Chapter 9: Spirit Realm

Chapter 9: The Spirit Realm

Li Dongze chose his words carefully, then said:

“The Spirit Realm is a supernatural force, currently inexplicable by science. Though we have always tried to dissect it, understand it, we still do not have a complete and clear understanding of it. The Spirit Realm exists within reality, yet it is detached from it; only the chosen can enter the Spirit Realm.”

“And the way one is chosen…” He took a sip of wine, a smile playing on his lips. “You should have experienced it by now.”

“That card?” Zhang Yuanqing responded at the opportune moment.

Li Dongze nodded slightly.

“It’s called a Character Card. Those who obtain it will unlock a Trial Mission. Upon passing the trial, they receive a corresponding profession, along with its skills and traits.

“The mechanism by which the Spirit Realm selects Walkers has yet to be figured out, and the method of issuing Character Cards is not fixed. Sometimes it appears directly inside your body; sometimes you pick it up on the roadside; sometimes you accidentally click a link online…

“Completing the Trial Mission is just the beginning. If a Spirit Walker wants to level up and become stronger, they must constantly accept missions and enter the Spirit Realm. But don’t worry—missions don’t appear too frequently, nor are all Spirit Realm scenarios life-threatening. On the contrary, some are quite interesting.

“Take me, for example. I’m a Level 3 Scout. In the past two years, I’ve entered the Spirit Realm once a month, but only entered a solo Spirit Realm once every three months, and I almost died inside it. The rest of the time, I’ve entered multi-player Spirit Realms, which are relatively safer and more interesting. Heh, if you want superpowers, there’s always a price to pay.”

Li Dongze paused, giving Zhang Yuanqing a chance to ask questions.

“So it’s like a game instance?” Zhang Yuanqing offered his own interpretation.

Li Dongze smiled.

“I like talking to young people like you—you have strong comprehension skills and are eager to embrace new things.”

After offering this praise, he nodded.

“That’s right. It’s like playing a game, and the Spirit Realm is the instance. Some instances are solo type, while others are multi-player team or multi-player versus. The solo instances are the most dangerous, with the highest mortality rate.

“Multi-player types are relatively better, divided into death type and penalty type; the latter only deducts a certain amount of experience points.”

Zhang Yuanqing asked curiously, “Why do solo instances have the highest mortality rate?”

Li Dongze pondered a moment. “In multi-player Spirit Realms, you encounter Walkers of other professions. But in solo instances, it’s your own profession’s Spirit Realm. Take the Scout as an example—the abilities of this profession at the Transcendent tier are insight, tracking, and analysis.

“So the three solo Spirit Realms I encountered were: playing detective to solve a case; chasing a villain through the jungle in a mutual hunt; and wilderness survival. Furthermore, for each profession, the Spirit Realm instances differ between the Transcendent tier and the Saint tier.”

My profession is the Night Walker, and I enter horror instances. Phew, thank goodness there are multi-player instances, or I’d be scared to death in the Spirit Realm. Do Saint-tier Spirit Realm instances change? Zhang Yuanqing listened while nodding.

“Lei Yibing’s disappearance—did he enter the Spirit Realm?” Zhang Yuanqing asked in a low voice.

He urgently needed confirmation from an official to verify his guess. If Brother Bing had entered the Spirit Realm, then things weren’t so bad yet.

Li Dongze thought for a moment, then said:

“After Lei Yibing’s strange disappearance, the official personnel from the Hangzhou Police Department took over the case. Their judgment is that Lei Yibing has already died in the Spirit Realm.”

Zhang Yuanqing felt his heart skip a beat, and overwhelming anxiety and panic surged within him. “Why?”

Li Dongze explained, “Because it’s been too long. Normal Spirit Realm instances, at least at the Transcendent tier, range from a few hours to a day or two at most. But Lei Yibing has been missing for four days. The Transcendent tier represents levels 1 to 3.”

“What about above the Transcendent tier?”

“Not sure, but there should be longer instances.”

Maybe Brother Bing is a powerful Spirit Walker… Zhang Yuanqing could only console himself with that thought.

Regarding Brother Bing’s disappearance, at this stage, his abilities and knowledge were destined to be of no help.

In comparison, joining the official organization and then saving himself was the most important thing at hand.

“…Oh, right, before I introduce the official organization, there’s another very important matter.” Li Dongze took a sip of wine to wet his throat. “What’s your Moral Value?”

“60 points—the initial value.” Zhang Yuanqing answered honestly.

Li Dongze nodded. “For a rookie like you, Moral Value is the biggest pitfall. You must remember that.”

“Why do you say that?” Zhang Yuanqing didn’t hide his confusion.

“Remember the note beneath Moral Value?”

Yes, it tells me to be a good person… Zhang Yuanqing nearly put on a serious face.

Li Dongze said with a serious expression:

“The initial value of Moral Value is 60. If it falls below this number, it triggers the Spirit Realm’s punishment mechanism. It will broadcast your location to all Spirit Walkers in the same city and issue a quest to eliminate you.”

…Zhang Yuanqing was dumbfounded and blurted out:

“So I can’t do anything bad for the rest of my life?”

Well, I’m not saying I want to do bad things, but being a saint is too exhausting.

Also, what is the standard for measuring Moral Value? If doing crafts, posting suggestive pictures, or anything counts as moral decay, then he’s doomed for life.

Li Dongze laughed, seemingly enjoying the rookie’s expression, and said slowly:

“No need to be so nervous. According to our observations, if a Spirit Walker steals, robs, injures someone… depending on the severity, they lose 1 to 5 points of Moral Value. Killing someone deducts 10 points. Causing serious consequences, multiple casualties, deducts corresponding Moral Value based on the severity.

“As for losses in personal morality, they don’t affect Moral Value. Also, while Moral Value can be deducted, it can also be accumulated. That’s why I said to be a good person.”

This mechanism sounds like it was deliberately designed to restrain Spirit Walkers, but why does the Spirit Realm need to restrain Walkers?

Morality, like law, is something humans created to maintain order. In the natural world, aside from humans, no other beings need these things.

In other words, unless the Spirit Realm’s stance is pro-human, the existence of Moral Value seems somewhat unreasonable.

But the Spirit Realm is a supernatural phenomenon.

Zhang Yuanqing instinctively felt this restriction was unreasonable, but since Li Dongze hadn’t explained it, it meant he didn’t know the reason either.

From the conversation just now, it was clear that the officials had limited understanding of the Spirit Realm.

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly realized, “I see. No wonder it’s a big pitfall for rookies. So how do you accumulate Moral Value?”

After obtaining superpowers, rookies often use them to do things they wanted to do before but couldn’t, like seeking wealth.

And the quick ways to make money are all written in the penal code.

There’s also the matter of skipping out on bills… Hmm, I wonder if helping impoverished young ladies would lower Moral Value? In the Spirit Realm’s definition, is that a personal moral failing or illegal?

Zhang Yuanqing didn’t dare ask this question—they weren’t familiar enough yet, and he didn’t want to leave a bad impression on his future leader.

“Accumulating Moral Value is as simple as lowering it: just do good deeds. In fact, many Spirit Walkers from evil organizations are keen on charity and donations, because that’s the fastest way to stockpile Moral Value. As long as you have enough money, you can kill without restraint.” Li Dongze snorted.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it? You never know what faces are behind those who do charity. And even more ironic is that human lives can be measured in money. That’s how reality is, and that’s how the Spirit Realm is.

“Also, killing between Spirit Walkers does not deduct Moral Value.”

Once Zhang Yuanqing had initially digested this information, Li Dongze continued:

“Next, let’s talk about the official organization.

“The official organization we belong to is called the Five Elements Alliance. It consists of five major factions: the Hundred Flowers Society, the White Tiger Soldiers, the Crimson Fire Gang, the Water God Palace, and the Central Court. These five factions represent five professions: Wood Demons, Scouts, Fire Masters, Water Ghosts, and Earth Monsters.”

Zhang Yuanqing couldn’t help but mock inwardly: The official organization sure is a bunch of strange beings.

“Besides the Five Elements Alliance, there are a few other organizations with official backgrounds. I’ll send you the information in a file later.” Li Dongze fumbled with his wine glass, saying:

“The five major organizations within the Five Elements Alliance formed an alliance only in the last twenty years. Before that, they each governed themselves and weren’t on good terms. This involves the generation and restraint of the Five Elements, as well as differences in the habits of the professions.”

Li Dongze took a sip of wine and shrugged. “Take the Wood Demons of the Hundred Flowers Society, for example. They are a bunch of extreme environmentalists and animal protection association members. Good heavens, they even tried to push the Five Elements Alliance headquarters to issue a regulation forbidding members from eating dog meat. Even God isn’t as crazy as them. Every time I see their sickly faces fawning over animals, I can’t help but want to kick their butts with my leather shoes.”

Next, Li Dongze severely criticized the four professions besides the White Tiger Soldiers.

This gave Zhang Yuanqing a more intuitive understanding of the other organizations in the Five Elements Alliance: for instance, the Crimson Fire Gang, which would rather act than talk; and the Water God Palace, with its gloomy temperament and penchant for cultivating viruses and bacteria.

For example, the local tycoons of Zhongting who engage in real estate and mining development.

“Only our White Tiger Legion’s scouts, with their wisdom, calmness, and courage, are the perfect profession.” Li Dongze concluded.

Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself, ‘Would the other four major organizations agree with your statement?’

“Ha, the more we talk, the more it sounds like a game, right? Within the Five Elements Alliance, some also refer to the Spirit Realm as the ‘game server’. Spirit Realm Walkers have character panels, items, and must complete quests, and the different Spirit Realms are like different instances. Additionally, it has different professions: the people of Red Fire Gang are reckless and impulsive, like to promote violence, just like berserkers. The people of Water Spirit Palace have water control abilities, and are water mages. Flower Society can keep pets and heal wounds; they are priests and summoners. The people of Zhongting are thick-skinned and sturdy, typical MTs.”

Zhang Yuanqing couldn’t help but tease:

“So are your scouts like the wards that cost seventy-five gold each in games?”

Li Dongze was taken aback, tightened his grip on the handle of his cane, and said expressionlessly:

“If I were a Fire Master from the Red Fire Gang, I would have already bashed your dog head in with one blow.”

“I’m sorry!” Zhang Yuanqing promptly apologized.

After the joke, the atmosphere between them became more cordial, and Li Dongze laughed:

“Once you pass the Transcendent stage, scouts will possess extremely strong individual combat capabilities. I say this is a near-perfect profession, and I’m not boasting.

“Of course, among the orthodox professions, the Night Wanderer is recognized as the strongest. Well, I mean orthodox professions, not evil ones. Even we scouts have to admit that the Night Wanderer is a bit more perfect than us.”

Ah? Are Night Wanderers really that strong, can they take on ten people… Zhang Yuanqing felt delighted: “Can you tell me about the Night Wanderer profession?”

Li Dongze chuckled softly, but understood the young man’s admiration for strength, and said:

“In the early Transcendent stage, Night Wanderers can already display extremely strong assassination capabilities, and their burst damage is quite considerable. In addition, they have the ability to communicate with souls, refine corpses, and control spirits. Their skills are diverse and their combat power is formidable.

“However, the number of Night Wanderers is extremely scarce. Currently, the Songhai City branch has no Night Wanderers. This is because there are too few Night Wanderer trial spirit realms in Songhai, and also because the Taiyi Sect in the capital keeps recruiting Night Wanderers from all over the country.”

With that, he naturally asked about the new employee’s profession, saying:

“What is your profession? I hope you’re not a Fire Master. I hate rude and irritable young people the most.”

……