..." Zhang Meng gasped for breath, his eyes fixed blankly on the firefly-like Dharma Seed, "Can I have it?"
"Of course, but you should know that once you receive this Dharma Seed, there's no turning back." Lin Xu smiled faintly, his gaze sweeping over the subtle changes in his expression. "Born under my Dharma Seed, bound by my control, no thought of betrayal can escape my notice."
"Thump!" Zhang Meng immediately knelt down, pointing to the sky and swearing, "Master Xu, I, Zhang Meng, am your man, alive or dead. If I dare to betray you, may I be struck by lightning!"
"Okay, I've got that in mind!" Lin Xu nodded in satisfaction. "Don't resist, just focus and calm your mind!"
With a flash of light, the Dharma Seed passed through the forehead and entered the sea of consciousness.
Dark and chaotic, just like most people's, Zhang Meng's sea of consciousness was also shrouded in darkness. In fact, because he was a professional and his soul was stronger than that of ordinary people, his sea of consciousness was even more chaotic.
But then a ray of light entered his mind, illuminating this dark space. The candlelight projection transformed into a great sun, shining brightly upon thousands of people.
The flickering Divine Aperture was illuminated and fixed in a certain place in consciousness.
The next instant, the Dharma Seed transformed into a ray of light and rushed into it.
"Boom~"
A point of light appeared in the center of the sea of consciousness, which instantly spread out, forming the nascent sea of consciousness.
When Zhang Meng's chaotic consciousness re-formed, he immediately felt the difference within himself.
"My inner energy..." He blankly stretched out his hand, and with a thought Spirit Kindling flashed on his hand, burning like an illusory flame, causing the air to distort slightly.
With a thought, Lin Xu opened Zhang Meng's personal panel.
Monsters in the Spirit Realm have no awareness of hiding their attributes. You can generally tell most of the attributes of monsters of the same level. Those with eye techniques or detection skills can obtain more comprehensive information. However, intelligent life forms are different; they know how to hide their information.
"Very good, you are now a qualified Daoist priest, but it's not enough. You must practice the spells I teach you diligently." Lin Xu looked at his panel and nodded in satisfaction.
"Yes, Brother Xu!" Zhang Meng came back to his senses and bowed deeply with a solemn expression.
When he accepted the Dharma Seed, he realized that what Lin Xu said was not only true, but he had actually omitted the key points.
As a veteran among professionals, Zhang Meng may lack strength, but his understanding of the adventurers in the Spirit Realm far surpasses that of ordinary people.
Let alone spellcasters, even for ordinary warrior-type classes, the most basic skill book is worth tens of thousands of Dharma Coin.
Converted to RMB, that's hundreds of thousands of yuan, a sum only middle-class families can afford, and it would be a huge financial strain.
This is just a basic skill; if it were a cultivation technique, the price would be even more outrageous.
Without the support of the nation, it's safe to say that the vast majority of adventurers in the Spirit Realm would spend their entire lives stuck at the bottom, with no hope of advancement.
This Dharma Seed opened the Divine Aperture and even inherited a dark gold-level cultivation technique—a technique of this level that no one would sell, and even Zhang Meng, a veteran adventurer, had never heard of it!
"I remember four years ago, someone auctioned a purple-grade Dou Qi cultivation method on the Spirit Realm Forum. It ended up costing 730 million Dharma Coin. It was a dark gold-grade cultivation method..." Zhang Meng didn't dare to continue thinking about it. He suppressed the turbulent emotions in his heart, and his fear of the Chen Lineage's power vanished.
Watching the brimming Zhang Meng leave with his henchmen, Lin Xu's fingers traced the Glazed Spirit Lamp in his hand. "The seed in reality has been planted; it's time to return to the Spirit Realm."
He knew, of course, who Zhang Meng was and what kind of people the Black Tiger Gang were, but he didn't care.
Snakes have their paths, and rats have their ways. These people may be useless on the front lines, but they are perfectly suited for gathering intelligence, spying on secrets, and spreading rumors.
He's willing to give a chance if it's useful.
He subconsciously activated his Spirit Eye Technique and looked at the Source Fire enveloping him.
Even in reality, adventurers in the Spirit Realm are protected by the Source Fire and replenished through the workings of human Will of Civilization.
"The forum says that adventurers need to stay for more than a week after returning before they can re-enter the Spirit Realm, because replenishing their Source Fire takes time..." Lin Xu stared in confusion at the Source Fire surrounding him, which condensed into a phantom lamp. "But why is my Source Fire replenishing so quickly? It's almost fully restored in just one night?"
A strange feeling welled up inside him as he recalled his experience of opening the iron treasure chest the previous night.
Based on past experience, the loot from treasure chests is mostly related to evil spirits. For example, the corpse-guarding ghost last night was clearly the work of an ancient sorcerer, and the items from that treasure chest were also mostly related to sorcerers.
But the result was unexpected; it was a dungeon entry ticket, a special dungeon that would tempt even high-level adventurers.
In this era of extraordinary revival, what excites adventurers most is not priceless treasures and divine weapons, but a complete lineage of cultivation.
Currently, there is a consensus among adventurers worldwide that dungeon worlds are the easiest place to obtain complete loot.
This has led to dungeon entry tickets becoming extremely rare and valuable, far exceeding the value of blue-quality items.
"When did my luck start to improve?" Lin Xu pondered silently.
For the past 16 years, he has had average luck, neither encountering any dangerous Spirit Realm invasions nor winning any prizes or finding money.
Until the trial returns...