Saturday, 11:00 AM.
Zhang Yuanqing woke up with a yawn, his eyes still heavy with sleep. Ever since becoming a Nightwalker, he'd been unable to sleep at night, spending entire nights gaming. During the day, he felt listless, constantly yawning and dozing off.
Two days had passed since he'd inquired the soul that night. Li Dongze and Guan Ya had been frequently out, participating in the search for the Black Guard of Impermanence and his subordinates.
This had delayed Zhang Yuanqing's combat training.
Originally, according to Li Dongze's plan, Guan Ya was supposed to begin training Primordial in combat next. Given the Nightwalker's physical prowess, mastering the basics of combat in a short time wouldn't be difficult.
However, due to the Holy Grail and Roster incidents, the training had to be postponed, as the Second Team was severely understaffed.
Zhang Yuanqing had once asked Li Dongze about their never-seen teammates, but the Chief's expression immediately turned unnatural, as if hiding some unspeakable secret.
The perceptive Primordial Heavenly Venerable chose not to press further.
Meanwhile, Wang Qian from the Palace of Ceasing Slaughter had unexpectedly agreed to become his informant, showing remarkable cooperation and awareness.
Following the Ou Xiangrong incident, Songhai University's regulations had tightened dramatically. The university now prohibited resident students from leaving campus at night, effectively suspending the planned social gathering.
After a quick wash, Zhang Yuanqing returned to his room to play with the Infant Spirit while waiting for his grandmother to finish preparing lunch.
At that moment, he was preparing for Little Goofball's first birthday celebration. After reaching 50% mastery, the purity and density of his Lunar Power had increased significantly. He then discovered that Infant Spirits nourished by Lunar Power experienced a slight boost in intelligence.
Zhang Yuanqing arranged textbooks around the adorable Infant Spirit: mathematics on the left, Chinese literature on the right, and English and physics in front and behind.
"Your Master is a man of unparalleled talent and vast knowledge. You can't fall behind. Choose one."
Little Goofball blinked his dark, round eyes, tilting his head in contemplation for a long moment before finally understanding Zhang Yuanqing's meaning. He then frantically paddled his limbs, crawling toward the physics textbook.
"Oh, a promising child!" Zhang Yuanqing's face lit up with a smile.
But just as his smile bloomed, the little one bypassed the physics textbook and latched onto the PS5 game console. Unable to grasp the solid object, he tumbled to the ground with a thud.
"You worthless thing! You're nothing like me!" Zhang Yuanqing scolded angrily. "When I was your age, I could already compose poetry in seven steps!"
Sigh! He sighed in disappointment. To enhance the Infant Spirit's intelligence and nurture him into a prodigy, he needed to master the Nightwalker's ghost-rearing skills.
That meant leveling up.
Judging by the timing, his second Spirit Realm Mission was approaching.
After lunch, Zhang Yuanqing went to his bedroom, poured warm water into a teacup, opened the bedside table drawer, and retrieved a white medicine bottle.
"Damn it, I've been so busy lately I forgot to take my medicine. I'm two days overdue now," he muttered, shaking the bottle to pour a few small pills into his palm.
Suddenly, Zhang Yuanqing's expression froze.
Wait a minute... I'm two days overdue, so why hasn't my old illness flared up?
My condition has been steadily worsening, and the attacks should be getting more frequent, not delayed.
Could it be because I became a Nightwalker and my physical constitution changed?
"Come to think of it, I haven't had an attack since becoming a Nightwalker. Could I actually be cured?" He felt a surge of joy, but hesitant to believe it, he decided to test himself.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and visualized his father's blurry face in his mind.
After what felt like an eternity, his heart pounded once, his mental energy surged, and a cacophony of noise flooded his consciousness, accompanied by fragmented images resurfacing.
But in the next moment, the chaos transformed into order. The images coalesced, no longer fragmented.
No, it wasn't that the sounds and images had become orderly; rather, his brain's processing capacity had drastically improved.
He heard his uncle dancing in the living room to the tune of "Jianbing Guozi."
His aunt was watching TV in the bedroom, occasionally grumbling, "Too loud! Turn it down."
In the kitchen, his grandmother was washing dishes.
The bed downstairs creaked rhythmically. Analyzing the sounds, Zhang Yuanqing confidently deduced that the mistress was lying on her stomach.
His mind continued processing information:
Guan Ya always exudes an inexplicable confidence, and the Chief treats her with remarkable deference, unlike how he treats Wang Tai and me. When I mentioned the other team members, the Chief's expression was awkward and helpless. Musician Wang Qian's sudden change in attitude is suspicious; he was dismissive of me yesterday.
Little Goofball is unusually close to Aunt. Aunt, Aunt...
Just then, the bedroom door suddenly swung open, shattering Zhang Yuanqing's trance-like state.
"Let's go," Jiang Yu'er cooed. "Come shopping with me."
Today, she wore a knee-length pleated skirt, white sneakers, and a loose-fitting light blue top. Her sweet, innocent looks gave her a Forest Style vibe, making her appear particularly demure and charming.
This innocent appearance was a major reason Jiang Yu'er was such a hot commodity on the dating market.
Confident men found her beauty and demureness easy to control, while insecure men felt less intimidated by her.
Zhang Yuanqing stared blankly at his aunt, two streams of warm blood suddenly gushing from his nostrils.
Songhai Airport
In the underground parking garage, Fu Qingyang sat in his business car, waiting impatiently. Frowning, he dialed his assistant's number.
After the call connected, he asked in a deep voice, "Why haven't they come out yet?"
He had come to pick up someone from the airport. The flight had landed an hour ago, but his assistant still hadn't brought the person out.
Centurion Fu's time was precious; he couldn't afford to waste it on such trivial matters.
"Centurion," the assistant whispered, "he's... he's flirting with a beautiful woman and refuses to leave the airport. He says they need to 'deepen their connection.'"
A vein throbbed on Fu Qingyang's forehead. "Tell him," he said, "either he comes out on his own, or I'll go in and drag him out myself."
The assistant acknowledged and hung up immediately.
A few minutes later, the assistant led a young man into the Underground Parking Garage, heading toward the business car.
The young man wore loose, beige trousers and a light blue shirt. His clothes billowed gracefully as he walked, giving him an ethereal air. His features were handsome, his eyes half-closed with a perpetual smile, exuding a bone-deep laziness.
Approachable, indolent, harmless.
That was the impression the young man gave.
Fu Qingyang said coldly, "Truly worthy of the title 'Playboy Hua.' Women throw themselves into your arms wherever you go."
This "Young Master Hua," whose reputation rivaled Fu Qingyang's, lived up to his name as a true playboy. His father was the Taiyi Sect Lord, granting him both noble lineage and exceptional talent. Countless beauties flocked to his side, drawn to his charm and status.
Mere lust alone wouldn't have earned him a place alongside Fu Qingyang. This man was dubbed "Young Master Hua" because he truly understood women, earning him high praise within female circles.
Faced with mockery, Ling Jun smiled, his eyes narrowing. "Don't be so vulgar. Beauties are works of art, meant to be savored and understood slowly. Only through careful appreciation can their true beauty be discovered. This is elegance."
Fu Qingyang frowned. "Your 'elegance' wasted an hour of my time and delayed my urgent business."
"Brother Qingyang, life isn't just about work. There are countless beauties worth discovering," Ling Jun said with a smile, his eyes still narrowed. "I'm aware of the Eerie Eye Judge case and will assist you fully. My father is deeply concerned about his death."
"Why?" Fu Qingyang asked, his gaze fixed on Ling Jun.
"The judge died around the same time as the demon lord. Father suspects a connection between the two."
"Why is the Sect Lord so obsessed with the demon lord's death? Why is he so determined to find the Successor of the Demon Lord?"
"Because before the demon lord died, he left something very important in his Character Card."
"What is it?"
"I can only tell you that it represents the ultimate, the essence of the Spirit Realm."
润发商场,奶茶店.
Zhang Yuanqing, laden with shopping bags, settled into a seat, picked up his glass, and took a long, satisfying sip of iced milk tea, letting out a contented sigh.
He instantly felt revitalized.
The most exhausting part of shopping with his aunt wasn't the physical exertion, but the mental torment.
Fortunately, the sight of the young women's graceful figures helped alleviate his fatigue. As he sipped his milk tea, Zhang Yuanqing's mood brightened considerably.
He confirmed one thing: his strange illness had been effectively mitigated.
Not only had the frequency of his episodes decreased, but he could now trigger his old affliction more easily. Most importantly, the headaches and nosebleeds that followed his episodes had lessened.
Perhaps in the future, he could freely control his mental boiling state. Then he wouldn't need Wang Tai's help with writing his thesis anymore. Heh heh.
No, that's too unambitious. Zhang Yuanqing quickly banished the tempting thought from his mind.
"Ah, my salary this month isn't enough," his aunt lamented.
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at her dismissively. "When has your salary ever been enough? You're always spending your grandparents' money."
His aunt was still a trainee doctor, earning a pittance. Yet she never lacked luxury goods, most of her expenses covered by her grandparents.
The grandparents had substantial savings. Their eldest daughter was a successful businesswoman, and their eldest son had married a wealthy woman, so neither lacked funds. This left their savings to be squandered by their youngest daughter.
Jiang Yu'er pouted, feigning pitifulness. "Yeah, yeah, what can Auntie do? I'm useless at earning money, so I have to rely on my parents."
As they chatted, Zhang Yuanqing pulled out his phone and habitually logged into the official forum to see if there were any interesting posts.
The official forum served two main purposes: official announcements and information dissemination, and a platform for Spirit Realm Walkers from across the country to communicate, share information, and exchange intelligence.
In Zhang Yuanqing's view, browsing the forum was a quick way to expand his knowledge.
Soon, a post caught his attention:
Massive Surge of New A-Rank and S-Rank Spirit Realms for Nightwalker Class; Official Nightwalkers Across the Country Reported "Missing"