Chapter 462: The Dungeon Begins

Yueyin, First Ring Domain.

"I expect every single one of you to finish in the top ten of this qualifying tournament."

Veiled in white gauze, the woman delivered her final instructions to the six people before her.

"Understood."

The group nodded.

Although they had suffered setbacks in the matches a few days prior, none of them had revealed their trump cards.

Moreover, the woman before them had put them through extra training over the past few days.

Now, facing the upcoming dungeon, everyone brimmed with confidence.

"Good. The rest of you may leave. Yicheng, stay."

The others filed out of the room, leaving only the man in the black trench coat. He looked toward her.

From beneath the sheer veil, the figure spoke softly. "Yicheng, your task this time..."

"...is to take first place in the qualifying tournament."

"This involves a bet between myself and the other two. Remember: no matter what, you must take first place."

She slowly walked over to him. The trailing white gauze seemed to wrap around him, as gentle as moonlight.

Their eyes met through the thin veil.

The figure repeated softly, "No matter what."

"Understood," Yicheng said.

The man nodded.

Then, he turned and walked out the door.

He pushed the door open, stepping into a corridor where bright moonlight spilled through the windows onto the floor.

As he rounded a corner, he found Sheng Xia standing by a window, her hands resting on the sill as she gazed outside.

Seeing Wan Yicheng approach, she turned to him with a smile. "Brother Wan, you gave me a signal to stay behind earlier. What for?"

Wan Yicheng smiled. "Xiao Xia, I wanted to ask your opinion on that Yan Jing. I've heard quite a few rumors lately. It seems a lot has happened between the two of you."

Sheng Xia chuckled. "Are you worried about Mr. Yan, Brother Wan?"

"He's alright, honestly. While he is certainly strong, he's still a bit lacking compared to you."

"Brother Wan, you are only one step away from reaching the Summit, lacking only the cohesion of the heart of reaching the summit. You don't need to worry about him too much."

"If anything, I'm the one who should be worried."

Sheng Xia gave a self-deprecating smile. "He and I agreed to a fight. If I really can't beat him, I might fail my mission."

Hearing her tone when mentioning Yan Jing, Wan Yicheng frowned. "Xiao Xia, that person issued an absolute order this time."

"I know. I'll go all out."

Sheng Xia nodded, then grinned at him. "If I'm really on the verge of being eliminated, I still have you and the others to back me up, don't I?"

Wan Yicheng's expression finally softened. "Yeah. Don't worry, we're here."

"Enough about that," Sheng Xia said with a laugh. "What did she want to talk to you about just now?"

"Nothing much. She just gave me an extra assignment," Wan Yicheng replied, his face impassive.

"Oh, I see."

Sheng Xia shot him a knowing look and winked.

Their group had grown up together and shared a deep, unspoken understanding. Wan Yicheng immediately caught her meaning, and his voice darkened. "Don't get crazy ideas, Xiao Xia."

"I didn't! I didn't think anything, don't talk nonsense."

Sheng Xia blinked slyly before darting away down the hall.

Stopping at the end of the corridor, she waved back at him. "I'm heading back!"

Watching her figure disappear, the corners of Wan Yicheng's mouth curled up involuntarily.

He turned his head, looking out at the moonlight beyond the window.

"First place... Yan Jing..."

He murmured softly, his breath condensing into frost under the moonlight. The calm in his eyes gradually morphed into killing intent. In the next second, carried by a gust of wind, his figure vanished from the spot.

"Is there anyone who doesn't want to sign?"

Yan Jing stood up and looked at the crowd gathered around him.

Staring at the servitude contracts in their hands, the group swallowed hard.

Even if they genuinely didn't want to sign, no one was foolish enough to step forward right now.

In the end, under Yan Jing's smiling gaze, they all drank the transparent potion he had distributed.

The moment they swallowed it, everyone instantly felt a peculiar substance latch onto their hearts.

"You actually managed to get your hands on this?"

Ning Wei recognized the potion. It was a standard-issue concoction from the Heavenly Kingdom, an absolute contraband item from the Great Prison.

Now, the lives of everyone present were effectively resting in Yan Jing's hands.

"It wasn't too hard," Yan Jing smiled.

Minhu and the Heavenly Kingdom had now become the two major pillars of support behind him.

Minhu provided the raw materials, the Heavenly Kingdom converted them into money and technology, and those resources were fed back into Minhu.

Backed by two geese that laid golden eggs, it was no exaggeration to say that Yan Jing lacked for nothing, especially money.

Coupled with Xiao Xin handling item deliveries, Yan Jing could establish his own faction in any domain in an extremely short amount of time.

"The name's just a bit weird, though..." Ning Wei looked at the crude badge in his hand. "Tianque... What kind of strange name is that?"

"That's the intern version. It can be revoked at any time," Yan Jing joked. "Alright, I'll now issue Tianque's first mission."

"Everyone, write down every location you've been to on a piece of paper, and we'll consolidate the information."

"You can add notes next to any location, detailing what you encountered there, things to watch out for, and so on."

"Once you're done, hand them all over to Wuercha."

"Then, Wuercha, you'll lead a team to draft a complete map based on that data."

"Understood." Wuercha nodded with a serious expression.

Half an hour later.

Yan Jing collected the finished map from Wuercha's group.

Compared to the map he had originally received, this one was vastly more expansive.

It detailed a full nine regions, each accompanied by thorough notes.

Particularly noteworthy details were even highlighted in red.

"Excellent."

Yan Jing nodded in satisfaction; this would save them a significant amount of time.

"Next up is the second mission."

"Over the next few days, we'll split up into groups. I need you to bury these items back in the regions you came from."

Looking at the heavily aged items distributed to them, the crowd felt thoroughly baffled.

To say these items were worthless wouldn't be accurate—each piece reeked of antiquity and was engraved with obscure symbols and mysterious incantations, clearly dating back hundreds of years at the very least.

But to say they were valuable...

They were obviously just cheap junk you could find anywhere.

Nevertheless, everyone readily agreed to the task.

Just as Yan Jing was preparing to emphasize the precautions, a terrifying roar abruptly exploded in the distance.

The crowd jerked their heads up in horror, looking toward the massive volcano in the distance that had begun to tremble violently.

Billowing plumes of thick smoke squeezed out of the crater, rocketing into the sky. Massive clouds of ash swept out in all directions in a mighty wave, accompanied by an intense, orange-red glow.

The next second, volatile magma erupted violently. Like a stone dropped into a placid lake, the volcano fully awakened. The ravines crisscrossing its slopes rapidly expanded, and those glowing "veins" swelled with frightening speed.

Magma churned with ash, quickly flooding the wilderness before them and closing in on their location.

"Something's wrong, my lord. The activity wasn't this massive a few days ago."

Wuercha spoke up, panic flashing in his eyes.

Yan Jing's expression remained perfectly calm.

He knew the issue wasn't with Wuercha's observations; the God Storage Land was reviving.

Certain special existences had returned. Along with their reappearance, these dead zones—which had long lost their ancient power—were once again displaying the terrifying might of their peak.

He looked toward the distant peak. Faintly, amidst the billowing smoke and dust, he spotted a crimson figure. The entity possessed an imposing, unyielding aura, and it was looking right at them. Its gaze felt sharp enough to reap a life across the distance.

"Be careful over the next few days,"

Yan Jing said with a chuckle. "Let's not get in the way of other people's business."

Hearing this, the crowd exchanged bewildered glances.

They had no idea who Yan Jing was referring to.

And so it went, until two days later.

On this day, Yan Jing restricted the group's movements.

They were currently holed up inside a deep pit in the Rocky Mountain Wilderness.

Yan Jing had dug it out himself, punch by punch. The interior featured several layers of intricate designs, forming a complex layout. The entrance was intentionally concealed using the Painting Spirit's ability.

Once everything was arranged, Yan Jing logged out of the Inner World.

"Hello, Teacher Shen. Have you contacted everyone on your end?"

Yan Jing asked with a smile.

Forming a team required reporting a six-person roster in advance. Yan Jing had decided on his candidates a long time ago.

—

—

"They're ready."

Shen Youran's voice came through the line. "Qi Ming, Zhou Xian, Dongchuan, and Mo Lian. The problem is, Xiao Yanzi, the person you arranged for doesn't seem to have arrived yet."

"She still isn't there?"

Yan Jing paused in surprise, then said, "Teacher Shen, pull all of us into a group chat. I'll transfer a sum of money to you shortly. Take a few days to rest up, and stay safe. I'll handle the rest."

"You just focus on relaxing."

Hanging up, Yan Jing immediately dialed another number. "Miss Wang, why haven't you arrived yet?"

Wang Gang's boisterous voice sounded from the other end, her tone frantic. "I'm almost there, I'm almost there! I got a little lost. You guys have way too many rules over here; you can't blame me for this!"

"Where are you? I'll send someone to pick you up."

Yan Jing let out a sigh.

"I... I-I'm on some place called Rainbow Road."

"Alright, just stay put and wait."

Yan Jing ended the call and reached out to Zhou Zimo, Wang Changnian's secretary, to give her a heads-up.

He asked her to send someone to pick Wang Gang up.

He currently held an official post in the Rainbow City Municipal Government, so a minor matter like this was naturally effortless to arrange.

A few minutes later, he received a message confirming that she had been picked up.

The six of them were pulled into a group chat; the roster was finally assembled.

Qi Ming, Zhou Xian, Mo Lian, Wang Gang, and Zhao Dongchuan. This was the team Yan Jing had put together this time.

He was familiar with everyone here and could trust them.

He didn't need them to pull off any miraculous feats to turn the tide of battle; as long as they followed orders, that would be enough.

Moreover, Yan Jing had specifically put them through a fair amount of special training recently.

Even Wang Gang had received some Heavenly Kingdom items in the mail from him after they got in touch.

During their last dungeon run, he had noticed that Wang Gang seemed highly interested in the Heavenly Kingdom's technology.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Someone had sent a message in the group chat.

Yan Jing opened his phone.

[Commander Wang: Captain, what's our objective this time?]

Wang Gang was the last person Yan Jing had invited to the team. In order to get her into the dungeon, he had even asked Wang Changnian to find a seed player from the Fifth Ring Domain who wasn't eager to participate. After paying a hefty sum in compensation, they had seamlessly swapped Wang Gang into the slot.

As for Qi Ming and Mo Lian, they had secured their spots the hard way by defeating two seed players themselves.

[Yan Jing: Do you want the truth or a lie?]

[Wang Gang: ???]

[Wang Gang: The truth, obviously.]

[Yan Jing: To kill them all.]