The Prisoner

Rolling his wine-red eyes, Bai Xiaodu quickly came up with a new idea.

If he couldn't create a room himself, why not just let someone else be the host?

He opened his friends list and contacted Lingxin.

Bai Xiaodu sent her a voice message in a casual tone.

“Sister Lingxin, I'm changing my gear right now. Could you please create a room first? I've recently become obsessed with historical dramas about the Empire, and there's a map called the Ashes Library that was recently updated. Let's play that one first, okay?”

His friends list vibrated.

Bai Xiaodu pumped his fist in excitement as he listened to the voice message Lingxin sent back.

“Of course, no problem.”

For some reason, her voice sounded a bit high-pitched and cutesy, almost forced.

But Bai Xiaodu didn't care about those details. After waiting patiently for a few minutes, he accepted the invitation.

As his figure materialized in the virtual plaza, a wave of joy washed over Bai Xiaodu.

His heart was pounding.

It worked!

This map really was a bug; the examiner only verified the host's clearance, completely ignoring the members'.

With a little deduction, the reason was easy to guess.

Aside from dragons, almost no race was born as transcendents.

Transcendents weren't emotionless immortals who cut off all worldly ties once they promoted; they naturally had descendants.

The purpose of Myriad Worlds was realistic training, which made it perfect for seniors to guide their juniors.

Walking down the familiar gravel path, Bai Xiaodu spotted Lingxin from afar, lazily reading a book on a bench.

As if noticing his approach, the blue-haired older sister waved at him happily.

Then, for some reason, the book suddenly vanished.

Walking up to her, Bai Xiaodu originally intended to maintain a polite distance like last time.

However, his tail was gently tugged, and by some strange trick of fate, he ended up sitting right next to Lingxin, their bodies pressed close together.

A sweet, orchid-like fragrance quickly enveloped him. A physiological response was inevitable, so Bai Xiaodu made no effort to hide it, visibly gulping.

Next, a warm hand slid up his cheek and onto his head.

It gave a little squeeze, then a gentle tug.

The ears were packed with nerves and blood vessels, and the distinct, cool touch made Bai Xiaodu blink involuntarily.

Honestly speaking, Lingxin's technique was terrible—so bad that it actually made him miss Director-General Shen.

It was incredibly clumsy and awkward. Since there was cartilage in the ears, her downward pressing motion was all wrong; it caused the soft tissue to fold slightly, which actually hurt a bit.

She should have gently stroked backward along the contour of the ears.

But what could he do? Bai Xiaodu played along with her movements, letting a pleased expression wash over his face.

Not that it mattered.

Lingxin had booked another gaming companion order, which was something Bai Xiaodu hadn't expected.

She was really showering him with money.

Given his youthful, cute boyish looks, he wondered if this woman had some kind of special fetish.

After all, he had never disclosed his age. Did she even know if he was legal before making her moves?

Because the Federation's races were incredibly diverse, while many were male-dominated, female-dominated ones were by no means rare.

As a result, the Federation had to refine its laws regarding sexual crimes against minors of both genders, treating all offenders equally.

In other words, if she was truly acting this passionate and bold just because of his face,

Lingxin could be locked up immediately.

Only when Bai Xiaodu's cheeks had flushed slightly did Lingxin let out a soft chuckle and stop, seemingly satisfied.

Looking through the map's description, Lingxin nodded.

“This map is really well-made. Xiaobai, you really have great taste.”

“It's just that the difficulty of the quest is a bit high. After all, it involves a promotion ritual, so the system will set the boss's aggressiveness very high.”

“And the boss's race on this map is dragons...”

As if remembering something, the corner of Lingxin's mouth twitched.

“In any case, that entire race of giant lizards is incredibly powerful. It's extremely hard to beat them in a 1v1.”

His silver-white ears perked up as Bai Xiaodu carefully committed every word she said to memory.

A 1v1?

Did a promotion ritual have to be done alone, with no way for others to help?

Bai Xiaodu leaned in and asked, pretending to be casual.

“Which deity's promotion ritual is this? Is it the one from the dragons?”

Lingxin shook her head.

“If it were the 【Knowledge】 or 【Trickery】 Pathways, the promotion ritual wouldn't be this brutal. At the very least, it wouldn't result in a scenario where one side must die.”

Pointing at the text, Lingxin patiently explained to him.

“'Spells and knowledge belonging to humanity' usually refers to the Mage Emperor. He forged a new system out of the incantations and spells originally created by the dragons.”

“He independently created an entire set of spell runes that were much easier for human brains to comprehend. Of course, dragons aren't just monsters of muscle and roaring; gold dragons and silver dragons, for instance, are masters of magic.”

“Faced with a brand-new system of power, especially in the field of magic which they excelled at, they couldn't suppress their intense, burning curiosity.”

“This is clearly the promotion ritual of the 【Mage Emperor】.”

“'Gather 100 milliliters of blood from a non-transcendent hero, and at least three types of monster materials representing different elements. Amidst deep-seated, unforgettable hatred, slay a member of a different race of the same rank in a fit of rage. Only then can the promotion ritual be completed.'”