Life Game In Other World
Chapter 499: It’s Here (A Big - for Monthly Passes)

Chapter 499: Chapter 499: It’s Here (A Big Chapter for Monthly Passes)

"What do you mean by ’pretty good-looking’?"

He Ao looked at his disciple with confusion before he directly walked out of the inner room.

The courtyard of the martial arts academy was not large; almost the moment He Ao stepped out of the door, he saw the person standing at the entrance.

It was a girl who looked to be around eighteen or nineteen, with an oval-shaped face and a high ponytail.

She had a tall and straight figure, wore wide-leg pants that covered her slender legs under their loose fit, and a long-sleeved pure white shirt with a cartoon logo imprinted on the front.

As she saw He Ao coming out, she greeted him in Central Earth language, "Hello."

He Ao took three steps in two strides to her side, giving her face a closer look.

The girl’s features were not the standard of the Western Lands, but she was clearly not a pure Central Earth descent either. She had a pair of beautiful and rare brownish-red eyes, and her hair was black-brown.

She looked like a mix of Central Earth and Western Lands descent.

"May I ask if you are Mr. Hong Long?"

The girl looked at He Ao somewhat strangely, "You’re younger than I had imagined."

"Are you here to challenge the academy?"

He Ao also looked at her with some confusion.

The girl’s skin was not delicate, but had that tightness of muscles tensed from training. Her complexion tended toward the wheatish hue of skin weathered by sun and rain, only not as dark, and did not appear black.

She seemed to have undergone training.

He Ao felt a vigorous vitality radiating from her, like flames leaping towards him.

"I am not,"

the girl shook her head and emphasized, "I’m only here to ’spar’. I’ve heard Mr. Hong Long is highly skilled in martial arts, and I’ve come specifically to spar. I’m not here to throw down a challenge,"

She hesitated for a moment, then added in a quiet voice, "However, if I win the ’spar’, I hope you could cover me for two..."

She paused, looking carefully at He Ao and continued, "a meal."

?

The girl’s request gave He Ao the impression she might be short on money for food.

Accessing his Divine Sense, He Ao took a quick glance at the girl, while explaining softly, "My name is He Ao. I have been entrusted by Mr. Hong Long to temporarily manage this martial arts academy. Mr. Hong Long is injured and is currently recuperating in the hospital, so he probably won’t be able to spar with you,"

He gestured towards the outside as he spoke, "If you are hungry though, I can buy you a meal."

Under the view of Divine Sense, the girl’s body did not have energy flowing as obviously as a Transcendent, but there were faint, hazy traces of ’Energy Mist’ between her limbs.

This indicated that she had achieved the Body Tempering effect through some method and had integrated the energy into her body.

There is also energy dispersed in the main world, albeit only present at daybreak.

But without having encountered transcendent powers and relying solely on absorbing the energy at daybreak, achieving this effect would be very difficult.

It probably required more than a decade of unrelenting cultivation, innate talent of considerable caliber, and a fairly suitable training method.

The Research Institute’s data showed that training in the main world’s martial techniques could also absorb some energy into the body, but most methods had incredibly low efficiency with negligible effects.

Gauging from the girl’s cultivation results, her method of cultivation had begun to resemble martial arts, somewhat close to the Body Tempering Technique Regit once practiced. However, the effects of her training were not as uniformly powerful as those achieved by the Body Tempering Technique, equal to an incomplete version of it.

This was the first time He Ao had encountered a practice method close to Martial Arts Training in the main world.

"There’s no need,"

the girl waved her hand, "since Mr. Hong Long is not here, I will come back another day."

She made a farewell bow in the Central Earth style to He Ao, turned, and was about to walk away.

He Ao last saw this gesture in a period drama, but such a courtesy is said to be quite popular in some more traditional martial arts schools.

Seeing that she was determined to leave, He Ao didn’t try to keep her, but instead asked for her name.

"My name is Elfia," the girl said to He Ao, "You can also call me by my Central Earth name, which my father gave me,"

She paused briefly, then continued, "Li Dalì."

He Ao looked at Elfia’s somewhat cute face and chuckled softly, "When your esteemed father named you this, he probably didn’t quite understand Central Earth language."

"Indeed," Elfia’s face turned red, "At that time, my father hadn’t been married to my mother for long; he just hoped that I would be strong enough to provide for myself in the future."

Then she bowed towards He Ao, "I’ll trouble you to relay my visit to Mr. Hong Long, I’ll come to visit again in a few days. It’s getting late now, so I should head to the next martial arts school."

"You don’t necessarily have to spar with Mr. Hong Long," He Ao pointed to the disciples behind him, "All of these are Mr. Hong Long’s disciples, you can spar with them."

Hearing He Ao’s words, Elfia looked up at the disciples around her, then shook her head seriously, "They are too weak."

Fortunately, the people around her didn’t understand Central Earth language, otherwise, this young lady’s words would probably max out their hostility.

So sparring isn’t for earning a living?

He Ao asked with some curiosity, "So, what is the purpose of your sparring?"

Elfia’s expression grew serious, and she looked solemnly at He Ao,

"To break through the limits of humanity."

The sunlight fell on her face, making her look dignified and resolute.

She smiled and then said, "You might not believe this, but my martial arts cultivation has not grown for a long time.

"According to my father, I may have already touched the limits that a mortal can reach, so I look for powerful martial artists to challenge in hopes of breaking through that limit in combat."

As she spoke, she shook her head and chuckled, as if she had already been doubted many times and somewhat regretted mentioning these things here.

At that moment, she heard He Ao’s calm voice, "I can sympathize with that feeling."

She looked up to see the young man in front of her, who looked to be about her age.

Due to racial differences, Central Earth people tend to look younger in the Western Lands, and with He Ao’s good skin, from the perspective of the Western Lands’ residents, he looked like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy.

Having lived in Central Earth for a long time, Elfia could clearly feel that the young man in front of her seemed to be about her age.

On this young man, she didn’t sense the kind of presence that one who had practiced martial arts for many years should have.

In fact, He Ao just looked like an ordinary person.

But the tone in which He Ao spoke had that sense of weariness from experiencing the vicissitudes of life, an inability to break through over the years, which even resonated with Elfia.

So, for a moment, she couldn’t tell whether He Ao was just consoling her or if he truly had similar experiences.

"Thank you," in the end, she thought He Ao might just be comforting her, she bowed to him to express her gratitude, then said softly, "Young man, it’s getting late, I’ll come another day."

He Ao didn’t stop her, but simply watched her leave.

Although he was curious about Elfia’s method of martial arts training, it was merely curiosity and he didn’t feel the urge to probe further. Moreover, approaching her forcefully would only make him seem suspicious.

If fate allows, they will meet again.

However, the girl’s arrival made He Ao realize something; the practice of martial arts in the main world is not a blank slate, and even in an era of scarce transcendent energy, some have still reached the threshold of martial arts.

Perhaps he should gather some related materials through the Research Institute.

However, the world of the Transcendent that lies beyond the human limits Elfia seeks is not that wonderful.

After Elfia left, He Ao returned to the inner room, glanced at the room Mr. Hong Long had arranged for him, charged his phone for a while, bid farewell to the disciples in the yard, and then left the martial arts school.

The remaining disciples would stay at the martial arts school until ten o’clock and then head home together. As long as He Ao returned before ten o’clock that night, it would be fine.

It was now close to noon, and the streets were dotted with sparse crowds of people walking about.

The surrounding small restaurants were all full of people.

Though Eren was the capital of the Rodan Republic, its cityscape felt to He Ao not unlike that of a small city district in Central Earth.

Moreover, the streets showed signs of disrepair due to age, appearing somewhat dilapidated, with only the city center being busier.

An old, slow-moving electric bus trundled past He Ao.

Up ahead on the street, a rich aroma wafted into He Ao’s nostrils.

It was the smell of grilled steak.

Grilled steak is a local specialty in Rodan, where a large piece of marinated steak is skewered with an iron rod, placed in a charcoal grill, and continuously seasoned with a variety of spices as it cooks.

Once done, it’s taken out of the grill, sliced with a special wide knife, caught with a plate, and sold fresh off the cut.

When first pulled from the grill, the steak looked charred and unappealing, but once sliced, the edges were blackened while the inside was a tender pink, steam rising, juices overflowing, it looked utterly irresistible.

The sliced steak would not be given directly to the customers; depending on their preferences, they could have black pepper, crushed peanuts, or other ingredients sprinkled on top before it was handed over.

The smell was truly tantalizing; He Ao picked a busier restaurant, ordered two steaks, paid with a card, and then sat at an old table by the entrance, watching the passing crowd and leisurely finished his steak.

Generally, the area around the opening of a relic passage would see a rise in Transcendent energy concentration, and the frequency of strange events would be higher.

This time, He Ao’s main mission was to find something akin to a ’Space-Time Anchor’.

The Research Institute’s findings suggested that these Space-Time Anchors seemed to be coordinates by which relics could locate the main world; relics would first project the Space-Time Anchor over, then pinpoint their location precisely through it.

According to the agreement signed by the major Transcendent organizations, in public boundary areas like the Rodan Republic, whoever obtained the Space-Time Anchor would get most of the entry slots.

In essence, the organizations mostly abided by this agreement, not because they had all suddenly become civilized, but because the passage could only be successfully opened within the range of the Space-Time Anchor.

In a certain sense, this meant the Space-Time Anchor was the ’key’ to the relic passage.

The person with the Space-Time Anchor couldn’t allocate slots by force, but they could prevent the passage from opening, blocking everyone from entering the relic.

It was this terrifying balance that lent the agreement its practical power.

Of course, finding the Space-Time Anchor was not an easy task; in fact, it was a hypothetical concept that could manifest in various forms, attached to different items.

For instance, the large platform on which He Ao and his team had stood during the last relic opening was actually the Space-Time Anchor.

Most times, the Space-Time Anchor would be attached to some unusual objects, and sometimes it was an entire building.

In such cases, the difficulty of seizing the Space-Time Anchor would increase.

Thus, Yang De told He Ao to do the best he could but to decisively give up if it wasn’t possible.

Of course, He Ao also had some other plans, but no matter the plan, a suitable entry point was needed.

The Space-Time Anchor was one of the most appropriate entry points.

According to the information Yang De had given him, the Space-Time Anchor was very special; being near it or touching it would let one distinctly feel the presence of the relic.

After eating his fill, He Ao bought a bottle of cola and began strolling through the streets.

The problem now was how to find the Space-Time Anchor.

Yang De had provided the Research Institute’s estimated range of where the passage might appear, roughly in the South City area of Eren.

Based on previous experience, the Space-Time Anchor would appear within this range, likely within the next couple of days.

He Ao had arrived somewhat late; Moonlight had a strong presence here and was probably already searching for the Space-Time Anchor.

Such matters were purely a matter of luck.

However, as of now, it seemed Moonlight had not yet secured the Space-Time Anchor.

Although the Rodan Republic was within the sphere of influence extended from the Tia Empire, it was ultimately located in the Western Lands, far from the Tia Empire itself.

If Moonlight had obtained the Space-Time Anchor, their first reaction would be to try to transport it back to the Tia Empire, ensuring the Anchor’s safety and that it wouldn’t get stolen.

This would definitely alert the intelligence system of the Research Institute in the Tia Empire.

Moreover, some of Moonlight’s staff, including two who seemed to be the leaders of C-level, were wiped out by He Ao last night, so the manpower coming to look for the Spacetime Beacon might not be enough.

Therefore, He Ao speculated that there was a high probability that the Spacetime Beacon had not yet been discovered.

However, the Rodan Republic not only has people from Moonlight but also those from World Tree and Daybreak.

There might even be other small Transcendent organizations that heard the news and decided to show up.

They may not be without information on the Spacetime Beacon.

The current situation was basically a murky mess.

He Ao took a sip of Coke.

If the location of this Spacetime Beacon appeared to be simple, just situated somewhere easy to find, then it was purely a matter of luck.

Statistically speaking, in this case, the more people searching and the more places they could cover, the higher the probability of finding the beacon, and the Research Institute, with fewer people and weaker forces, would be at a disadvantage.

It wasn’t a complete loss, though, as He Ao could also keep an eye on those organizations to see if he could play the opportunist.

The more forces there were, the murkier the waters, and the greater the chance of fishing in troubled waters.

Of course, if this time’s Spacetime Beacon was hidden in a particularly hard-to-find place, that would be even more interesting.

He Ao hadn’t walked far when he saw a secluded alley up ahead cordoned off by police tape.

Even from this distance, He Ao could still smell a faint scent of blood.

Outside the cordon stood one of He Ao’s ’acquaintances’, the gendarmerie captain who had just visited the martial arts gym.

He Ao walked into a convenience store nearby, exchanged some cash with his credit card, bought two packs of the most expensive cigarettes, and then approached the gendarmerie captain.

"Bro, what happened?"

He Ao handed over the cigarettes.

The gendarmerie captain turned his head, glanced at He Ao.

He had a deep impression of this young man from Central Earth who ’fired a gun in self-defense’ and spoke fluent Tia Empire language. He took the cigarettes from He Ao’s hand, opened the pack, lit one, and put it in his mouth,

"Murder case, nothing interesting to see here, move along, don’t hang around this area," he said.

"Alright."

He Ao smiled, nodded, and took the chance to glance behind the gendarmerie captain into the alley.

At that moment, several gendarmes were collecting evidence and investigating inside the alley.

A blurry humanoid corpse lay on the ground, its blood covering the floor.

The alley was dark, and even at noon, there was little light.

Looking at the position the victim fell, it seemed as if they had fallen while sprinting and then never got up again.

He Ao briefly activated Super Memory, scanning the details within the alley.

The victim’s soul had completely dissipated, which did not match the normal rate of soul dispersion after death, and within the dried blood on the ground, there was a small area where the traces were different from the rest.

He Ao pieced together these different traces in his mind, which looked like some kind of writing, a message possibly left by the victim.

He turned to bid farewell to the gendarmerie captain and continued walking forward. At the same time, he took out his phone, opened the translator app, and hand-wrote those few characters into it.

It was the local language of Rodan.

The translator quickly converted those few characters into the language of Central Earth,

[It’s here]