【Dungeon: Ghost City of Ultimate Bliss Opening Countdown: 73:56:21】
【Ghost King's Wedding: In ancient Siam, there are yakshas. Fierce in appearance, clad in silver armor, and massive in stature, they control a gate to the Underworld, suppressing the yin and yang for a thousand li, and reside in the Ghost City of Ultimate Bliss.
Now, evil heretics are making trouble, occupying Ultimate Bliss, bullying the innocent, forcing mortal women to be their wives, and devouring souls to practice their evil arts.】
【Recommended Cultivator Challenge Realm: Qi Refinement Level 1 – Foundation Establishment Level 3】
【Dungeon Clear Reward: Nether Cold Fire (Gold Reward) (Chance to drop upon slaying the Ghost King)】
In her hotel room, Nan Zhi felt relieved after reading the text on her system panel once more.
She never did anything that yielded no returns.
Although the three types of spirit fires Ao Mingzhu had found could refine the Jiao-dragon bones, they did not meet her expectations.
On the long path of cultivation, a cultivator would be accompanied by spirit fires throughout their entire life—for refining pills, crafting artifacts, and even defeating enemies. Therefore, they had to be extremely cautious when choosing a spirit fire.
Although Buddha Fire, earth fire, and Huodou fire were rare and precious, they could not compare to the divine fires of the Heaven and Earth grades.
Thus, as soon as she arrived in the mortal realm, Nan Zhi used a Wish Mission Scroll and, as expected, received the quest to clear the Ghost City of Ultimate Bliss.
Who would have thought that while divine fires were extremely hard to find on the Four Provinces Continent, a rare treasure belonging to the Ten Great Heavenly Fires like the Nether Cold Fire would be hidden in this tiny dungeon within a secret realm fragment in the real world?
This time, she had clearly caught the authorities completely off guard.
Discussions, meetings, and deployments—within a hasty half a month, they had finalized two batches of young practitioners to participate in the competition for the secret realm.
If the authorities had followed their past style of doing things, they would have most likely concealed the news of the secret realm's appearance in Tailande first, and then made plans slowly.
But Nan Zhi could not afford to wait that long.
As the spiritual tide gradually rose, more and more secret realms would appear. Since the inheritance of Blue Star's practitioners was currently severed, she had to push the authorities to raise their overall cultivation level.
An environment that was too comfortable could not nurture cultivators who dared to fight against the heavens.
Cultivators who had been accustomed to peace since childhood, even if they stepped onto the path of cultivation, could never compare to the practitioners in the game world in terms of mental fortitude, perseverance, and patience.
Many of them probably wouldn't even survive the lightning tribulation, let alone the heart demon tribulation or longevity tribulation they would face in the future.
The Great Dao held countless opportunities, and cultivators had to fight for them.
Fight against heaven, fight against earth, fight against man!
And the young cultivators traveling with her this time were the seeds Nan Zhi was sowing to deal with the future world-ending calamity.
When secret realms appeared in the future, regardless of how other countries fared, Huaxia's cultivators would definitely have the strength to fight and the power to turn Huaxia into the only stable sanctuary on earth.
...
“Knock, knock, knock.”
A knock sounded on her door. Nan Zhi snapped out of her thoughts and opened it, only to find Hu Manni, Lyu Dongfang, and Liu Guansheng standing there.
Seeing Nan Zhi open the door, the three of them stood there holding large bags and small packages, nudging each other before finally speaking up shyly:
“Hehehe...”
“Hello, Little Aunt...”
“Little Aunt, would you like some late-night snacks? These are specialties from the Manggu night market: raw marinated seafood, hot and sour shrimp, stir-fried rice noodles, and durian Thai-style treats, hehehe.”
For this expedition, the team was divided into two groups: Team One led by Qin Yue, and Team Two led by a military representative.
Unfortunately, Hu Manni, Lyu Dongfang, and Liu Guansheng, as civilian representatives, had been assigned to the military team.
Nan Zhi glanced behind the three of them and immediately knew they must have snuck up here behind Qin Yue's back. Not annoyed at all, she invited them inside.
...
The delicacies of the Manggu night market were world-famous.
The raw papaya salad was sour, refreshing, and delicious, with bird's eye chilies scattered amidst the green shreds, making one's mouth water with just a single bite.
The lemongrass grilled fish had a unique aroma; the skin of the fish, roasted over charcoal, was crispy, while the meat inside was snow-white and tender.
Raw shrimp only the size of a pinky finger were served in disposable paper cups, marinated with various seasonings and fresh mint leaves. With one bite, one could feel the springy texture of the shrimp meat.
As for the stir-fried rice noodles, durian cakes, basil stir-fried pork, coconut sticky rice, and lemongrass roasted chicken, they were needless to say. There were also various tropical fruits that were perfectly ripe, sweet as honey, bursting like bags of sugar water in the mouth.
Perhaps because they were enjoying delicious food, or perhaps because they were close in age and had common topics of interest, they found it much easier to discuss matters of cultivation.
“Little Aunt, our admiration for Ma Guniang is like a torrential river flowing endlessly... You have no idea, during the Yellow River Trial last time, if it weren't for her, I would've died right there!”
Liu Guansheng observed Nan Zhi as he ate, offering cautious flattery:
“And that spell that brought Spring's Return and diverted the Yellow River—holy crap! It was so awesome! We were right there on the scene, and our minds were completely blown!”
Beside him, Hu Manni nodded silently in agreement.
“Come, come, Little Aunt, try this. Although Tailande is a bit chaotic, the fruit here is incredibly fresh! It all ripens right on the tree, guaranteed to be delicious.”
Lyu Dongfang, wearing gloves, cracked open a cempedak and eagerly presented it to Nan Zhi, testing the waters:
“I heard... I heard that you're already at Qi Refinement level 5 despite being so young, Little Aunt?”
“Yeah, I started my cultivation late, only beginning half a year ago.”
“My master said that although I have a talent for raising Gu, my spiritual awakening was late, and my aptitude isn't like you guys who cultivate regularly.”
Nan Zhi bit off a shrimp head and quietly began her performance:
“So she didn't teach me the Demon Suppression Division's basic cultivation technique, 《Small Twelve Bone Forging Method》. She only passed down 《Small Huanzhen Manual》 to me, and taught me how to refine pills and raise Gu insects.”
“Personally, I don't like fighting and killing. I prefer raising bugs and refining pills, hehehe.”
She scratched her cheek, looking completely straightforward and candid:
“Since we're all members of the Demon Suppression Division, if I ever lack any pill-refining materials, I can commission you guys to gather them.”
“Of course, if you guys need any pills, you can also come to me to refine them, as long as you don't mind that I've only just started my cultivation journey.”
“As for the material fee, I'll give you a friendly discount—one out of every three refined, how about it?”
The other three fell silent simultaneously, and the grilled fish in their hands suddenly seemed to lose all its flavor.
Listen to yourself! Are those even words a normal human would say?
Started cultivating only half a year ago, and already at Qi Refinement level 5.
“Late spiritual awakening,” “started cultivation late,” and “dislikes fighting and killing,” meaning she couldn't cultivate the basic technique of the Demon Suppression Division, so she reluctantly “only” cultivated the 《Small Huanzhen Manual》, following a Demon Suppression Commissioner to refine pills and raise Gu.
You don't like fighting and killing? We do! We can like it! We can even raise both our hands and feet in agreement, beating gongs and drums to show how much we love it!
If these words got out, at least two-thirds of the people in the country—no, the entire world—would surely raise their hands and cheer about how much they loved fighting and killing, just to beg that Dragon Slaying Commissioner to take them in as disciples.
Comparing yourself to others will only make you want to die; comparing goods will only make you want to throw them away.
When that Commissioner made a move, she handed out techniques, taught how to raise Gu, and even personally taught how to refine pills!
What about them?
They had to shamelessly pester Ma Guniang just to beg for a spot in the Demon Suppression Division, exhausting all their wits to do so.
“What's wrong?”
Nan Zhi blinked and looked at Lyu Dongfang. “Why are you crying?”
Lyu Dongfang choked up. A grown man of over six feet couldn't hold it in and let out a sob from his throat:
“I'm just so incredibly jealous.”
He had thought that by finding himself in a secret realm, meeting a True Immortal, and obtaining a great opportunity, he was surely the chosen one who would flourish on the immortal path and become a powerhouse in the future.
Who knew that this girl was the one who actually had the protagonist template!
Nan Zhi flashed a mysterious smile.
You little punks, Ma Guniang is sitting right in front of you, and you dare try to trick her?
She didn't recall ever relenting and agreeing to take these three in.
Calling her “Little Aunt” and mentioning the “Demon Suppression Division” at every turn—they were clearly trying to play this young girl so they could look out for each other in the secret realm.
—Although they had their own little schemes, it wasn't some heinous crime.
Seeing Nan Zhi's harmless, pure smile, the trio's consciences were instantly wracked with guilt, and they honestly confessed the truth.
“We're sorry. Actually, Ma Guniang never agreed to accept us into the Demon Suppression Division. It's just that we felt our strength was too low, so we wanted to use Ma Guniang's name to get you to share more information about the secret realm with us.”
Hu Manni pursed her lips and said apologetically:
“Team One has you and Director Qin, making a total of three Qi Refinement cultivators. Our Team Two consists entirely of ordinary martial artists, with only Zhang Daowei having a slightly higher cultivation.”
“But don't worry, we really didn't mean any harm.”
“Huh? Just for that?”
Nan Zhi gave the three of them a strange look. “I never planned to keep the secret realm information a secret. It's going to be shared between Team One and Team Two. It just hasn't been announced yet for security reasons. You'll get it by tomorrow at the latest.”
The three of them stood frozen like wooden chickens.
Then, a wave of profound sorrow washed over them.
If they had known this earlier, what on earth had they been jumping through hoops for?!
“Consider yourselves lucky,”
Nan Zhi said, her smile widening like the Big Bad Wolf disguised as a grandmother:
“If you gather any spirit herbs in the secret realm, I can identify them for you. It'll also be a friendly rate—I'll take one out of every three!”
A pure middleman making a profit on the margin—truly, she was someone they could rely on.
Rate on N.U.
