The Only Player in ‘Child of Stardust’
Chapter 258 - 175 The Style is a Bit Off

Chapter 258: Chapter 175 The Style is a Bit Off

Behind the scenes trouble?

Zhou Yuan was taken aback.

This unusual event was no small matter, involving a brief convergence between two dimensions.

If someone was truly plotting behind the scenes, that person must possess incredible means.

However, there was no need to worry too much. The Control Bureau’s high-level combat forces must have already entered this world. If they were not fully prepared, they would not issue a notice to summon extraordinary persons to the scene.

Hmm... Thinking deeper, since the Control Bureau had not yet flattened the mansion of the Ghost Market’s master, it indicated that the high-level combat forces were already confronting the mastermind and had no time to act themselves. They had to mobilize other extraordinary persons to go.

The mansion of the Ghost Market’s master surely had many good things.

After some contemplation, Zhou Yuan finally decided: "We’ll go."

Fang Qing nodded slightly towards the pale-faced, red-cheeked vendor:

"Then take me to see the master of the Ghost Market."

[Event detected, generating mission...]

[Mission Name: "Two Worlds"]

[Mission Objective: Destroy the dimension channel maintenance device inside the Ghost Market master’s mansion 0/1]

[Mission Reward 1: Experience Points*800]

[Mission Reward 2: Star Coins*5000]

The system prompt echoed in Zhou Yuan’s mind. The term "dimension channel maintenance device" made him frown silently. This thing didn’t sound like it belonged to this world.

If it were a local creation, the name would probably be more mystical...

·

Before leaving, Fang Qing wordlessly put away the Xuanming Coffin and the spirit tablets, which brought joy to the pale-faced, red-cheeked vendor’s heart. The vendor thought that the deal might actually go through this time.

Although two extremely precious magical treasures were lost, if this ghost king could establish a cooperative relationship with the master of the Ghost Market, the benefits would far surpass the value of those two artifacts.

The pale-faced, red-cheeked vendor hurriedly led the group to the mansion of the Ghost Market’s master. Due to a ban in the Ghost Market, they were not allowed to use horses, flying boats, or other vehicles, so they had to walk.

On the way, Zhou Yuan stopped by a bookstore, intending to buy some books to better understand this world.

He originally wanted to look at cultivation methods, but was told by the shop owner that all the cultivation techniques had just been bought in large quantities by a group of people. Moreover, that group was openly buying all kinds of cultivation methods at high prices, and many cultivators disguised as ghosts couldn’t resist the temptation and sold their cultivation methods.

Zhou Yuan was not surprised by this. Knowledge systems from other worlds were always rare, strategic-level resources coveted by all major forces. It was unclear whether that group was from the Control Bureau or another force.

Since the large stock had been cleaned out, Zhou Yuan could only purchase books like world maps, history books, and legends that were still available in large quantities.

Historical records stated that 100,000 years ago, this world faced a great calamity, teetering on the brink of destruction. At the critical moment, an immortal descended from the heavens, resolving the calamity and saving billions of lives.

Since then, becoming an immortal had become the ultimate goal of all cultivators.

After stopping the world-ending calamity, the immortal used supreme divine skills to move the continental plates, dividing them into five vast continents: east, south, west, north, and central. Each continent was expansive and endless, impossible for mortals to traverse in a lifetime.

The group was currently in a country on the northern edge of the southern region, known as the Great Qian Dynasty. It had been established for over 500 years and was the most powerful dynasty in the area.

The reason for its great power was primarily because the founding emperor of the Great Qian was an Integration Realm cultivator. Such a cultivator in a small corner of the southern region was undoubtedly like a dragon. As long as he lived, the Great Qian would be the most powerful dynasty in that land.

In 500 years, the Great Qian Dynasty had annexed countless weaker dynasties, achieving its current formidable size in the northern part of the southern region.

The reason why the emperor of Great Qian chose to establish a dynasty instead of living a carefree life as a rogue cultivator was simple—he wanted to use the imperial dragon qi to cultivate.

At his level, each step was as difficult as ascending to the heavens. To continue his cultivation, he had to find a unique path. He chose to establish a dynasty to gather the dynasty’s luck, condensing it into the imperial dragon qi to aid his own cultivation.

"Using the dynasty’s luck to aid cultivation isn’t a bad strategy, but if the country is destroyed and the dynasty’s luck scatters, the emperor’s cultivation will suffer backlash, possibly even dropping in realm. In this worldview, it’s a bit of a suicidal path. The dynasty could be toppled by a passing high-level cultivator or destroyed by the aftermath of a high-level battle." Chen Guangxi commented sharply.

"The Great Qian Emperor probably had no other choice. To advance further, he could only take this path. Otherwise, he would face stagnation in cultivation until he died." Zhou Yuan said.

For cultivators, being unable to advance further was a terrifying thing. To prevent this from happening, they were willing to try all possible and impossible methods, at any cost.

Zhou Yuan continued to examine the maps of the various provinces within the Great Qian Dynasty. He finally found the specially marked ghost market in a small corner of a southeastern province.

"Just comparing this, the area of the Great Qian Dynasty alone was probably larger than the entire Earth. This is truly a fantasy world." Zhou Yuan marveled.

Their communication was all in the mental channel, so the pale-faced, red-cheeked vendor couldn’t hear a thing and honestly led the way ahead.

Soon, the pale-faced, red-cheeked vendor brought Zhou Yuan and the other two to the entrance of the Ghost Market master’s mansion.

It scratched its head and mumbled strangely: "Why aren’t the guards here?"

There were always two guards stationed at the mansion entrance, but now there wasn’t a ghost in sight, they seemed to have disappeared.

The vendor paused and then smiled apologetically at Fang Qing: "Please forgive me, Lord. Those two must have sneaked off to slack. I’ll have my uncle remove them from their posts, flay them, and turn them into pills."

It hurriedly pushed open the door and led the three into the mansion.

But eerily, the mansion was completely empty, not a single ghost in sight. The silence was extreme, creating a strange atmosphere. Even the fierce ghost, the pale-faced, red-cheeked vendor, felt a hint of chill and terror.

Recalling carefully, it realized that the closer they got to the mansion, the fewer ghosts there were around...

Where did they all go?

The pale-faced, red-cheeked vendor muttered to itself as it continued to lead the way. Eventually, they reached a spacious hall.

It was also empty, with no traces of anything.

Cold sweat beaded on the vendor’s forehead. Something was very wrong.

"My lord... I don’t know what happened here..."

It hadn’t finished speaking when its eyes widened in shock. A streak of scarlet flashed through the air, leaving a sharp, cutting red line that sliced through the vendor’s body, splitting it in two.

Bang!

It exploded suddenly, disintegrating into ashes.

Fang Qing’s face remained expressionless. Killing such a small fry was like crushing an ant; it was effortless.

Since the mansion had mutated, there was no need to keep this damned vendor alive any longer. Those flower vase girls were all created by this jerk, an erasure well-deserved.

[The Ghost Market master’s mansion is void of any ghosts. What happened here? Let me tell you in detail: That scumbag, the Ghost Market master, squandered, whored, and gambled, accumulating debts of 3.5 billion, and ran off with his sister-in-law!]

Zhou Yuan’s eyelid twitched. Fortunately, the Eyes of Identification provided key information:

[You are not the first extraordinary persons to arrive here. Many others had arrived long before you, and they are currently fighting fiercely in a special space.

To enter that special space, you might want to ask Dache if there’s a way.]

Zhou Yuan glanced at Chen Guangxi, who raised her eyebrow: "What?"

"There’s a special space here. Do you have a way to enter it?" Zhou Yuan asked.

"You could tell? Oh, I see, you must’ve used some nifty tool to find out." Chen Guangxi said, "I’ve been searching for the matching frequency since just now. Don’t disturb me."

After a while.

"Got it." Chen Guangxi chuckled, her eyes glowing silver as she activated a spatial spell.

A dazzling light shone, then dimmed. The surroundings transformed into a shattered palace, with countless enormous fragments floating in a dark void.

The gravity seemed chaotic here, making it hard to discern up from down, left from right, front from back, as if in space.

A large fragment of the palace emitted continuous vibrations and roars. Chaotic energy waves spread like a tsunami from that area—it was undoubtedly the main battlefield.

[The mission objective is there, but first, you must deal with imminent trouble.]

Crack.

The palace fragment on which Zhou Yuan and the others stood suddenly fractured, splitting into three large pieces, each carrying one person, flying rapidly like meteors.

In the blink of an eye, the three were separated, each so far apart they couldn’t see each other.

"Trying to defeat us one by one."

Zhou Yuan sensed a deliberate force separating them.

Whoosh!

A gray light arrow suddenly sliced through the air. Zhou Yuan reacted instantly, pushing off with force. With a loud bang, the palace fragment beneath his feet shattered into countless pieces, scattering like shrapnel.

He propelled himself to another palace fragment, but then a second arrow whistled through the air.

This arrow had immense power, capable of pulverizing the palace fragments into dust with a single strike. However, Zhou Yuan was faster, maneuvering through the fragments with agility, quickly spotting the sniper.

Yet, when he saw the enemy clearly, he was stunned.

A cold, smooth black metal armor covered the entire body. The chest reactor glowed brightly, releasing energy comparable to the sun every second. Engines on the shoulders, back, calves, and soles sprayed flames, helping the wearer to stabilize flight in this chaotic gravity.

It held a stone bow. As the bowstring was drawn, an ebony arrow materialized, its sharp tip gleaming with dangerous black light.

[This is one of the guards of the Ghost Market master’s mansion, now equal to a Tier 4 extraordinary person. The steel armor was given by the master’s mentor, and there are nearly a hundred such guards.

The stone bow is a broken perfect-quality artifact. The arrows it shoots are as heavy as mountains. It’s best not to get hit by one.]

What the hell, Iron Man + Hawkeye?

Zhou Yuan was momentarily bewildered. This was supposed to be a fantasy world full of fierce ghosts. Why on earth were there folks in steel armor?

The style was a bit off.