In the forgery room, Ga’erfu watched the three brothers from the Jing family and nodded continuously, feeling quite satisfied in his heart.
These three brothers didn’t look like they should be doing manual labor. But when they picked up their hammers, they surprisingly did a good job. Their work was not only meticulous but also quite skillful.
The transformation of low-grade metals through a thousand strikes and a hundred refinements was one of Ga’erfu’s secrets of blacksmithing. However, it was not something that an ordinary master blacksmith could achieve due to the precise ratios and other additional components required.
He intentionally had the three brothers help him in the forge to test if they were as fast and sincere as they promised. Now, as he watched them work diligently, not even bothering when shards of iron cut their handsome faces, he truly felt their sincerity.
In reality, he was starting to soften his stance.
Yet, Ga’erfu wanted to wait a bit longer. After all, the danger of “fate manipulation” was still at play.
So, for three days, the Jing family’s three brothers wielded their hammers at Ga’erfu’s residence.
Though they had not received news that might involve their younger brother, it wasn’t a fruitless endeavor. Their blacksmithing skills had all advanced to an intermediate level.
—
On the other side, Huo Yi looked a bit embarrassed as he explained to Jing Nian that there was an issue with his outside ID. The mysterious benefactor’s reward mission required real-name acceptance.
Jing Nian: “…”
He couldn’t help but glance at the man’s handsome face, at a loss for words. He muttered to himself, wondering if this person, who appeared so serious, might be a galactic fugitive.
However, noticing the righteousness in the man’s demeanor, Jing Nian couldn’t help but think that Huo Yi wasn’t a bad person. Considering Huo Yi’s hacking skills and his position as a programmer, Jing Nian had a strange thought. Could it be that he was a programmer who had been framed as a cybercriminal by his boss because he lacked flexibility?
After all, to excel in hacking technology in a massive holographic online game like the Dragon Slayer, the potential stakes were likely significant.
Jing Nian’s gaze toward Huo Yi couldn’t help but carry a hint of sympathy.
When he returns home, he should find a way to help him.
Huo Yi, noticing the compassion in the youth’s eyes: “…”
Although he didn’t understand what was going on, he couldn’t explain the situation either. He couldn’t tell the youth, “The reason I don’t have an ID is that I come from the divine realm,” could he?
Right now, he has two main tasks: finding the dragon egg and getting the young man out.
The simplest way to get the young man out was to directly extract his divine soul and reinsert it into his own body. However, this small world fused with the gaming world was unique. Huo Yi couldn’t guarantee the safety of the extraction process for the young man’s divine soul. So, he had contacted a friend who was skilled in this area, but that friend had yet to respond.
For now, Huo Yi could only guard the young man’s divine soul temporarily and search for the dragon egg.
Might as well let the misunderstanding persist.
It didn’t matter, because the sympathetic look in the young man’s eyes softened Huo Yi’s heart. It wasn’t so uncomfortable after all.
With no direct path to contact the benefactor, Jing Nian and Huo Yi had no choice but to follow the group of players exploring the maps, trying to gather more information.
In the process, they also leveled up.
Three days passed, and there was no significant progress on the mushroom matter. However, Huo Yi accompanied Jing Nian as they cleared dungeons he hadn’t visited before.
Jing Nian witnessed firsthand the information about the spatial changes due to the Timeforce, which the powerful figures in the Grans Continent had discussed in their meetings.
Gradually, the smile on the young man’s face, which had emerged with the hope of returning home, began to fade. He realized that the talk of changes in the force of time and space on the Grans Continent was, in reality, related to the locking of dungeons.
In simple terms, before the introduction of new maps and dungeons, the creatures in both dungeons and maps roamed freely. However, once players ventured into a dungeon, the dungeon’s storyline would forcefully initiate. Subsequently, the storyline-related bosses and NPCs would become locked within the dungeon!
This change isn’t a one-time event; rather, each time a player initiates a dungeon, a parallel dimension-style dungeon world is spawned.
The bosses within these dungeons do not repeatedly experience the dungeon’s storyline; they only enter it during the initial storyline activation.
However, as more parallel storylines unfold, the bosses themselves are increasingly affected.
In the case of the earliest, low-level dungeons, some bosses have lost their self-awareness and become completely transformed into dungeon bosses.
It was the very first level 25 dungeon that had opened, “The Wu Residence – Finding the Missing Bride!”
Jing Nian had returned to the Dragon Clan earlier when his level was lower, but now his level was just right.
Before heading to the dungeon, he met a warrior he hadn’t seen for a while. The warrior advised him upon hearing that Jing Nian was going to the Wu Residence.
The warrior’s exact words were: “The owner of the Wu Residence has gone mad.”
Upon arrival, Jing Nian realized that it wasn’t the owner who had gone mad, but rather the masters and the ghostly brides within the dungeon had been completely assimilated by the dungeon. They had lost the flexibility that other creatures in this game world possessed.
So, to those warriors who hadn’t been assimilated, his actions seemed like madness.
It was as if they had truly turned into intelligent NPCs, devoid of souls.
As Jing Nian leveled up and ventured into dungeons of increasing difficulty, he noticed that the time for the native bosses to speak to players in less explored dungeons increased progressively.
Currently, there were no reported issues in the newly opened highest-level dungeon, the Northern Desert, which was peculiar because the Sand King boss was currently in his pet inventory, so the dungeon didn’t have a boss at all.
Of course, at this moment, Jing Nian had no knowledge of the specific identities of the group of young ones in Mini Street, nor did he know that there were more places without bosses.
In reality, half of the game world was now empty.
While pondering the current situation in various locations on the Grans Continent, Jing Nian tugged his clothing back from the Sand King’s mouth, which was turned into a dog-like appearance. His gaze suddenly rose.
Huo Yi lifted him up once again.
A faint look from the man swept over. The Sand King felt an inexplicable sense of intimidation, no longer daring to approach in a playful manner.
Huo Yi asked, “Do you want to go see other places?”
Jing Nian bit his lip, recalling the man’s patience in following his instructions and accompanying him through dungeons for these few days. He couldn’t help but blurt out, “Do you believe that the people in this game world are real?”
After speaking, he gazed at the man’s seemingly expressionless face, unable to discern whether the man believed it or not.
Seeing Huo Yi remain silent, Jing Nian thought he didn’t believe it, and he felt a bit dejected. How could he not believe it?
But then he realized he was being unreasonable. If someone had told him, before his time travel, that the game world was real, he would probably have thought the person was delusional from playing games too much.
Indeed, who would believe such a thing?
Jing Nian lowered his head in disappointment.
“They are real, of course,” the man’s steady voice suddenly sounded above Jing Nian’s head.
Jing Nian felt a slight tickle in his ears and turned his head. He then habitually grabbed the man’s collar and whispered, “I was just joking; you don’t need to say that.”
He knew that the man probably said this to comfort him, seeing him looking downcast.
It made sense.
After the man’s words, that lingering sense of unease and dejection dissipated.
However, to his surprise, the man continued, “This world, these creatures, they are real. But, due to some accidents, they’ve fused with the game world…”
Huo Yi remembered the young boy’s tearful appearance in the first dungeon and couldn’t help but reveal more, “The Wu Residence owner you saw, and the ghostly bride, their souls are still intact, but…”
Jing Nian lifted his head in shock, only to find the man’s voice abruptly trailing off.
Then he saw the man’s mouth moving, but he couldn’t hear his voice, and he couldn’t discern the shape of his lips.
What is this!?
Jing Nian widened his eyes.
Huo Yi also noticed that he couldn’t convey the rest of the information, so he could only look at Jing Nian with a helpless expression, sending him a meaningful glance.
“Now, do you believe?”
“I believe!” Jing Nian exclaimed excitedly, his eyes filled with astonishment as he gazed at Huo Yi.
Seeing Jing Nian’s reaction, Huo Yi decided to explain his own identity, as making the young man believe he was a criminal, even if he was an innocent one, wasn’t a good situation.
“Because I’m not from the interstellar world, so… I don’t have an identification card.”
Jing Nian: “…”
His mouth hung open, and he forgot to close it. It took him quite a while to regain control over his ability to speak.
Honestly, a moment ago, he thought it was Huo Yi who didn’t believe him. But now, he found it hard to believe Huo Yi.
Not being from the interstellar world, and the game world being the product of an accidental fusion with another world? Wasn’t that even more outlandish than him getting transported into the game?
But… within this absurdity, there was an element of reason.
This explanation made everything seem plausible.
“So, what world are you from?” Jing Nian curiously asked Huo Yi.
Huo Yi: “Cultivation.”
Jing Nian: “…?” Did I think of that correctly?
“So, you’re here to cultivate for ascension?” Jing Nian attempted to understand based on his limited knowledge of cultivation concepts. “How did you get here then?”
Huo Yi paused and, under the bewildered gaze of the young man, chose to tell the truth, “Yes, after I ascended to the divine realm and was in seclusion, I lost one of my pets. I came to find it.”
Jing Nian: “…” He felt like his worldview had been shaken once again.
Are you saying you’re a god now?
“I can only be considered a resident of the divine realm; I didn’t go through the divine consecration ceremony,” Huo Yi explained honestly, quickly understanding the doubt in Jing Nian’s eyes.
“So, you don’t want to be a god?” Jing Nian furrowed his brow slightly, probing Huo Yi’s eyes with curiosity.
Huo Yi nodded, “Yes, it’s troublesome.”
Jing Nian: “I think you’re somewhat Versailles-ish, you know what ‘Versailles’ means?”
Huo Yi, seeing the mischievous teasing in the young man’s eyes: “…”
Having spent so long in the interstellar world and traversed many networks, Huo Yi thought for a moment, “I know. ‘Versailles’ means showing off modestly.”
Jing Nian: “Do you, as cultivators, still use the internet? That’s quite modern.”
Huo Yi said, “Because my pet ended up in this game, I learned a bit about your internet culture.”
Then, he thought for a moment and explained earnestly, “I’m not showing off. I’ve always been practicing alone, and not very good with worldly matters. When I accepted the divine consecration and received offerings, I also had to protect and bless the believers.”
Jing Nian: “…” Do your gods act this willfully too?
“Wait a moment? Your pet also ended up in this interstellar game?” Jing Nian perked up, suddenly realizing that he had gotten too absorbed in their conversation and slipped up.
But he found that the man’s expression remained completely unchanged.
It was as if he hadn’t noticed his words at all, or as if he had known all along.
“Yeah, just like you,” Huo Yi paused and still didn’t mention the possibility that the young man’s unexpected appearance might be related to his dragon egg.
With his guess confirmed, Jing Nian opened his mouth. Considering the man’s identity, he felt that him knowing about his situation wasn’t so surprising.
However, it still felt outlandish. In addition to this, Jing Nian couldn’t help but be curious, “So, gods without divine consecration, are they… weaker in some way?”
“They are,” Huo Yi replied.
Jing Nian raised an eyebrow.
Huo Yi was inexplicably scrutinized by this gaze, wanting to explain that he was quite strong, but he said, “But I cultivate very quickly, and the power of faith from accepting the divine consecration is probably only one-third of my cultivation speed.”
The man’s face remained indifferent, but Jing Nian somehow detected a hint of pride.
When it came to not being annoying, Jing Nian was more like a modest little dragon, while Huo Yi was the type to insist on dragging Jing Nian to show off and seek praise.
Jing Nian smirked, “What about your pet?”
Huo Yi said, “It’s an egg.”
“An egg?” Upon hearing the word “egg,” Jing Nian immediately thought of the baby dragon.
But in the next moment, Huo Yi denied it, “It’s a dragon egg, but not the one you’re thinking of.”
Just as they were discussing this, Jing Nian received an intense mental connection.
“Wuu, wu, wuu! Where have you gone, Jin Jin?!!!”
Jing Nian: “The baby is awake.”
Author’s Note:
After checking the baby dragon’s soul once, Huo Yi was certain: my dragon was not a crybaby.
After falling in love with Jing Nian, Huo Yi’s goal became: to protect Jing Nian and, incidentally, find the dragon egg.
Baby Dragon: QAQ… I knew I wasn’t his real child!
