This Poor Monk Comes from Daxia in the East

Chen Xu had not expected that the Dragon Court dungeon would actually be located outside the world.

However, it made sense; with so many dragons in the Dragon Court, if the dungeon were to invade, those dragons would likely fly all over Blue Star and cause chaos everywhere given their temperament.

The Dragon Court Key was an unexpected harvest, and Chen Xu was in no hurry to open any blind boxes.

Expanding his undead army was the primary task at hand.

After clearing these four dungeons, the undead army had only harvested about 10 million pieces of corpse material.

Among them, the kobolds provided 8 million.

As for the dwarves and centaurs, they combined for about 2 million.

One was a long-lived race, and the other was an elite faction with low fertility; Chen Xu was already quite satisfied with having 2 million corpses.

"Dungeons like the Black Anomaly are still the best."

Chen Xu withdrew his undead army, stepped out of the dungeon, released Sindragosa, and flew toward West Wasteland City.

Upon arriving at the military academy branch, he handed the four Dungeon Cores and other useless rewards to Captain Huang before immediately rushing to his next destination.

The South Realm.

While in the air, Chen Xu took out the gear he had prepared in advance and changed into it one by one.

A set of monk's robes, a string of skull Buddhist beads, and a white bone khakkhara. It was a perfect high monk set.

The reason he disguised himself as a Buddhist disciple was because of the long-standing Buddhist faith in the South Realm. Before the dungeon era, the South Realm was filled with temples and monks.

In those major cities, it even reached the exaggerated point of having a Buddha statue every five steps and a temple every ten steps.

As the old saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

A suitable identity would allow him to better integrate into the local environment.

After all, on this trip to the South Realm, he had dungeons to clear, and those aristocratic clans could not be let off either. The good things in Yinglun's Treasury had made Chen Xu's mouth water.

Although this South Realm was not as wealthy as Yinglun, it probably was not much worse.

Thus, Chen Xu decided to perform a grand play: The high monk from the east subdues the demon lord, inverting yin and yang to set the world right.

He wanted the profit, and he wanted the fame as well.

To perform this grand play well, Chen Xu had specifically sought out Qi Xuanheng to commission three sets of disguise masks, giving them to Xuan Chu, Bone Guard Two, and Bone Guard Three respectively.

These disguise masks could change facial features and even generate clothes, serving as complete sets of disguise tools.

Wearing the masks was for fear that Xuan Chu and Bone Guard Two would scare people. Xuan Chu was fine, but the skeletal heads of Bone Guard Two and Bone Guard Three were too terrifying; it would not be good if they scared the children.

Chen Xu did this because he wanted to emulate the classic story of the high monk seeking scriptures from Daxia mythology, but with a reverse version: the high monk delivering scriptures.

Since he was a high monk, he naturally needed one or two disciples to serve by his side; he could not just go alone. Without any style, how could he convince anyone?

Originally, there was a role for Bone Guard One, but when faced with the measurements Chen Xu provided, Qi Xuanheng went silent.

In his own words: "Disguise masks can only alter appearance, not reshape body types. That mobile tower crane... cough, that skeleton hero of yours, with such a massive physique, does he even need a disguise?"

Chen Xu thought about it and realized it made sense, so the role of the disciple was passed down to Bone Guard Three.

After changing his attire, Chen Xu summoned Xuan Chu, Bone Guard Two, and Bone Guard Three, then gave them the masks to put on.

He then conveniently summoned a mirror from the castle and took a few looks.

"Hmm, not bad, the vibe is right. But it feels like something is still missing."

Chen Xu thought for a moment and snapped his fingers.

"Whinny~~"

Invincible was summoned to his side, lowering its head to nuzzle Chen Xu.

"Perfect, it is right this time."

......

The South Realm, Lei River.

Several men were rowing a boat on the river, casting nets to catch fish.

While pulling the nets, they carefully observed their surroundings, their legs slightly bent as if they were ready to jump overboard immediately at the slightest sign of trouble.

The Lei River was a great river that ran through the north and south of the South Realm, nurturing countless South Realm people for generations.

The water gave life to the South Realm people, and the abundant fish resources strengthened their bodies.

The South Realm people relied on the Lei River to grow, develop civilization, and expand their population. This was their hope for life, their generational reliance, and their second mother.

Unfortunately, all of that had ended.

In the dungeon era, all resources in the South Realm were controlled by aristocratic clans. Mountains, forests, land—everything that could be seen or touched was carved up by the aristocratic clans.

Even the Lei River was no exception, divided section by section by the aristocratic clans with clear boundaries.

If common folk did not have the permission of the aristocratic clans, let alone fishing in the Lei River, even taking a ladle of water was a violation of the laws of the aristocratic clans.

If the year was bad and a flood occurred, the Lei River would overflow, flooding the houses of ordinary people on both banks.

Not only could they not demand compensation from the masters of the Lei River, but they even had to pay fees to the aristocratic clans, such as pollution and dredging fees. Paying the money was not the end of it; the aristocratic clans were only responsible for collecting the money, while the post-disaster reconstruction work had to be done by the people themselves.

If you did not do it, then go sleep on the streets. By the way, the streets were also the property of the aristocratic clans; on normal days, the masters were kind enough to let you commoners walk for free.

As for wanting to sleep on the streets at night, you had to honestly pay up. Otherwise, get out and go to the deep mountains and old forests to keep company with those poisonous insects and beasts.

What? You say you have no money? That is easy; the masters are kind and can lend you money first. But if you cannot pay it back within the time limit, you have to honestly enter the dungeons to serve as cannon fodder for the masters.

All sorts of evil deeds were simply appalling.

Before the dungeon era, the South Realm still had to care about international optics. But after the dungeon era, everyone was too busy dealing with their own problems to have any spare mind to care about others.

The evil of the aristocratic clans had spiraled out of control ever since.

It was only here, at the uppermost reaches of the Lei River where it bordered Daxia, that the aristocratic clans had some reservations and dared not come. Thus, many South Realm commoners secretly came here to fish.

But even so, they had to be cautious when fishing, constantly observing their surroundings. Once they spotted any unfamiliar faces, they had to dive into the river to save themselves.

"Old Fourth, it is getting late, pull in the net. If it gets any later, I am afraid the Wa family dogs will start moving, and it will be hard for us to get back."

"Second Brother, do not worry. Big Brother already confirmed it; the Wa family is busy serving the young master of the Ba aristocratic clan these few days, so they have no time to worry about small fry like us."

"Sigh, it is better to be safe. There is a saying from the Daxia side, something about being careful to catch fish for ten thousand years."

"Alright, Second Brother, I will listen to you. I will pull in the net right now."

That man pulled the fishing net in his hand, weighed it, and felt the weight, breaking into a grin.

"Dear benefactors, may I ask how to get to Liuqing City in the South Realm?"

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice rang out, startling Old Fourth so much that his legs kicked out and he jumped into the river.

"Splash! Splash!"

Besides Old Fourth, the men on the other boats also jumped into the river.

This scene left Chen Xu bewildered. He only wanted to ask for directions, yet why did these South Realm people commit suicide by jumping into the river?

He was not some god of misfortune, nor did he shout "Stay a moment, fellow daoist."

Fortunately, there was still one person on the river who had not jumped. Chen Xu walked a few steps closer and shouted loudly.

"This benefactor, may I ask how to get to Liuqing City in the South Realm?"

Old Second stood on the boat, seemingly calm on the surface, but his heart was already pounding wildly underneath.

When he first heard Chen Xu's voice, he had almost jumped into the river too. But being a literate man who had read a few picture books, before his legs could move, he realized the voice was coming from the north.

The north, that was Daxia, where the Wa family dogs dared not go. Along the border line, there were hidden Daxia artillery batteries everywhere. As long as they detected a strange professional of a certain strength approaching, they would open fire regardless of who you were.

Thus, Old Second controlled himself and did not jump. Turning his head, he saw that the person calling out was actually a monk.

"This master, follow this river all the way down, and the first big city you encounter will be Liuqing City."

Chen Xu pressed his palms together. "Amitabha. Thank you for informing me, benefactor."

Seeing Chen Xu being so humble, Old Second regained some courage. "Master, you came from the north. Are you a high monk from Daxia?"

"Hahaha!" Chen Xu laughed.

"Exactly as you say, benefactor. This poor monk comes from Daxia in the east, wishing to travel to the South Realm to preach the true scriptures of my Buddha."

"Preaching?" Old Second did not quite believe Chen Xu's words. These days, where were there any real monks? Hardly anyone even worshipped Buddha anymore.

After all, demons were wandering the mortal world, but where were the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas? No matter how much one begged or how sincerely one worshipped, they still could not escape the sea of suffering.

Despite his disbelief, he would not say it out loud. Anyone who could come over from Daxia was surely not a simple character.

"May I know the master's name?"

"This poor monk's dharma name is Sanzang."