Chapter 1 Reality

In reality, inside a high-end room in a photo studio.

A woman suddenly sat up in bed, gasping for breath, her breathing rapid, her pupils dilating and contracting, her trembling hands subconsciously reaching for her cheeks.

Only when her slender fingers gently touched the delicate, smooth skin did the woman finally breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

"Xia Xiyu, Xia Xiyu, you capsized in a sewer, you really did!"

She rubbed her cheeks, cheering herself up.

Wearing pajamas, she came to the window, looking at the Jianghai City, at those ant-like, insignificant beings beneath the bustling surface, still getting up early in the dark for three meals a day, and couldn't help but reveal a faint hint of mockery.

"Are kings, nobles, generals, and ministers born with a special seed? Those old guys have been in power for so long, it's time for a new batch of people to go up and see the scenery."

Turning back into the bathroom, she took a shower to clear her head. She knew that character was already ruined.

In a day, she would re-enter the game and start a new layout!

Fortunately, she had prepared for this situation, or rather... death was the beginning!

Those backup plans she had left in the Phoenix Organization should also start to come into play.

"I've been setting the stage for so long, it's time to start building a new character and improve my strength."

As long as the new character entered the game and was still in Qing Country, within the radiation range of the Phoenix Organization.

With the backup plans she had left behind, she could achieve a strategic overtaking in strength!

It was just that this road was even more dangerous.

However, with the Guidu Line rising day by day, what isn't dangerous?

As the head of the thirteen Daoists of the Shadow Association, Daoist Xia, some responsibilities must be shouldered.

Just as Xia Xiyu was thinking about her future plans, she suddenly felt her face gradually starting to burn, becoming hotter and hotter, as if being burned by high-temperature flames!

Her pupils shrank sharply, and Xia Xiyu quickly looked at the large mirror in the bathroom.

In the mirror, she saw large areas of high-temperature burn scars appearing on her cheeks, and they were still spreading!

Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!

Pain, pain, pain, pain, pain!

Xia Xiyu frantically turned on the cold water in the shower, soaking her face.

But it was useless. That power synchronized with the game was acting on her through the channel!

"No... no!"

In horror, Xia Xiyu stumbled towards her bedroom, enduring the intense pain on her face, her hands trembling as she opened a five-layer Matryoshka-doll-like safe, finally taking out the ring hidden inside and putting it on her finger directly.

Almost the instant the ring was put on, Xia Xiyu's body began to petrify, starting from her right hand with the ring, and quickly spreading to her whole body.

Just as her entire face was about to become like the one in the game, and her head began to show signs of indentation, petrification completely covered her entire body!

One day, two days, three days!

On the evening of the third day, cracks appeared on Xia Xiyu's body, which had turned into a stone sculpture, and the cracks grew larger and larger. Finally, with a bang, the stone skin covering her body completely fell off.

And Xia Xiyu, who was originally destined to die, survived, maintaining her almost disfigured face and slightly indented skull.

"Night! Color! Dawn!"

Xia Xiyu spat out these four words almost through gritted teeth.

And as the words fell, petrified lines spread out from the ring on her right hand, going up along her arm, slowly converging on her cheeks and indented skull.

Like a mask, the petrified skin slowly covered her face, reconstructing her previous appearance.

It was just that in terms of color and material, it had changed from delicate, smooth human skin to a hard stone face.

"I'll settle this debt with you sooner or later!"

Lying back on the bed, Xia Xiyu entered the game again!

...

Ningguang Mountain, Ning Estate, underground secret room.

Fang Yue found that this so-called underground secret room was much larger than he had imagined. It was an entire underground palace.

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Inside, the roads were interconnected, stretching endlessly, and all kinds of infrastructure were built very well.

At first glance, it was an underground fortress.

Fang Yue thought that the people of the Ning Estate had hollowed out the inside of the entire Ningguang Mountain before transforming it into what it was now.

However... although the Ning Estate had a lot of manpower, it would probably not be able to afford the manpower and material resources required to hollow out the inside of a mountain and carry out the transformation.

Old Man Ning was, after all, just a [Guwu (strange object) Forging Master]. It was true that he could make fluorescent bracelets, but he would not have so much financial and human resources to hollow out and transform the inside of Ningguang Mountain.

He must be related to some large organization behind the scenes!

Fang Yue thought of Old Man Ning's respectful attitude towards Steward Liao.

Perhaps Steward Liao was the real person in charge of the Ning Estate, and this underground secret room should also be related to Steward Liao.

"Remember that in addition to Steward Liao, there are also Chief Steward and Second Steward in the Ning Estate. Doesn't that mean that those two are also the masterminds behind this?"

Steward Liao was a Xiantian (Innate Realm) martial artist, ranking third among the stewards of the Ning Estate.

Doesn't that mean that the other two, Chief Steward and Second Steward, are stronger than Steward Liao?

Three Xiantian...

Fang Yue felt a chill down his spine at the thought of the power behind the Ning Estate.

You should know that Qing Si County only had Tian Erjun as a Xiantian martial artist.

Including You Sisi, who was talented and only one step away from breaking through to the Xiantian Realm, that was only two Xiantian.

If the vacant Qing Yi position was also regarded as a Xiantian.

Then the configuration of the Ning Estate, in terms of top combat power, could already go head-to-head with Qing Si County.

Therefore, the Ning Estate could be regarded as a small Qing Si County, or Qing Si County could be regarded as a small Ning Estate. In any case, if the top configuration was maxed out, the strength of the two should be about the same.

It was just that the current Qing Si County was missing a Qing Yi, and there was also a weak You Sisi, so the level of Qing Si County was suddenly compared to the Ning Estate.

It could be said that no matter what the Ning Estate wanted to do, as long as the three major stewards were there, they could do whatever they wanted. Even if Qing Si investigated, they would not have the strength to resist!

What was this? This was an earth emperor!

Fang Yue suddenly became more interested in the purpose of the Ning Estate.

They had stronger strength than Qing Si, but they lived in such a low-key manner!

If it weren't for Lin Ling's disappearance, Lord Han's disappearance, they would still want to use fluorescent bracelets to fish for me and capsize in the sewer.

I'm afraid no one would know the secret of the Ning Estate to this day.

Thinking about these things, Fang Yue walked forward along the road.

Because it was in a closed environment similar to a mine, the surroundings were all hung with Renhun (human soul) lamps to provide lighting.

If he guessed correctly, the entire underground secret room actually used Renhun lamps as the means of lighting!

How much yangshou (lifespan) was this? This was such a luxurious thing, Qing Si County didn't have the financial resources to play like this!

The more he understood the secrets of the Ning Estate, the more shocked Fang Yue felt.

What a grand scheme, what great financial resources! Great material resources! Great human resources!