Chapter 9

Li Dongze paused for a moment, then said:

"The Spirit Realm is a supernatural force that cannot currently be explained by science. Despite our constant attempts to analyze and understand it, we still do not have a complete grasp of it. The Spirit Realm exists in reality but is also detached from it, and only those chosen can enter it."

"And the way to be chosen," he took a sip of wine and smiled, "you should have experienced it."

"The card?" Zhang Yuanqing responded appropriately.

Li Dongze nodded slightly:

"It's called a Role Card. Those who obtain a Role Card will be given a trial mission. Completing the trial will grant them a corresponding profession, along with the skills and characteristics of that profession.

"The mechanism by which the Spirit Realm selects its travelers has not yet been figured out, and the method of distributing Role Cards is not fixed. Sometimes it appears directly in your body; sometimes you find it on the street; sometimes you accidentally click on a link online.

"Completing the trial mission is just the beginning. To upgrade and become more powerful, Spirit Realm travelers must continuously accept missions and enter the Spirit Realm. However, you don't need to worry; missions do not appear frequently, and not all Spirit Realm scenarios are life-threatening. On the contrary, some can be quite interesting.

"For example, I am a Level 3 Scout. In the past two years, I have entered the Spirit Realm six times. Three of these were solo Spirit Realms, where I almost died. The other three were multi-player adversarial and cooperative Spirit Realms, which were relatively safer and more interesting. Heh, to gain superpowers, one must pay a price."

Li Dongze paused, giving Zhang Yuanqing a chance to ask questions.

"Is it similar to a game dungeon?" Zhang Yuanqing offered his understanding.

Li Dongze smiled:

"I enjoy talking to you young people because you have strong comprehension skills and are proactive in embracing new things..."

After praising him, he nodded:

"Exactly, it's like playing a game, and the Spirit Realm is the dungeon. Some dungeons are solo types, while others are multi-player cooperative or adversarial. The solo type is the most dangerous, with the highest death rate.

"Multi-player types are relatively better, with death and punishment types. The latter only deducts a certain amount of experience points."

Zhang Yuanqing asked curiously, "Why is the death rate highest for solo types?"

Li Dongze pondered for a moment, "In multi-player Spirit Realms, you encounter other profession Spirit Realm travelers, but in solo types, you face the Spirit Realm of your own profession. For example, as a Scout, the extraordinary abilities of this profession are insight, tracking, and analysis.

"So the three times I entered solo Spirit Realms involved playing a detective to solve a case; chasing a criminal in the jungle; and surviving in the wilderness. Additionally, the Spirit Realm dungeons for each profession differ between the Extraordinary and Saint stages."

My profession is a Night Walker, and I enter the supernatural dungeons. Phew, it's a good thing there are multi-player dungeons, or I would have been scared to death in the Spirit Realm. The Saint stage Spirit Realm dungeons will change? Zhang Yuanqing listened and nodded.

"Is Lei Yibing's disappearance because he entered the Spirit Realm?" Zhang Yuanqing said in a serious tone.

He urgently needed confirmation from an official to verify his guess. If Brother Lei entered the Spirit Realm, then things weren't as bad.

Li Dongze thought for a moment and said:

"After Lei Yibing's mysterious disappearance, the official personnel from the Hangcheng Police Department took over the case. Their judgment is that Lei Yibing has already died in the Spirit Realm."

Zhang Yuanqing felt his heart skip a beat, and anxiety and panic surged uncontrollably, "Why?"

Li Dongze explained, "Because the time is too long. A normal Spirit Realm dungeon, at least in the Extraordinary stage, lasts from a few hours to one or two days. Lei Yibing has been missing for four days. The Extraordinary stage represents levels 1-3."

"What about above the Extraordinary stage?"

"It's not very clear, but it should have longer dungeons."

Maybe Brother Lei is a powerful Spirit Realm traveler. Zhang Yuanqing could only comfort himself this way.

For Brother Lei's disappearance, at this stage, whether in terms of ability or knowledge, he was destined to be of no help.

Compared to that, joining the official organization and saving himself is the most important thing right now.

"By the way, before I introduce you to the official organization, there is one very important thing," Li Dongze took a sip of wine to moisten his throat, "What is your morality value?"

"60 points, the initial value," Zhang Yuanqing answered honestly.

Li Dongze nodded: "For a beginner like you, the morality value is the biggest pitfall. You must remember this."

"Why do you say that?" Zhang Yuanqing did not hide his confusion.

"Do you remember the note below the morality value?"

I remember, it tells me to be a good person. Zhang Yuanqing almost made a face like Wah.

Li Dongze said seriously:

"The initial value of morality is 60. If it falls below this, it triggers the Spirit Realm's punishment mechanism. It will report your location to all Spirit Realm travelers in the same city and issue a mission to eliminate you."

Zhang Yuanqing was speechless and blurted out:

"Does that mean I can never do bad things in my life?"

Well, I'm not saying I want to do bad things, but being a saint is too exhausting.

Also, what is the standard for measuring morality? If doing crafts or posting lewd pictures are considered moral degradation, then I'm doomed for life.

Li Dongze laughed, seemingly enjoying the new recruit's expression, and said slowly:

"Don't be so nervous. According to our observations, Spirit Realm travelers who steal, rob, or injure others will have their morality value deducted by 1-5 points, depending on the severity. Killing deducts 10 points. Causing severe consequences, such as multiple casualties, will deduct the corresponding morality value based on the severity.

"As for personal moral shortcomings, they do not affect the morality value. Additionally, morality values can be deducted, but they can also be accumulated. That's why it tells you to be a good person."

This mechanism seems deliberately designed to constrain Spirit Realm travelers, but why does the Spirit Realm want to constrain them?

Morality and law are things created by humans to maintain order. In nature, other beings do not need these things.

In other words, unless the Spirit Realm's stance is human, the existence of morality values is somewhat unreasonable.

But the Spirit Realm is a supernatural phenomenon.

Zhang Yuanqing instinctively felt this restriction was unreasonable, but since Li Dongze didn't explain, it means he also doesn't know the reason.

From the previous conversation, it's clear that the official understanding of the Spirit Realm is limited.

Zhang Yuanqing realized, "I understand, no wonder it's a big pitfall for beginners. So, how do you accumulate morality values?"

After gaining superpowers, beginners often use their abilities to do things they previously wanted to do but couldn't, such as making money.

And the quick ways to make money are all written in the criminal code.

And eating霸王餐 (free meals without paying) — I wonder if helping poor girls would lower morality values? In the Spirit Realm's definition, is this considered a personal moral shortcoming or a violation of the law?

Zhang Yuanqing didn't dare to ask this question, as they weren't familiar enough, and he didn't want to leave a bad impression on his future leader.

"Accumulating morality values is as simple as lowering them; just do good deeds. In fact, many evil organizations' Spirit Realm travelers are enthusiastic about charity and donations because it's the fastest way to accumulate morality values. As long as you have enough money, you can kill without restraint." Li Dongze chuckled:

"Isn't it ironic? You never know what kind of face those doing charity have behind their backs. And even more ironic is that human life can be measured by money. This is true in reality and in the Spirit Realm.

"Additionally, fighting among Spirit Realm travelers does not deduct morality values."

After Zhang Yuanqing had initially digested this information, Li Dongze continued:

"Next, let's talk about the official organization.

"Our official organization is called the Five Elements Alliance, composed of five major forces: Baihua Society, White Tiger Troops, Chifire Gang, Water God Palace, and Zhongting. These five forces represent five professions: Wood Demon, Scout, Fire Master, Water Ghost, and Earth Monster."

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but think: Why are official organizations all a bunch of demons and monsters?

"Besides the Five Elements Alliance, there are a few other organizations with official backgrounds. I will send you the information later." Li Dongze fumbled for his wine glass and said:

"The five major organizations within the Five Elements Alliance formed an alliance in the past twenty years. Before that, they operated independently and had poor relations. This involves the Five Elements' relationships and the differences in the habits of various professions."

Li Dongze took a sip of wine and shrugged, "For example, the Wood Demons of the Baihua Society are extreme environmentalists and animal protection association members. Oh my, they even tried to push the Five Elements Alliance headquarters to ban members from eating dog meat. They are more extreme than God. Every time I see their sickening faces, I can't help but want to kick their butts with my leather shoes."

Next, Li Dongze harshly criticized the other four professions besides the White Tiger Troops.

This gave Zhang Yuanqing a more direct understanding of the other organizations in the Five Elements Alliance, such as the Chifire Gang, who prefer to act rather than talk; the Water God Palace, who are gloomy and like to cultivate viruses and bacteria; and the Zhongting, who are involved in real estate and mining development.

"Only our White Tiger Troops' Scouts are wise, calm, and decisive, making it the perfect profession." Li Dongze concluded.

Zhang Yuanqing thought, would the other four organizations agree with this statement?

"Ha, the more you talk, the more it sounds like a game, right? Some people in the Five Elements Alliance refer to the Spirit Realm as a 'game server.' Spirit Realm travelers have character panels, items, and missions. Each different Spirit Realm is like a dungeon. Additionally, there are different professions. The Chifire Gang people are rash and impulsive, liking to promote violence, like berserkers. The Water God Palace people have water control abilities, like water mages. The Baihua Society can raise pets and heal injuries, making them priests and summoners. The Zhongting people are tough, typical tanks."

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but tease:

"Are you Scouts the 75 gold eyes in the game?"

Li Dongze was taken aback and subconsciously gripped the handle of his cane, saying expressionlessly:

"If I were a Fire Master from the Chifire Gang, I would have already beaten your dog's head in."

"Sorry!" Zhang Yuanqing apologized decisively.

After the joke, the atmosphere between them became more harmonious, and Li Dongze smiled:

"After passing the Extraordinary stage, Scouts will have extremely strong single-combat abilities. I say this is a nearly perfect profession, and I'm not exaggerating.

"Of course, among the orthodox professions, the Night Walker is recognized as the strongest. Yes, I'm talking about orthodox professions, not evil ones. Even we Scouts have to admit that Night Walkers are a bit more perfect."

Ah? Night Walkers are very strong? Can they take on ten? Zhang Yuanqing was delighted: "Can you tell me more about the Night Walker profession?"

Li Dongze laughed, understanding the young man's admiration for strength, and said:

"Night Walkers, in the early Extraordinary stage, can display extremely strong assassination abilities and have remarkable burst power. Additionally, they can communicate with souls, control corpses, and manipulate spirits, making them versatile and powerful.

"However, Night Walkers are extremely rare. Currently, the Songhai City branch does not have any Night Walkers. This is because there are too few Night Walker trial Spirit Realms in Songhai, and also because the Taiyi Sect in the capital continuously absorbs Night Walkers from all over the country."

At this point, he naturally asked about the new recruit's profession, saying:

"What is your profession? I hope you're not a Fire Master; I hate rude and impulsive young people."

PS: Morning updates are between 9 and 10 AM, and evening updates are between 10 and 11 PM. During the public period, it's like this. In the future, it might change, so we'll see.