Star City Academy.
9 PM.
After carefully adjusting his attire in front of the mirror to ensure he was fully covered, Feng Qi slung his backpack over his shoulders, left his dorm room, and headed downstairs.
The night sky was clear, with the crescent moon hanging high. The willow branches by the lake swayed gently in the night breeze.
Taking out his phone for a quick glance at the time, he walked straight toward the academy's main entrance.
After greeting the security personnel, he left Star City Academy.
An hour later, Feng Qi arrived at a café in the eastern district of Star City and stepped inside.
"Qi-ge, over here!" Lin Ran's voice called out.
Turning toward the source of the voice, Feng Qi saw Lin Ran, Mu Qing, and Lü Yue already seated.
Taking a seat next to Mu Qing, he placed his backpack in front of him.
"Qi-ge, we're all set. Did you bring the gear?" Lin Ran asked in a hushed voice.
"What gear?"
"Masks, of course! Since this is a covert operation, we need disguises!"
Hearing this, Feng Qi unzipped his backpack, revealing four masks inside—Sun Wukong, Tang Seng, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing.
Lin Ran: "…"
"Could you not have picked something more intimidating? Wearing these makes me feel like a complete fool!"
"I swung by the commercial district after dinner. There are only four of us in this operation, and these masks seemed fitting. Besides, they do the job of concealing our identities."
"Fine, then I'll take Sun Wukong."
"Suit yourself."
As they chatted, time passed quickly.
Mu Qing would occasionally add a few words, while Lü Yue maintained his usual cold expression. According to Lin Ran, Lü Yue must have been a debt collector in his past life, carrying an air as if the whole world owed him money.
With Tiger Soul Research Institute's situation resolved, Feng Qi was ready to launch an offensive against the domain weak tribes within Star City.
If he wanted to control the Domain Weak Tribe Alliance, the first step was to demonstrate strength, making their leaders recognize his power.
Only then would he have the leverage for negotiations.
Brutal suppression might seem crude, but in the law of the domain world, strength dictated everything.
Only by instilling fear could he set the terms.
Back then, the Mist Lord had used the classic approach—strike hard first, then offer incentives.
Just when the Domain Weak Tribe Alliance began to feel that Star City had become too dangerous and started considering dissolving the alliance, the Mist Lord stepped in with an enticing offer, promising resources and benefits to the alliance leaders.
This move allowed the Mist Lord to easily take control of the alliance's missions and intelligence network.
Instead of crafting a complicated plan, copying the homework of a proven method was clearly the simpler and more effective approach.
11 PM.
Leaving the café, Feng Qi and the others headed toward their destination.
With the New Year approaching, the night air was crisp, and the streets were mostly empty.
Only the 24-hour automated cleaning robots moved along their designated routes, their flickering lights adding a faint glow to the deserted streets.
After thirty minutes, Feng Qi led the group into a dark alleyway with no streetlights.
Walking further in and turning a corner, they arrived in front of a bar.
A neon sign flickered above the entrance, displaying the name—"End of the World Bar."
Beneath it was a detailed description of the bar's unique offerings, ending with a bold warning message—
[This is a members-only establishment. Non-members are prohibited. Membership requires a referral from an existing member!]
Feng Qi was all too familiar with this place.
In the previous timeline, this was where his fishing operation had been carried out, ultimately luring out the Night Shadow Clan.
Now standing at the bar entrance, Feng Qi removed his backpack and took out four masks, distributing them to Lü Yue, Lin Ran, and Mu Qing.
After putting on his own mask, Feng Qi turned to Lü Yue, who was now wearing the Tang Seng mask—
"Lü Yue, you handle lookout duty at the entrance."
"Understood."
Lü Yue didn't waste words and immediately took his position outside.
Feng Qi then led Lin Ran and Mu Qing inside the bar.
Walking down the dimly lit corridor, they arrived at a sturdy iron door at the end.
Feng Qi reached out and knocked on the door.
After a few seconds, a small metal peephole slid open, revealing a pair of vigilant eyes scanning them.
"What do you want?" A hoarse voice asked.
"No shit, who comes here for nothing?" Lin Ran retorted.
"Membership ID?" The voice asked again.
"112834," Feng Qi responded.
This ID was originally from the Night Shadow Clan—and now, it was proving useful.
"Wait a moment." The peephole closed.
A brief pause followed, and then the sound of gears turning echoed as the iron door slowly creaked open.
Standing inside the doorway was a towering man, over two meters tall, with a thick iron chain slung over his shoulder and a menacing expression.
Without speaking, he stepped aside, allowing them in.
Feng Qi immediately led Lin Ran and Mu Qing into the bar.
The moment they stepped inside, the deafening noise of the crowd filled their ears, a stark contrast to the quiet cold of the outside world. The bar was packed with humanoid domain warriors of various backgrounds.
Under the pulse of blaring music, some were gambling, some exchanging intelligence, while others drank alone in silence.
There were also many figures wearing masks, making them blend in effortlessly.
Everyone here was a desperate warrior staking their lives for the survival of their tribe. For the sake of profit, they were willing to risk everything—even plundering resources from other races.
In such an environment, enmities were easily formed.
Wearing a mask was both a safeguard for personal security and a protective measure for one's tribe.
Feng Qi led Lin Ran and Mu Qing to the bar counter and sat down.
His plan for tonight was simple—a blood-soaked suppression of this Domain Weak Tribe outpost.
But before that, he wanted to check the latest mission logs of the Domain Weak Tribe Alliance.
Perhaps he would find something unexpected.
"What'll you have?"
Behind the counter, a burly bartender—shirtless, his skin covered in twisting rune tattoos—glanced at them and asked.
Feng Qi noted that the bartender had changed since his last visit.
But that didn't matter.
This wouldn't affect the mission.
"Mission list."
The bartender nodded without hesitation, then performed a series of complex, showy movements before finally adding a drop of purple mist into three glasses of alcohol.
Once the drinks were mixed, the muscular man slid them forward.
Feng Qi picked up his glass and drank it in one gulp.
Seeing this, Lin Ran and Mu Qing followed suit, downing the purple liquid without hesitation.
As the drink settled in his stomach, Feng Qi closed his eyes.
His consciousness entered his spiritual sea.
A golden ocean stretched out before him, its vast expanse shimmering under a purple mist that slowly seeped in from above.
Gradually, the purple energy coalesced in the sky, unfurling like a scroll, revealing the contents of a mission list.
It was a detailed record of various assignments issued by domain factions, along with their corresponding rewards.
With a simple thought, Feng Qi could flip through the entries.
Compared to the previous timeline, his visit to this bar was five years earlier than the Mist Lord.
Naturally, the missions listed here were completely different from what the Mist Lord had once seen.
However, the mission categories remained the same—investigations, mercenary hires, assassinations, transportation jobs, and more.
What caught Feng Qi's interest the most, however, was the assassination list.
Targets typically fell into two categories—
Enemy domain forces.
Human geniuses.
To him, these human talents were prime candidates for recruitment into Dawn.
One of the names on the assassination list was a man named Luan Shaoyuan.
His research project focused on how to absorb the bloodline power of domain creatures.
Whether his research was truly viable didn't matter—what mattered was that certain domain factions saw it as a threat.
That was enough for him to be marked for death.
There were many similar cases on the list—brilliant minds targeted for elimination simply because their research posed a potential danger to domain factions.
Feng Qi wasn't surprised by this.
For example, in the previous timeline, if someone had claimed to be researching a method to break the Flesh Sacrifice Ritual, the Mist Lord would have eliminated them immediately—even if their research ultimately led nowhere.
Better to snuff out potential threats before they could grow.
As he continued scrolling, something caught his eye.
A specific mission.
His gaze sharpened.
Focusing on the entry, the mission details surfaced before him.
[Mission: Investigate the Origins of the Blue-Skinned Creature]
Attached Image: (Blue-Skinned Creature)
Mission Requirements: Investigate the origins of the Blue-Skinned Creature or provide intelligence related to it.
Mission Duration: Unlimited
Mission Reward: Minimum of three Miracle Bloodstones, with no upper limit.
Mission Description: …
Feng Qi immediately recognized the creature in the attached image.
Small frame, blue skin—it was a Blue-Skinned Assassin.
An investigation mission… on the Blue-Skinned Assassins?
This was unexpected.
According to all the intelligence he had gathered so far, the only faction actively researching the Blue-Skinned Assassins was the Psionic Race.
In the previous timeline, the Mist Lord had told him about a secret research base belonging to the Psionic Race, hidden in the sewers of Twilight City.
That base had ongoing experiments on Blue-Skinned Assassins.
This mission strongly suggested that the Psionic Race was the one who issued it.
There was even a chance that this exact same mission had been circulated in all five major cities, with their respective Domain Weak Tribe Alliances receiving copies.
But why?
Why was the Psionic Race investigating their own research subject?
He had no answers.
His current intelligence didn't cover this issue, so for now, he could only speculate.
To facilitate the investigation, the mission details included several recorded sightings of Blue-Skinned Assassins.
Among them, one particular incident left Feng Qi deeply puzzled.
Case #1223: A Blue-Skinned Creature Was Sighted Near Twilight City.
Description: The creature was seen peacefully coexisting with a human boy named Yuan Tai.
Further investigation confirmed that the two had formed a deep friendship.
Moreover, the Blue-Skinned Creature used a mysterious method to prolong Yuan Tai's life, rescuing him from what should have been a terminal illness.
Absurd!
Feng Qi had always known that Blue-Skinned Assassins possessed emotions, that they weren't just mindless killing machines.
He had witnessed their struggles and expressions in their final moments before death.
But his strongest impression of them was their suicidal determination to seize Miracle Items, throwing themselves into battle without hesitation.
Now, he was learning that a Blue-Skinned Assassin had actually befriended a human and even healed a critically ill child?
This completely contradicted the image he had of them.
His curiosity about their origins only deepened.
However, there was no way he could believe that Blue-Skinned Assassins were actually on humanity's side.
He had seen firsthand how ruthless they could be.
Whenever they appeared before him, they always attacked immediately—never any room for negotiation.
At that moment, a sudden theory flashed through his mind.
What if Blue-Skinned Assassins were actually human-made superweapons?
Perhaps they only attacked him because of the domain creature aura lingering on his body but wouldn't harm ordinary humans.
But the more he thought about it, the less sense it made.
Back when he had investigated the Tiger Soul Research Institute's classified records, he had found cases of Blue-Skinned Assassins attacking civilians.
Moreover, they had even attempted to assassinate Qin Shikong.
The Miracle Bloodstone found in the Old East Supply Zone had been snatched from a Blue-Skinned Assassin after a fierce battle.
All of these cases proved that they were not a hidden force protecting humanity.
But if that were true, then why did some of them form friendships with humans?
Feng Qi couldn't figure it out.
Maybe this was just an anomaly.
After all, traitors existed among humans—so it was plausible that a rogue Blue-Skinned Assassin had an exceptional case.
Still, one thing was certain—the Psionic Race took Blue-Skinned Assassins very seriously.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have issued a large-scale investigation mission.
Perhaps they feared that the power behind these creatures was too formidable.
Or maybe the Psionic Race wanted to claim the Miracle Items that the Blue-Skinned Assassins had collected.
Both possibilities were equally valid.
However, there was still far too little information about them.
If this timeline progressed smoothly, he would lead Dawn to raid the Psionic Race's underground lab in Twilight City.
There, he might find some answers.
And if his forces were strong enough, he might even exterminate the entire Psionic Race in Old Day City.
Brutal methods were sometimes the fastest way to extract valuable intelligence.
After flipping through the mission list for a while, the purple mist in his spiritual sea gradually dissipated.
Feng Qi opened his eyes.
Turning to Lin Ran, he saw that he was also slowly waking up.
Meanwhile, Mu Qing sat idly, spinning her glass in her hand, as if she had been awake for a long time.
"Didn't check the missions?"
Feng Qi asked as he looked at her.
Mu Qing shook her head.
"The mysterious force was completely absorbed before it could even reach my spiritual sea. I never saw any mission list at all."
Feng Qi: …
Hearing this, he was speechless.
The drink they had consumed contained no harmful energy and wouldn't have triggered any defensive reaction from her spiritual power.
So this wasn't about her mental defense capabilities—it was simply absorbed too fast.
This further proved how terrifyingly efficient Mu Qing's digestion ability was, even at a spiritual level.
Combined with her inhuman physical constitution, her defenses were practically impenetrable.
Just then, Lin Ran suddenly asked, "Can we start now?"
Feng Qi nodded, then turned to Mu Qing.
"Mu Qing-jie, I'll leave it to you."
Mu Qing stood up and walked to the center of the bar.
A misty jade-colored aura erupted from her body, shrouding her figure, while a violent gust swept through the bar, knocking over furniture and scattering loose objects.
Her eyes turned blood-red.
In that instant, it was as if an ancient beast had descended, towering over the world with its absolute dominance.
The domain warriors in the bar went pale, their expressions warping in terror as they stared at her.
It was like prey encountering the apex predator of the food chain.
They were paralyzed before the battle had even begun.
At a bloodline level, the pressure from Mu Qing's presence choked them, making it hard to breathe.
Her scarlet eyes gleamed, and after briefly recalling the lines Feng Qi had prepared, she slowly spoke.
"Starting now, we're going to play a survival game. Only a third of you will make it out alive."
Her lips curved into a sinister smile.
"So… start struggling to survive."
The moment she finished speaking, Mu Qing clenched her fist and slammed it into the ground.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupted.
The floor violently trembled, sending cracks spreading outward.
Chunks of debris and dust rained from the ceiling.
The sheer impact was so devastating that several weaker warriors nearby were instantly reduced to blood mist.
The rest, still standing, were frozen in pure horror.
The hunt had begun.