The Chaos is About to Begin
"The Ancient Vault of the Ghost Path is the carrier of the Path of Ghosts. Most of those who step onto the Path of Ghosts can control ghosts and seek souls. Their methods are extremely mysterious and sinister... If nothing unexpected happens, someone in this era should have already stepped onto the Path of Ghosts. Little Junior Brother, you are also in Tianshu Domain. If you encounter him, be sure to be careful!"
"Originally we were worried about you and wanted to go take a stroll in Tianshu Domain, but Master recently hasn't allowed us to leave the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path, so the few of us discussed it and stole something for you from the depths of the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path. It's right in the Envelope..."
"Keep this thing with you at all times. The usage method is written inside. If Little Junior Brother, you need it, you can use it directly."
"In addition, everything is well in the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path recently, Little Junior Brother, you don't need to worry."
"—— First Senior Brother, Ning Ruyu."
After reading this letter, a feeling of warmth emerged in Chen Ling's heart.
He didn't hesitate to fight his way into the Fifth-Tier battlefield of the Young Sect Leader and The Assassin just to snatch this letter back, because this was the heart of all his senior brothers and Senior Sister... Facts proved that all of this was worth it.
Chen Ling picked up the Envelope again, felt around inside for a while, and soon pulled out a flat thing that looked like a Cloth Bag.
Chen Ling opened the Cloth Bag. There was a small slip of paper inside. After glancing at the text on it, a look of pleasant surprise surfaced on him.
He closed the Cloth Bag again, kept it close to his body, and then began to pick up pen and paper to write a reply to his senior brothers.
Rustle—
The candle flame of the oil lamp flickered in the starlight,
The tip of the pen scratched across the flat letter paper, branding safety and longing onto it, Every Single Word full of sincerity.
...
Two days later.
Clatter— Clatter—
An inner-city train sped along the tracks within Tianshu Domain.
There were only a few seats in the carriage. Most people stood on both sides, holding onto the swaying rings above with their hands to stabilize their figures. There were also some people leaning against the metal poles by the edge of the train windows, whispering to each other.
Chen Ling held onto the metal pole with one hand, his other empty sleeve swaying gently with the train's starting and stopping. Seeing this, the other passengers around silently made a small piece of space for him, extremely considerate of this "disabled person".
Chen Ling's expression was incredibly subtle.
Not long ago in the Timeline Save File, he confidently said that he would never need to squeeze into the subway again in the future. As a result, in the blink of an eye after arriving in Tianshu Domain, he still couldn't escape the destiny of the subway... The good news was, this time there really wasn't anyone "squeezing" him around him. In terms of humanistic care, Tianshu Domain obviously did a very good job.
"So... everyone on this train is going to compete for the [Heaven-Reaching Star Position]?" Chen Ling spoke in a deep voice.
"Oh, that's not it." Jian Changsheng stood at the side, rapidly flipping through the manual issued by the organizers. "This is just an ordinary train. We need to arrive at the Old District before sunset, and transferring trains is the fastest method."
"Doesn't the competition for the [Heaven-Reaching Star Position] start today?"
"Yeah."
"Then why are we going to the Old District?"
"... You really didn't look at this manual at all." Jian Changsheng clicked his tongue, explaining patiently, "The start time of the trial is twelve o'clock midnight today, lasting for a total of 48 hours, and the scope of the competition is right in the Old District of Tianshu Domain..."
"That's quite different from what I imagined."
"? What did you imagine it to be like?"
"In novels, for this kind of big tournament, shouldn't various big shots join hands to open up a small world, and then send everyone in all at once? And conveniently have remote spectating as well."
"... You're mixing up genres. In this era, who can open up a small world specifically for you? And with all the fighting and killing, who are you remote spectating for? It would scare the children!" Jian Changsheng rolled his eyes,
"The people of Tianshu Domain said that the Old District was originally the city district from a long time ago. Due to the extremely long time limit, the mechanical devices underground have already been damaged and cannot undergo deductive changes every hour like the other new districts of Tianshu Domain.
In a sense, that is a malfunctioning old city district. All the buildings, transportation, and streets are to be demolished... Tianshu Domain originally planned to completely demolish it and rebuild a new district in the second half of this year, but it just so happened that this trial was to be held, so the entire city district was used as the venue. Anyway, it's an abandoned place. Even if we raze it to the ground, it doesn't matter...
In terms of area, the Old District is even larger than the four major districts of Aurora Domain combined. It's absolutely enough for the two hundred of us to slaughter each other."
"Slaughter..." Chen Ling was deep in thought.
"So, in this competition for the [Heaven-Reaching Star Position], we can really kill people?"
"We can kill." Jian Changsheng flipped the manual to the last page. "It is said that this time, the Pathway Chief of the Path of the Physician, the president of the Paper Kite Rescue Association, will preside over the Old District. Within the scope of his Domain, [Kingdom of the Dying], the souls of all the deceased will be temporarily detained... The manual says that if a participant dies, people from the Paper Kite Rescue Association will carry away your corpse within ten minutes and perform healing and repairs, then let the soul return to the body to complete the resurrection.
Of course, the resurrected will not be able to continue participating in the competition for the [Heaven-Reaching Star Position] and can only wait outside the Old District."
"We can kill, but won't really die..." Chen Ling's brows immediately knitted together. "Oh no, then doesn't that mean I can't die either?"
"??? Bro, are you alright??"
"Forget it, I'll figure something out when the time comes." Chen Ling let out a long sigh. "How much longer until we arrive at the Old District?"
"Take this line to the end, then transfer to another line, and take it for twelve stops to arrive." Jian Changsheng glanced at the sky outside the window. "We should be able to make it there before sunset today."
The train shuttled through the constantly changing city like a streaking comet.
The passengers around Chen Ling and Jian Changsheng became fewer and fewer. By the time the twilight light of dusk spilled through the train windows onto the floor of the train, there were only a handful of people left in the carriage... If nothing unexpected happened, those people should also be competitors for the [Heaven-Reaching Star Position].
Because Tianshu Domain was too large, the locations of all those participating in the competition for the [Heaven-Reaching Star Position] were different, and the routes to the Old District were also different, with time differences as well. So for a short period of time, there was no need to worry about large-scale collisions that would trigger chaos in advance.
These few people riding the golden-yellow train, after looking up and exchanging a glance with each other, all tacitly lowered their eyelids to rest and recuperate.
Wait until dusk gradually disappeared at the end of the horizon and the night shrouded the earth once again, the train finally slowly pulled into the station amidst a burst of roaring sounds...
Chen Ling and Jian Changsheng successively got off the train. Looking at the dim and dilapidated station before them, their eyes narrowed slightly.
"This place... is the Old District?"
"It is indeed quite old." Jian Changsheng raised his head and looked into the distance. The surroundings were not full of electric lights like the other new districts of Tianshu Domain, but were silent in a pitch-black night. Only relying on a little bit of starlight could they see the outlines of old buildings in the darkness.
This old, abandoned city district was the starting point of their journey on the Heaven-Reaching Star path... Or, it was also the endpoint.
At the same time, a figure carrying a Kerosene Lamp walked slowly towards here.