Chapter 128: Wang Po

October 08, 2023

Chapter 128: Wang Po

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The words "Primordial Celestial" seemed to cut off Queen's voice. Her stunning face was filled with astonishment, and she couldn't believe her eyes as she examined Zhang Yuanqing up and down.

As a seasoned forum user, she had heard of this genius from the Pine Sea branch and actively participated in discussions about him. Even though he was only a level 2 Night Roaming God, he was a star in his own right.

But she never expected to be matched with this genius in the spirit realm.

"Primordial Celestial, is it really you? Is it really you?" Queen was excited beyond belief, her gaze shifting between Zhang Yuanqing and Guan Ya.

Guan Ya nodded slightly. "It's him."

"I can't believe I got matched with you." With confirmation from her Pine Sea branch colleague, Queen became even more excited. "When I return to reality, I'll definitely show off on the forum and tell everyone that I got matched with Primordial Celestial."

"Primordial Celestial." Firestar Military's eyes lit up, and he asked with excitement, "Is it the Primordial Celestial from the Pine Sea branch?"

Unbeknownst to him, Zhang Yuanqing had become a prominent figure in the Transcendent Stage, practically a superstar. Zhang Yuanqing smiled faintly. "I think in the entire spirit realm, there's no second Primordial Celestial."

Chubby-faced Earth Elemental, Lotus Eater, looked puzzled and asked, "Primordial Celestial, bro, are you famous?"

As a wild practitioner, he didn't have access to the official forums of the Five Elements Alliance due to his low rank, and he didn't have access to an extensive information network, so he hadn't heard of the name Primordial Celestial.

Queen immediately responded, "He's our official genius. He consecutively completed two S-rank instances. When he was at level 1, he single-handedly defeated a level 3 Enchanting Demon. At level 2, he took on a level 6 Witchcraft Master alone and survived. And recently, he engaged in a one-on-one battle with Li Xianzong. He nearly got killed but managed to survive."

No, don't mention that last part. Zhang Yuanqing's expression slightly stiffened upon hearing the last part.

Lotus Eater, who was listening, had an entirely different experience. His mouth grew wider, and his expression became more exaggerated. When he looked at Zhang Yuanqing, his gaze resembled that of someone looking up to an unattainable boss.

Is this the kind of person I've been matched with? Even the quiet and melancholic "Grass Grows by the Stream" couldn't help but repeatedly size up Zhang Yuanqing.

Although he usually didn't care about unfamiliar things and people, he couldn't ignore someone his age with such terrifying accomplishments and a rich background.

Conquering two S-rank spirit realms as a Night Roaming God, and defeating evil professionals beyond his level. Li Chunfeng, who had been somewhat pessimistic, immediately cast aside his negative mindset and exclaimed, "So, we have a big shot like you in the team. With this, our chances of winning are significantly higher. This match can be exciting!"

Actually, there was another big shot in the team. Guan Ya had been quietly controlling her rating, losing in non-lethal spirit realms, so her hidden rating wouldn't be high. However, her martial skills were extraordinarily high.

Zhang Yuanqing followed up, "Let me be the team leader. Rest assured, I will lead everyone to complete Incognito Town."

"No problem!"

The others didn't object. Aside from Firestar Military and Queen, the rest of the team believed that the team leader's role was primarily about improving efficiency and reducing unnecessary disputes. The differences between potential leaders weren't substantial.

Queen pursed her lips and hummed, "Well, let's see how you perform. If you make any mistakes, I'll take over."

She didn't press the matter further.

Zhang Yuanqing wondered how far he needed to lead to earn the faction token reward. He looked back at the small town. "Time is running out; let's go."

The group passed through the archway and entered the ancient town.

At the other entrance of the small town, Li Xianzong glanced at his two teammates lying on the ground and then at the four silent companions. He grinned and said, "I'll be the team leader, any objections?"

A bald man scoffed, "You should have said you were Li Xianzong earlier. Who would object?"

However, a middle-aged man with a wry smile chimed in, "But speaking of which, we have two level 3 practitioners on our side, and one of them is Li Xianzong. According to the matching mechanism, the Lawful faction probably has strong players."

Li Xianzong arrogantly declared, "That's what makes it interesting, isn't it? It would be best if we matched with someone in the top ten of the official Transcendent Stage rankings. Kill one in the spirit realm, then defeat Primordial Celestial when we return. This trial task will be completed in advance, and I can prepare for mid-year instances."

If everything went smoothly, he could accumulate quite a bit of "wealth."

The middle-aged man with a sly grin said, "I just hope there are outstanding women on the Lawful side. There's nothing more exciting than humiliating them."

In his past encounters in multi-player spirit realms, he had engaged in activities similar to that.

"Stop chattering, follow me!"

Li Xianzong led his team through the archway and into the small town.

The seven of them proceeded along the wide stone path, and soon, they heard a notification sound in their ears: "Please find Wang the Blacksmith's shop within ten minutes."

"Wang Po?"

Firestar Military, not understanding, asked, "How do we find Wang Po? We saw shepherds herding cows outside a moment ago, but once we entered the town, there's no one here. Could this be an empty town?"

Their received prompt was to find Wang Po's house within ten minutes.

At this moment, they walked through the quiet streets of the ancient town. There were no bird chirps or dog barks. The houses on both sides were tightly shut, making it seem like they were the only ones in this ancient town.

Li Chunfeng seriously pointed out Firestar's mistake, "If this were an empty town, why would it ask us to find Wang Po?"

Firestar Military didn't want to think too much and asked, "So, where is Wang Po? This town is so big, who knows where she might be hiding? We only have ten minutes. Queen, right? Didn't you read any guides?"

"Please call me Queen," she said while looking around. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Incognito Town is a changing instance. The main storyline is the conflict between the Lawful and Evil factions, but the process varies. In the guides I've seen, some involve finding Wang the Blacksmith, others are about solving a town murder, some are about navigating a maze, and the scariest one is the midnight instance."

"The midnight instance?" Chubby-faced Earth Elemental, Lotus Eater, was curious. "Why is it the scariest?"

"If you happen to enter when it's midnight," Queen explained, "the instance will make us stay in an inn where one person dies every night. We must find the murderer each night without using any skills to leave the inn. That's why it's terrifying."

Li Chunfeng analyzed, "How long does that take? And they haven't failed yet?"

"The evil faction that time probably encountered something even more troublesome," Queen said. "But the core of this stage is consistent, which is resolving the problem and obtaining the corresponding item to leave this area, or else we'll be stuck here."

"I wonder what problem we need to solve this time. We'll probably only find out once we meet Wang Po," Queen said, glancing at Zhang Yuanqing with a charming smile. "Celestial, do you have any thoughts? We've already used four minutes out of the ten."

Seeing that all his teammates were looking at him, Zhang Yuanqing seemed to have anticipated this and said, "This isn't difficult; I have a way. Just wait for you all to finish talking."

With that, he took a deep breath and shouted, "Wang Po, where are you?"

He shouted several times, and his voice echoed further and further.

His companions looked bewildered, exchanging glances. They thought, is he crazy? Is this how you find someone?

At this moment, from a small alley on the left, emerged an old woman with silver hair, dressed in humble clothing, leaning on a cane.

Her face was wrinkled, and her back slightly hunched. In a feeble voice, she asked, "Who are you? What brings you here to see this old woman?"

"This works?!" The team members were stunned.

Firestar Military asked, "How did you know that calling her would make her come out?"

Zhang Yuanqing chuckled, "I didn't know; I was just trying. In such a large town, searching aimlessly for an old woman within ten minutes is impossible. The spirit realm wouldn't present an impossible challenge right from the start."

Firestar Military suddenly realized, "You're indeed a master who cleared two S-rank instances."

Zhang Yuanqing led the team towards her. After waiting a few seconds and seeing no prompt from the spirit realm, he said, "Ma'am, we're outsiders, newcomers. We're not sure if we can trouble you for some water and maybe some food; we're quite hungry. We can pay."

In situations without prompts like this, players typically needed to trigger the storyline themselves.

"Outsiders, huh," Wang Po gazed at them with her dim eyes, looking at each one of them slowly. She then said, "You're welcome to come in. You don't need to pay."

With that, she turned and entered the room on the right side of the courtyard, leaning on her cane.

Zhang Yuanqing and the others followed. The courtyard was of a standard style, with three buildings on three sides and an open area in the middle, forming a square courtyard.

These kinds of buildings gave off a gloomy and dim feeling, especially as they were old and filled with signs of decay due to the wooden structures, which had darkened over time.

Wang Po, her back hunched, said in a trembling voice, "Please come in."

Zhang Yuanqing hesitated slightly before entering, and Firestar Military boldly crossed the threshold first.

They entered a spacious living room on the left side of the courtyard. A round table and several round stools were covered in dust, clearly unused for many years.

"No one has visited this house for many years, and I'm not very mobile. I've neglected it," Wang Po explained as she wiped the dust away with her sleeve. "Please bear with it, I'll make some tea for you."

With that, she turned and entered the room on the right side of the courtyard while leaning on her cane.

At this moment, Guan Ya lowered her voice and said, "Look up."

Look up? Firestar Military instinctively glanced upwards and was shocked. Hanging from the beams above their heads were skinned cats. They hung high up like meat, with their round eyes wide open, eerie and horrifying.

Why would Wang Po have so many cats hanging here? Are they meant to be used as meat? Zhang Yuanqing became vigilant.

Guan Ya continued, "Did you notice when we arrived? The door to this house was locked."

"What's wrong with that?" Chubby-faced Earth Elemental, Lotus Eater, asked.

Guan Ya shook her head and said, "Locking the door isn't the issue, but when we just arrived, I estimated the distance. It's only about fifty to sixty meters from the main street to here. Is there a need to lock the door?"

In a place like this, there shouldn't be any concerns about theft. Wang Po has difficulty moving, and the distance is so short. Is locking the door necessary?

Queen understood now and pondered, "Is she afraid someone might sneak in while she's away or that something inside the house might sneak out?"

Li Chunfeng analyzed, "How long does this usually take? They haven't failed yet?"

"The evil faction probably faced something more troublesome," Queen explained. "But the core aspect of this stage remains the same: resolve the problem and obtain the corresponding item to leave the area, or else we'll be stuck here."

"I wonder what problem we need to solve this time. We'll probably only find out once we meet Wang Po," Queen said, looking at Zhang Yuanqing with a charming smile. "Celestial, do you have any thoughts? We've already used four minutes out of the ten."