The War Office was a ten-storey building, a hundred metres wide, bustling with the organised chaos of a military logistics hub. Soldiers, cultivators, Faithwardens, and creatures of every description moved through its halls.
Essim and Aisha had barely reached the entrance when a commotion erupted. A muscular Player carrying a spiked golden mace was squaring off against a Faithwarden with a white halo. Their argument had escalated from words to weapons in a breath.
The mace struck the Faithwarden's barrier, shattering it and launching the young man twenty metres into a wall. But he recovered fast, summoning a rain of feather-like quills that darkened the sky. The Player called in a bowman ally. Two against one, each wielding abilities that warped the air and cracked the stone.
No one intervened. The crowd watched with bored familiarity.
Then Elder Zein arrived — an old man in white robes who appeared in the air above the fighters and flattened all three to the ground with pure pressure. Blood flowed from their mouths. Bones cracked. His status read: Nascent Soul, Master rank.
Master rank. The same tier referenced by the Golden Shield Talisman. Essim had a hundred thousand of those talismans. A hundred thousand extra lives. The crowned man who'd gifted them wielded power that made Elder Zein look ordinary.
Two more Master-rank figures arrived to collect their subordinates. The situation resolved. Life resumed as though nothing had happened.
Inside the War Office, the mission boards listed options translated automatically by the system: patrols for 10 points, battlefield engagement for 70, assault participation for 200. Achievement kills paid by tier — 1 point for Tier-1 enemies, 10 for Tier-2, 100 for Tier-3.
And on the exchange board: Silver Badge — 30,000 Contribution Points.
"The patrol," Essim decided, heeding Aisha's reminder about their last event's humbling lesson. "We start with the patrol."
But first — the exchange board, the city, and whatever opportunities Aisha's sharp eyes could find. "With your talent," she said, "I'm sure we'll uncover things the mission board doesn't list."
She was right, as usual. -e • • •
The Tou Pavilion was the largest trading house in Heavenly News City — ten storeys tall, centrally located, teeming with customers from every race and power level.
The displays were extraordinary. A Hell Bull Helmet with Resilience +120. A Murder Staff with Intelligence +371. Weapons, armour, talismans, and artefacts crafted by cultivators using methods entirely separate from the system.
Essim pulled out a bag containing ten million Energy Crystals. The initially dismissive attendant underwent a rapid transformation. Within twenty minutes, Essim had purchased seven items totalling sixty-seven million crystals: an Intercontinental Ship, an Advanced Lightning Tower, high-tier weapons, and defensive equipment.
The transaction's scale summoned Elder Wan Lu — the pavilion's branch head, whose status level displayed only question marks. Above Master rank. Essim and Aisha both felt the same silent alarm.
But Elder Wan was warm. After a brief, penetrating examination, he approved the transaction and made an offer that changed everything: a Multi-Space Portal — capable of forming dimensional paths spanning ten thousand trillion kilometres — in exchange for five Blessing Potions.
Elder Wan knew about the potions. Knew their value. The negotiation was careful: three potions now, two in twenty-five days. And Essim asked for two Silver Badges as part of the deal.
Elder Wan produced them with a chuckle. "For cultivators, these hold little value."
The badges that had eluded Essim for weeks were worth pocket change to someone of Elder Wan's stature. The scale disparity was staggering.
Elder Wan sealed the exchange in a private dimensional pocket, then gifted Essim a Platinum Token — permanent VIP status at any Tou Pavilion across all realms. A hidden mission appeared on Essim's panel: deliver the remaining two potions within twenty-five days for one million contribution points.
When Elder Wan vanished, Essim held two Silver Badges, a Multi-Space Portal, and the dawning understanding that the universe was far larger than he'd imagined.
Far above, on a floating palace surrounded by star creatures and white swans, Elder Wan knelt before a young man of terrifying, casual power and presented the three Blessing Potions.
"Give this to the boy when he delivers the rest," the young man said, producing a mysterious item. "And do not cause him any trouble."
Elder Wan descended the stairs, smiling quietly. "Quite the gamble," he murmured.
The information changed Essim's calculus entirely. The system — the "Player" framework — wasn't unique. It was one of five power architectures that existed across the cosmos. And the people he'd been competing against in the Ascendant Realm were, by the standards of the wider universe, beginners operating in a sheltered nursery.
Elder Zein alone could have destroyed the City of Life without breaking a sweat. The thought was sobering. Every achievement Essim had built — the alliance, the economy, the military — existed within a protected space. The moment that protection ended, he'd need power on a scale he hadn't yet imagined.
The Tou Pavilion's inventory hinted at what that scale looked like: weapons with attributes in the hundreds, defensive items rated against Master-level attacks, ships capable of interrealm travel. All of it expensive. All of it, with his talent, infinitely reproducible.
He began to see the Guandu Realm not just as a battlefield for contribution points, but as a shopping catalogue for the next phase of the alliance's growth.