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The constant tremors beneath the Red Cloud Sea startled the disciples from other factions who had come to the Qiling.

“Senior Shen, what is this…?” An elder from the Zhu Mingshan Sect steadied himself and asked with a frown.

What on earth is happening in the Red Cloud Sea? How could it cause such massive tremors? The intensity of it all seemed as if it might overturn the entire Red Cloud Sea.

Shen Yun smiled reassuringly at everyone. “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. It’s just the people of the Red Cloud Sea training their beasts, causing a bit of a commotion. Please don’t take offense.” Training beasts causes such a commotion?

The elder from Zhu Mingshan naturally didn’t believe it.

But the inexperienced disciples didn’t think so deeply; instead, they chattered in astonishment— “What kind of formidable beast are they taming that it could cause the entire Red Cloud Sea to tremble?”

“It must be at least a Nascent Soul-stage spirit beast!”

Shen Yun remained impassive, a smile playing in his eyes. He wasn’t lying; someone was indeed taming a beast. Only, the beast in question was the demonic beast sealed beneath the ocean floor, whose cultivation level was unfathomable.

“Let us focus on the task at hand and proceed with the Spirit-Awaken Ceremony.” Shen Yun clasped his hands before his chest and spoke solemnly: “Behind us lies Spirit Beast Mountain of the Red Cloud Sea. The mountain spans a vast expanse, stretching for a thousand li. The deeper you venture, the more ferocious the spirit beasts become. Everyone, please proceed according to your own capabilities. Remember, you must not take the beasts’ lives, and under no circumstances must you trespass into the beasts’ lairs.”

“Yes!” the disciples shouted in unison.

Since each disciple was accompanied by an experienced elder from their clan or sect, Shen Yun wasn’t particularly worried. He watched as the group of disciples departed.

Among the group, however, there was one person who had come alone, without a guide.

“You… don’t have any elders from your clan to assist you? The spirit beasts of Spirit Beast Mountain aren’t all docile creatures; going alone is likely dangerous.” Shen Yun called out to the person.

The young man turned back. “Are you talking to me?”

He turned his head, and only then did Shen Yun notice that the young man looked to be about eighteen or nineteen, exuding an air of quiet melancholy.

“I’m talking to you.”

“It’s fine, I can handle it.” The young man’s voice was very low, and as he spoke, he stroked the box beside him.

“It’s not about whether you can handle it or not, but aren’t you supposed to have a mentor?” Shen Yun said helplessly. “Spirit Beast Mountain is very dangerous. Which sect or school are you from?”

The young man replied, “I’m a disciple of the Shanning Realm. I’m not being escorted because that person resented me for stealing the spotlight from his own disciple.” His blunt words left Shen Yun momentarily speechless.

The intrigues within sects were countless. The Red Cloud Sea was arguably the most peaceful in this regard, as it had few people, and most spent their time with simple-hearted spirit beasts.

Shen Yun understood, but didn’t know how to console him. So he said, “In that case, I’ll take you to the Spirit Awakening Ceremony.” The quiet young man raised his eyes briefly before lowering them again. “Whatever you say.”

Some who overheard their conversation thought to themselves that the young man was truly fortunate. To be personally escorted to the Spirit Awakening by the Lord of the Red Cloud Sea himself. Shen Yun, however, didn’t find it a bother.

After all, the quality of the first spirit beast one tames has nothing to do with the guide—it all depends on the young man’s own fortune.

What Shen Yuny hadn’t expected was that this young man would be so beloved by the spirit beasts of Spirit Beast Mountain.

Watching the young man, half his body covered in young spirit beasts, Shen Yun was utterly astonished. The young spirit beasts of Spirit Beast Mountain weren’t usually so easy to please.

He was beginning to wonder if the young man had hidden something the spirit beasts loved to eat on his person. Otherwise, how could the cubs like him so much!

This shouldn’t be happening—this shouldn’t be happening!

But the fact was, the young man really didn’t have anything special on him; he was just standing there, and yet many spirit beasts came to him. Shen Yun couldn’t help but speak up: “You…”

Staring at the little beasts clinging to his legs, Shen Yun thought to himself: Senior Shisi was already incredibly remarkable for being able to speak with spirit beasts—how could there be such a gifted youngster in the Spirit Mountain Realm as well!

Is he naturally drawn to spirit beasts?! He wasn’t jealous—not even a little bit!!

A hint of bewilderment flashed in the young man’s composed eyes. “That’s why I didn’t want to come.”

Dragging his legs, which were clinging to the spirit beast cubs, the young man moved forward with difficulty. “I won’t awaken my spirit, Master Shen. You needn’t trouble yourself over me.”

“You won’t awaken your spirit?” Shen Yun said solemnly. “Since the elders of your sect treat you so harshly, you should prove it to them all the more. You have the talent for it.”

“I don’t want to be a beast tamer,” the young man said, lowering his gaze. “Even without taming beasts, there are other paths one can take in this world.”

Shen Yun: “……” He had a point.

With more and more spirit beast cubs gathering, the young man could no longer walk. He simply sat down where he was, hugging his box.

“You don’t need to trouble yourself over me, Master Shen. You should go investigate the source of the tremors in the Red Cloud Sea. That vibration doesn’t sound like someone taming a beast.”

The young man spoke with remarkable calm, as if he already knew the cause of the tremors.

“Thank you, but I really don’t need to go.”

Although he didn’t understand why the young man had said this, Shen Yun certainly didn’t need to worry about the situation beneath the Red Cloud Sea. With Elders Lu Yi and Qin Zhou there, if the demon beast were to turn the tables even now, rushing over wouldn’t do him any good.

The young man looked at him intently and repeated, “You should still go.” 

Shen Yun: ?

“I really don’t need to go.”

The young man seemed to have grown tired of arguing and simply fell silent.

Shen Yun was curious about the box in his hand. “What’s that?” The young man: “A figurine.”

Shen Yun: ?

“A puppet.” The young man lowered his gaze. “I made it myself.”

Shen Yun: “Can I take a look?” The young man shook his head.

Shen Yun: “……”

Rather than having him ask questions all the time, the young man seemed to prefer being alone. Shen Yun noticed this and smiled. “Then I won’t bother you. What’s your name?”

“Yan Qi.”

“Alright.”

It wasn’t until he left Spirit Beast Mountain that Shen Yun realized something was off.

If Yan Qi hadn’t come to Spirit Beast Mountain to tame beasts, then what was he here for? Shen Yun shook his head. Never mind—he’d better head back to Red Cloud Sea to check things out.

Only after Shen Yun had left did Yan Qi slowly open his box. Inside lay several small wooden puppets, neatly arranged.

The quiet young man habitually stroked the puppet’s head. “With the Red Cloud Sea in turmoil, will the demon beasts emerge early?” 

“If they do, what should we do?” A hint of melancholy flashed in the young man’s eyes.

The little puppets remained silent. None of them answered his question.

So the young man raised his hand and infused a thread of spiritual energy into the puppets.

“If they come out, so be it! Saving the world is such a hassle~.”

“But if the monsters escape, a lot of people will die~.” 

“This is so frustrating.~.”

The puppets, as if brought to life, sat in the box and responded one after another to Yan Qi’s words.

Yan Qi scanned from left to right, finally fixing his gaze on the puppet in the far corner, who had remained silent for so long. The now-animated little puppets also turned their eyes toward him, as if asking, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

The loner puppet squirmed uncomfortably: “……”

After a long while, it finally opened its mouth, “If a lot of people are going to die, then… let’s save them.”

Yan Qi shuddered.

The spiritual energy at his fingertips vanished, and all the puppets sank back into their original positions, their vitality extinguished. Clearly, the scene of the puppet speaking moments ago had been nothing more than the reclusive young man’s own amusement.

But this one—the one that had spoken… Yan Qi stared at it intently.

His puppet… had come to life.

Lu San tilted his head slightly and noticed that Yan Qi’s previously calm eyes suddenly sparkled with radiance. It was as if his very existence were a source of delight.

That radiant glow of enthusiasm left Lu San at a loss.

“Would it be better to save it?” Yan Qi cradled the little puppet Lu San in his hands and asked earnestly. 

“Mm-hmm.” Lu San nodded.

“Alright.” Yan Qi tucked Lu San into his chest, then placed all the other little puppets back into the box. This one was alive.

The most special one.

Held in the palm of his hand, Lu San felt unaccustomed to the completely different perspective afforded by his shrunken size.

Because of his size, he had always looked down on his younger siblings. This was the first time he had to look up at someone else.

“Do you have any skills?” Yan Qi examined him for a long time before asking again. 

Lu San: “Blacksmithing.”

Yan Qi was delighted. “Then where are your tools?”

Lu San flipped over and jumped down from Yan Qi’s arms. After rummaging through the box for a while, he finally found the Cosmos Bag, which had shrunk along with him, and said, “Here it is.”

Yan Qi treated it like a treasure. “You’re so amazing,” he praised.

Lu San: “…Thanks.”

When he was little, the village chief used to praise him like that, too. Lu San was very happy.

Yan Qi was also delighted.

So Yan Qi placed Lu San in his arms, tucked him away, and descended Spirit Beast Mountain.

“Now, let’s go take a look at the sea monsters.” 

“Okay.”

The Solitary Nightmare had fainted after all.

Wen Jue didn’t want that thing to overhear his conversation with Qin Zhou, so he exerted a little force to knock the beast unconscious. Only then could he comfortably chat with Qin Zhou.

Qin Zhou recounted most of this world’s plot to him.

“So to find the World Tree, we have to find the Child of the World first?”

According to Qin Zhou’s understanding, the World Tree was the very source of the world. The Child of the World, meanwhile, determined whether the World Tree would flourish or wither. In the Zhutian Realm, he himself could be considered the Child of the World.

In the Spirit Mountain Realm, however, most of the narrative revolves around the “protagonist”—that is, the player. So, from this perspective, the Child of the World should be the “protagonist” that the player embodies.

“I’ve been to Wanling Village. Jin Tongzi left the village two years ago. He may have joined another sect. If we follow the original storyline, it’s not certain that the protagonist will make it here within ten years.”

“If we knew his name, it shouldn’t be hard to find him. We could ask Shen Yun for help,” Wen Jue mused. “We don’t know his name.” That was precisely what Qin Zhou found so tricky.

‘Jin Tongzi’ was the nickname given to the ‘protagonist’ by Wanling Village. The protagonist’s real full name, however, was freely chosen by the ‘player.’ It could be ‘One’ or ‘Two.’

Without knowing the name or appearance, finding a person was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But since this character couldn’t be classified as an NPC, he couldn’t use the Map of Mountains and Rivers to teleport directly to find him.

What Qin Zhou found particularly tricky was that he had absolutely no idea who the “Protagonist” was. Logically speaking, since there were no players in this world, the “Protagonist” shouldn’t exist either.

But… clearly, that’s not the case.

Jin Tongzi had left the village and entered the outside world. That alone proved he existed.

“I’m going out to figure something out. But until then, you’ll have to stay here,” Qin Zhou said.

Wen Jue didn’t seem particularly bothered. “Go ahead. I’ve been locked up in the Immortal Restraint Prison before. Back then, there wasn’t even any ‘fun’ in there, and I still managed to stick it out. It’s not like now, where there’s actually some ‘fun’ to be had.”

By “fun,” he was, of course, referring to the unconscious Duyan.

“You mustn’t get too close to him. The Solitary Nightmare is skilled at confusing people’s minds,” Qin Zhou cautioned. Wen Jue tilted his chin. “Got it.”

Qin Zhou ruffled his hair. “I’ll be going then.” 

“Alright.”

After Qin Zhou left, Wen Jue finally came to his senses and glanced at Duyan, who lay on the ground like a corpse. He hasn’t woken up yet.

With Qin Zhou gone, he found himself bored again. Wen Jue closed his eyes.

Just as he was about to doze off, a stream of black mist suddenly surged from the center of his forehead.

“See? He’s left you here again.”

“He gave you a hairpin before, too, but didn’t he leave you in the end? You can’t trust this man’s words.”

This time, Duyan’s voice came from deep within his heart. Wen Jue opened his eyes.

The voice continued to revel in his mind, “This body is called ‘Lu Yi.’ But is that you? This body has existed in this world for thousands of years. Do you know what other people have lived within it? For the thousands of years he was away from you, he was always with this ‘Lu Yi.’”

“Do you know him? You don’t even know his background—you don’t know where he came from.”

This was the voice of the Solitary Nightmare, yet it was not the Solitary Nightmare.

Wen Jue looked at the black mist lying on the ground, resembling a pool of mud, and thought to himself. He placed a hand over his heart.

This isn’t Duyan. This is his inner demon.

Duyan did indeed possess the power to awaken his inner demon.

Even though he had solemnly sworn to Qin Zhou that he wouldn’t be swayed, he still… Wen Jue closed his eyes.

“It’s useless.”

“I told you, as long as he remains, you will never amount to anything.” A mocking smile curled at the corner of Wen Jue’s lips. He had waited nine thousand years in the Zhutian Realm, and this inner demon still hadn’t managed to devour him, had it?

Not to mention, Qin Zhou has already returned.