Chapter 213: Reviving Advisor Yan's Infamy

After carefully reading the task description, Yan Jing immediately took out his phone and called Shen Youran.

"Teacher Shen, the results for the Super-Large Dungeon are out."

"On my way."

He hung up. Less than two minutes later, a knock sounded at the door.

Yan Jing opened the door. Shen Youran stood outside, phone in hand, apparently in the middle of a call.

"Alright, I get it. I can't make the call on this. I have to ask Xiao Yanzi."

"Okay, I'm hanging up. I'm busy..."

Shen Youran walked in and ended the call, but her screen immediately lit up again. She pressed and held the power button, shut the phone off completely, and tossed it aside.

"That many calls?"

Yan Jing brought over a glass of warm milk and handed it to her.

"Wow! So thoughtful!"

Shen Youran's fox-like eyes narrowed in delight. She took the milk and took a sip.

"It's just some old acquaintances. They want to team up with you for this Super-Large Dungeon, Xiao Yanzi."

"I told them I couldn't decide, since I didn't even know what the Dungeon entails yet."

"Mm."

Yan Jing nodded. "The rules for this Dungeon are..."

Holding a notebook, he explained, writing down the details of the Super-Large Dungeon one by one.

Shen Youran looked at the complete set of rules and frowned.

"Such complex rules? You usually only see these when advancing to Fifth Tier Sovereign."

"I haven't even used the effect of my title yet,"

Yan Jing pointed out.

He could choose chaos or order once.

If he chose chaos, his personal difficulty would increase further, and the rewards would scale up alongside it.

If he chose order, his personal difficulty would drop drastically.

"You're going to raise the difficulty even higher?"

Shen Youran blinked. "There's really no need to push yourself that hard..."

"Are there any noteworthy people participating in this Dungeon?"

Yan Jing asked.

"Among the teams formed so far, basically every single one has at least a Third Tier player holding down the fort."

Shen Youran pulled out a list. "The people coming from the Third Ring Domain and Fourth Ring Domain are all in six-person squads."

"That's also the most common squad composition, because the strongest people in the current Surface World number exactly six."

"They stood out among those who reached the Summit and stand at the absolute highest peak. One of them once left behind a 'Revelation,' hinting that six is the optimal number for a team."

"Aside from the Third Ring Domain and Fourth Ring Domain, two teams have also come from Longhe and Yuebei."

"Adding the three teams from Rainbow City, there are a total of seven main teams this time."

"As for the rest of the teams, based on the current rules, they'll probably have to attach themselves to these main factions. Of course, we can't rule out the possibility of them Huddling for Warmth."

Longhe City and Yuebei City were both first-tier cities in the Fifth Ring Domain, ranking among the top echelons in the entire region.

"Understood."

Yan Jing skimmed the list before putting it away.

"I do plan to activate my title and choose chaos."

Before Shen Youran could speak, he pulled up his personal interface and chose to display the experience section to her.

[Player Level: Second Tier, Experience (65.5%/100%)]

Seeing the number on Yan Jing's experience bar—which vastly exceeded her estimates—Shen Youran widened her eyes, then fell silent.

She understood what Yan Jing was thinking.

"The rewards for a Super-Large Dungeon are already generous. I want to see if I can reach the Third Tier after Stage A ends,"

Yan Jing said.

"..."

Shen Youran looked hesitant. After a moment of thought, she gave a heavy nod. "Alright! Go ahead, Xiao Yanzi. I'll get the items needed to synthesize the Chaos Gloves ready before Stage A."

"Then I'll leave that to you, Teacher Shen."

Yan Jing smiled.

"Mm-hm."

Shen Youran asked, "Will you need teammates once you go in this time, Xiao Yanzi?"

"That depends on the task in Chaos Mode."

Yan Jing selected his Personal Title: {Chooser of Chaos and Order]

[Note: You are about to make a choice. Once made, your task will undergo a certain degree of modification, and the choice cannot be changed.]

[Chaos or Order]

[You have selected Chaos Mode.]

[Beep! Task updated.]

[Bianliu County has fallen into utter chaos. Naturally, a large part of this is thanks to you, the prime culprit.

Upon your return, you should remind everyone who sets foot in this area of Advisor Yan's infamy.

Even though this region has been gamified, you remain the county magistrate's chief reserve advisor.

You will unconditionally join the current county magistrate's faction.

At the same time, due to your many misdeeds and notorious reputation, no other Players will be allowed to join the magistrate's side.

Relying solely on yourself and the magistrate's original subordinates, you must help the magistrate complete this conquest.

You have no Flags; plundering is your only method to acquire Regional Grids.

Your Regional Grid limit is increased to 300 grids.

You have no main quest; helping the magistrate win is your only way to win the game.

Note: If the magistrate is unable to become a faction leader for any reason, a new magistrate will be elected during the Dungeon. Regardless, you fight for only one person—the magistrate.]

Yan Jing relayed the new task to Shen Youran.

"Alright, then I'll tell them it's not convenient."

Shen Youran nodded.

"That Mo Lian who entered the Sun-Swallowing Tower with you last time—I hold her death contract, so she should be trustworthy. Plus, she's also reached the Second Tier."

"Mm."

Yan Jing nodded.

"Teacher Shen, do you know of any high-tier individuals in the Surface World, primarily on the Minhu Pathway, who recently entered a Dungeon?"

"High-tier..."

Shen Youran furrowed her brow, knowing Yan Jing was referring to the human mentioned in the Dungeon description—the one who entered Across the Lake and caused the Prohibited Item to activate.

"The main issue is we have very few identifying traits for him right now."

"That's fine. Just compile a list of anyone at the Marquis level or higher for me, Teacher Shen. I'll keep an eye out."

"Alright."

Shen Youran nodded.

"Is there anything else you need me to look into?"

"Yeah. The emperor over in Minhu—do you know anything about him, Teacher Shen?"

Yan Jing asked.

"Emperor?"

Shen Youran said, "Are you talking about the Mad Emperor?"

"Mad Emperor?" This time, it was Yan Jing's turn to be confused.

Eldest Young Master Luo had practically no knowledge of Minhu's history. Moreover, in Young Master Luo's memories, it seemed Minhu intentionally covered up that fallen Imperial Era. During his time living Across the Lake, he had rarely seen any related books, nor had he ever heard anyone mention it.

Yan Jing was only guessing that the man had some connection to the emperor based on Luo Sheng's memory of the man in the Tang suit and the "Imperial Dao" Bi Jie had mentioned.

"Right, the Mad Emperor."

Shen Youran explained, "Centuries ago, Minhu wasn't dominated by Cultivators like it is today. It was a much more chaotic landscape, and a massive chunk of that territory belonged to the Mad Emperor."

"Rumor has it that this Mad Emperor was a terrifying entity. But ultimately, for certain reasons, he was forced to abdicate. Of course... some things are just rumors. Others say the Mad Emperor had actually reached the Summit, and his strength is unfathomable..."

In the entirety of Yueyin, there was only one existence who had reached the Summit.

Those who attained the Summit were legendary figures in the truest sense of the word.

"Do you have more detailed information?"

"I do. I brought quite a few documents on Minhu's history when I left the Family, and a portion of them specifically describes that Mad Emperor. I'll organize them and send them over to you, Xiao Yanzi."

"Alright. Thanks for the hard work, Teacher Shen."

Yan Jing said.

"It's no trouble."

Shen Youran finished her milk. "You're the one working hard."

"Heh."

Yan Jing chuckled. "Want another glass?"

"Yes, yes!"

Shen Youran nodded her head eagerly.

...

...

"Hello?"

Fan Jue answered the phone. On the other end, Chen Dalang's voice rang out.

"Did you manage to recruit Brother Yan?"

"No."

Fan Jue's tone was calm. "Mr. Yan declined my invitation."

"Given the current situation, your Chen Family is probably getting merged into other teams too, right? Our Public Security Association squad from Ling'an has already been folded into the Rainbow City main team, to be subdivided later."

"We have it even worse."

Chen Dalang sounded depressed. "At least you guys get to team up with Rainbow City. We're forced to combine into a single team with the rest of the Eight Great Families."

"All the Eight Great Families together?"

Fan Jue smiled. "That must be pretty noisy."

"It's deafening." Chen Dalang sighed heavily. "We were originally split into three squads, but now we're merged into one. We haven't even gone in yet, and the Third Tier experts are already on the verge of fighting."

"At least our Chen Family produced a Third Tier, so we have some say. Families like the Yan Family and the Mu Family, who don't have a Third Tier, can't even get a word in edgewise."

"If you ask me, there's nothing to argue about. We're just going in to serve as stepping stones for those other teams anyway. We might even end up in the same faction as them. It's a waste of energy."

Hearing Chen Dalang's complaints, Fan Jue fell silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"True. I've heard those two teams coming from the Third Ring Domain and Fourth Ring Domain are far from simple."

"And the two out-of-town teams have long been renowned. The leader of the Longhe City team even has their name on the Player rankings and has already unlocked their own title."

"Rumor has it they rank somewhere in the eight thousands."

"The higher-ups issued strict orders not to let all the benefits go to other cities, so our Public Security Association directly mobilized the strongest person from the previous generation."

Chen Dalang's eyebrows twitched at the news.

"You mean that..."

"Yes, that madman."

Fan Jue nodded.

"Additionally, there's another team this time. The mayor stepped in personally to invite that individual who is unrivaled among their peers in Rainbow City."

"As for the final team, it's led by an investee—the only person in Rainbow City over the past twenty years to score an A-rank in every single Dungeon."

"Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying."

Chen Dalang sighed.

The individuals they spoke of were all people whose backers constantly used Dungeon Postponement Vouchers or selection vouchers to adjust and cultivate them, ensuring they reaped the maximum harvest from every Dungeon.

Furthermore, many of them weren't the type of wealthy heirs who grew up with silver spoons in their mouths...

For instance, the madman from the Public Security Association had fought his way up from a branch in a small, remote city. In the beginning, he had absolutely no backing.

As for the one who was unrivaled among their peers, rumor had it they were born with an extra innate talent, and a highly potent one at that.

People with extra innate talents like that rarely achieved anything short of greatness, which was exactly why the Mu Family had valued Mu Rao so highly back then.

"As long as we can survive the Dungeon, that's enough."

Chen Dalang said. It was hard to tell if he was comforting himself or Fan Jue.

And so it went, right up until the day before entering the Dungeon.

Inner World, evening.

Yan Jing sat in the master chair in the courtyard of the Lin Estate.

Only Fei Yu stood by his side.

Tiger and the Old Man were both holed up indoors—one fiddling with the Dice, the other exercising his body.

Just as Yan Jing yawned, thinking the Prohibited Item wouldn't activate today either, a brilliant azure light suddenly erupted in the distant sky, rapidly expanding toward them.

Every inch of land illuminated by that light seemed to be digitized, with strings of obscure, incomprehensible code rising from the ground.

"It's here."

Yan Jing's eyes lit up.

Soon, the azure light drew close and touched his body.

Like the loading screen on a Computer, the sound of typing on a keyboard rang in his ears. Immediately after, a line of text materialized before Yan Jing's eyes.

[The game is about to begin.]

[The rules for this game are as follows: Divided into three identities......]

[Due to your special identity, you may make a choice: Become a Commander or an Operator.]

[Note: Because a human participant in this game has selected a special option, if you choose to become an Operator, you will temporarily lose your identity as the county magistrate.]

[You have chosen to become a Commander.]

[Initiating blackout processing...]

[Three, two, one.]

The moment the text vanished, four pitch-black Screens seemed to rise simultaneously around Yan Jing, enveloping him within.

A chair materialized behind him.

And in front of him, a transparent light screen appeared.

He touched it with his hand. The icy sensation felt like some sort of Crystal.

Displayed on the light screen was a bird's-eye view of all of Bianliu County and the surrounding regions. Several glowing dots were scattered across it, concentrated in the area of the Lin Estate on North Street in Bianliu County.

The largest black dot among them bore a miniature portrait of his face.

"Young Master, are you alright?"

From outside the Screens, Fei Yu's anxious voice filtered in.