Li Yao’s brain was vibrating crazily. The whole world turned clear and sharp in one moment. He sensed that at least six pieces of aggressive magical equipment at the same level of the main guns of a starship had not only locked onto him but also already fired!

　　Six supersonic cannonballs, mixed with electric arcs and flames of spiritual energy, burst out of the super crystal cannons and rushed close as quickly as a lightning with dozens of damage effects. The space hundreds of square meters around him was completely blocked. It was a hundred times more dangerous than the assault in Fish Dragon City!

　　Also, ‘Ling Xiaole’ who was sitting in the front and ‘Long Yangjun’ who was sitting next to him both lunged at him with hideous countenances on their faces.

　　Their killing intent immediately drowned the tiny shuttle like the seawater at ten thousand meters deep!

　　Li Yao’s first reaction was to unleash his maximum strength and counterattack.

　　However, his doubts about Professor Mo Xuan in the beginning and his new discovery that this place was still a virtual world kept part of Li Yao’s soul awake.

　　Why is Professor Mo Xuan doing this? What can he possibly get by attacking me here?

　　It’s impossible. There’s no reason to attack an unimportant person like Lin Jiu, who is nobody but the captain of Team Red Lotus, when so many federal soldiers and agents from the Secret Sword Bureau are monitoring everything from the outside!

　　If the federal government intends to attack, say, because Speaker Cui Lingfeng regretted his decision for some reason and informed the federal government of the truth that we are from the ‘Red Lotus Sector’, there is still no reason they should attack us in a virtual world. There are too many uncertainties in this place after all. They can totally besiege us in the real world. This is the territory of the federation after all!

　　It will be even more ridiculous if they take us for spies from the Imperium. The identities that we have fabricated are absolutely not worth their trouble!

　　In the moment before ‘Long Yangjun’ and ‘Ling Xiaole’ lunged at him, Li Yao and the mental devil reached the same conclusion.

　　It was a test, designed to find out if he was really in the beginning level of the Nascent Soul Stage as he told everyone.

　　Of course, under the collective attack of six super crystal cannons, if he revealed certain magnificent strength that far exceeded the beginning level of the Nascent Soul Stage, or if he performed a certain unknown technique, it would be possible to distinguish his real identity from all the traces!

　　Even if this place was a virtual world, if the intensity of his soul was enlarged ten times or a hundred times in the moment, the sign would still definitely be captured precisely.

　　It was time to take his chances!

　　Li Yao had already lowered his wariness and was preparing to tell Professor Mo Xuan his real identity, but he changed his mind at this point. He simply allowed the two virtual puppets made of runes and numbers to jump onto his body and turned a blind eye to the spiritual waves coming at him that seemed to contain destructive force.

　　Because he knew that they were just special ‘mental attacks’, which were nothing but illusions that some crystal processors sent into his brains.

　　Even if he lost the gamble, the attack of illusions of such a degree were still bearable for him.

　　Therefore, Li Yao simply activated the spiritual shield of the beginning level of the Nascent Soul Stage before he jumped to his feet, pretending to be surprised. “You—”

　　BOOM!

　　Six balls of light consumed the shuttle like supernova outbreaks and seemed to be completely melting Li Yao in the next second.

　　Li Yao controlled the activity of his soul precisely within the beginning level of the Nascent Soul Stage.

　　Suddenly, he felt his body turning light. The feelings of being burnt, stung, and torn apart were all gone. The previously vivid world no longer existed, either.

　　Li Yao fell into a silver world. There seemed to be flowers, grass, hills, and rivers in the world, too, but all of them were silver and glowing in cold brilliance. They were all made of liquid metal!

　　In front of him, the liquid metal slowly wriggled, spreading out rounds of ripples. Soon, it condensed into a shape of a human in silver.

　　It was Professor Mo Xuan, who bowed at Li Yao to express his apology.

　　Wiping his face that was soaked in cold sweat, Li Yao burst into fury. “Professor, what’s the meaning of this?”

　　“I am very sorry, Representative Lin,” Professor Mo Xuan said expressionlessly. “It was not part of my plan but done at the Secret Sword Bureau’s request. They hoped to run another security test on you with the specialness of the Spiriters’ Realm. After all, you will jump to the Heaven’s Origin Sector and meet most of the leadership of the Federation, even including the Speaker himself, very soon.

　　“The Secret Sword Bureau is not suspicious about the sincerity of our ally. However, the spies of the Imperium are truly everywhere nowadays. If they swapped the real ‘Team Red Lotus’ at a certain procedure and sneak into our capital city, how much trouble would be caused?

　　“I was not in favor of it when they proposed to do such a thing with the help of the ‘Spiriters’ Realm’, but the Secret Sword Bureau said that it was for ‘national security’. I couldn’t find a reason to reject them.

　　“So, do forgive me, Representative Lin.”

　　Li Yao thought quickly whether or not Professor Mo Xuan was speaking the truth, but he simply sniffed on the surface and said, “Then, have you found anything after your ‘test’?”

　　“That’s not my job,” Professor Mo Xuan replied. “I merely constructed such a special Spiriters’ Realm as per the Secret Sword Bureau’s request. In fact, this is a virtual world riddled with flaws and loopholes. I believe that Representative Lin must’ve seen it a long time ago.

　　“As for the test result, you can ask the staff of the Secret Sword Bureau after you return to reality.”

　　After offering a perfectly logical explanation, Professor Mo Xuan bowed again to express his apology. Then, he turned into a cluster of shapeless liquid metal and melted into the entire silver world.

　　Li Yao was pushed out of the silver world again by a gentle force and sat up from the scarlet nerval interaction liquids that were as warm as amniotic fluid.

　　It seemed to be the hall from which he entered the virtual world. The hundreds of virtual cabins that looked like metal coffins nearby were identical to just now.

　　Wei Qingqing, Long Yangjun, and Ling Xiaole were all staring at him.

　　Wiping his face, Li Yao jumped out of the virtual cabin. Before Wei Qingqing said anything, he snatched Long Yangjun and dragged her to a corner without caring about the astonishment of all the bystanders.

　　“What’s wrong with you?” Long Yangjun blinked quickly and spoke in a low voice without moving her lips. “Do not do such things in public, alright?”

　　“Cut the cr*p. Answer my questions!” Li Yao stared at Long Yangjun aggressively, as if he were determined to have a fight with her if anything went wrong. He replied through private talk. “Give me my three nicknames, pseudonyms, or aliases, now!”

　　Frowning, Long Yangjun looked at Li Yao strangely. “Monster Li, Master Spiritual Vulture, dominator of three Sectors… What’s the meaning of this?”

　　“Keep going. Tell me your last pseudonym and false identity!”

　　“Well, Wang Xi, a eunuch.”

　　“Hu…” Li Yao was greatly relieved. It was not until then that his tightened muscles finally relaxed.

　　Long Yangjun narrowed her eyes and observed, “You must’ve experienced some horrible things in the ‘Spiriters’ Realm’ to be so scared.”

　　“Not horrible, but weird. Openly weird!” Li Yao said. “There are too many eyes and ears here. I’ll tell you more when we return.”

　　“Greetings…” Wei Qingqing walked close and asked caringly, “Is there anything wrong?”

　　“No.” Staring at Wei Qingqing, Li Yao asked, “Miss Wei, did we say goodbye just now?”

　　Wei Qingqing was confused. “What do you mean? Weren’t you in the virtual cabin the whole time? I was talking with Representative Lin and interpreting many details of the ‘Tinder Plan’ for her. Before that… I don’t remember bidding each other farewell. Did we?”

　　Li Yao understood everything.

　　Wei Qingqing who said goodbye to him just now was false. Or rather, the entire scene was false and created by Professor Mo Xuan.

　　“Then, see you,” Li Yao said with mixed feelings.

　　“Hehe. It will be difficult for you to see me again. After all, I’m going to millions of years in the future tomorrow. But it’s hard to say. The universe is such a vast place. Life is full of wonders. Perhaps there will be a day when we will meet again, right?”

　　Wei Qingqing smiled and waved at Li Yao.

　　Li Yao’s heart sank slowly to somewhere very, very deep.

　　Wei Qingqing’s reaction for his farewell was almost identical to Professor Mo Xuan’s simulation.

　　It was quite understandable.

　　Wei Qingqing was a member of the ‘Tinder Base’. Professor Mo Xuan, or other creators of the Spiriters’ Realm, had a lot of time to observe her in secret and analyze her behavior or even mental state. That way, they would be able to simulate a ‘Wei Qingqing’ that was very close to the one in reality.

　　Li Yao did not like the feeling at all.

　　If life could be ‘copied’ in such a way, would it be creating a new life, or would it simply be blasphemy?

　　In any case, Li Yao did not want to spend one more second in the Tinder Base. He only wanted to get out of the place and run as far away from the Hundred Flowers Space Zone and Professor Mo Xuan as possible!

　　On the way back home, it was still the reversed time channel, in which the scenes where humans turned into monkeys, monkeys to reptiles, and reptiles to fish were played.

　　Li Yao retrieved a scale that felt particularly rough from his Cosmos Ring and touched it inside his palm secretly.

　　It was a scale from the ‘Red Haired Dragon’, a unique beast of the Ancient Sages Sector. The stripes of the scale of such a beast were unique and complicated and could even be perceived by fingers. One could not find a similar item in the entire federation.

　　The subtle feedback reminded Li Yao that it was the real world.

　　Li Yao asked Ling Xiaole to drive at a slow speed before he told Long Yangjun his entire experience in the Spiriters’ Realm, including the ‘second Spiriters’ Realm’ that he was caught in, carefully without leaving out any word or any detail in private.

　　He believed that Long Yangjun might be able to figure out something that he had neglected with her keenness and wisdom.

　　“I feel that something must be wrong with Professor Mo Xuan, but I can’t figure out where exactly the problem is,” Li Yao said. “Now that I think about it more carefully, there is really no place that calls for suspicion at all. Everything that the professor did has been done openly and frankly.

　　“Also, it is just a cutting-edge theoretical study conducted under the supervision of the major institutions and government departments. Even the ‘second Spiriters’ Realm’ was constructed at the Secret Sword Bureau’s request. I’ve confirmed it through Ling Xiaole. The Secret Sword Bureau expressed their apologies, too. Their explanation is identical to the professor’s.

　　“But why do I feel so uncomfortable about everything?”