The four of them sunk into absolute silence, with the two people that are hugging completely unaware about the fact that they were caught red handed in the act.

"W-What are you two doing?", Nan XiSheng finally managed to ask with great difficulty.

Zero and Shi Lanhua simultaneously froze. At the speed of a turtle, they slowly turned towards the other two figures and made a face similar to a wife that had just been caught cheating by her husband.

Why is it that they suddenly feel as if they have a guilty conscience?

The two of them were siblings for gods sake!

"Ahh! You came just at the right time! FengFeng and I just took our relationship to the next level!" (Became even bigger sis/bro-cons)

"Next level?" (Lovers?)

"Yup! I'm so happy!" (I'm glad FengFeng won't stop me from marrying Zhelan!)

"I... still ended up losing, eh? I guess there really isn't anything I can do, so I just want to wish the both of you a very happy life in the future. Liu Feng you bastard, if I ever see you make my dear Lanhua cry, I'll hack you into a thousand pieces!"

"O-okay... wait what?" There seems to be a misunderstanding here? I'm supposed to be the one saying those words, not you!

"I already made a heavenly vow that if I make any form of intimate contact with people aside from Lanhua, I'll be struck by lightning until my body decays, so you really have to treat her well!"

"..." My future brother-in-law... we don't seem to be on the same page here..?

Just as Zero was about to say something, Nan XiSheng, who was standing at the side, suddenly interjected, "Why did you choose him?"

Shi Lanhua: "???"

"Senior Sister Shi, why did you choose Senior Brother Liu over Brother Yang?"

Shi Lanhua and Zero: "?!?"

Aiyo, protagonist ah, what in the world are you talking about?

Something feels really off... are you sure we're discussing the same topic..? Because it feels like we're light years apart!

"What do you mean by choosing FengFeng over---"

Shi Lanhua's words were cut off by a slightly impatient, yet melodic voice.

The group whipped their heads around only to come face to face with the awkward gazes from the rest of the participants, who look like they were watching some kind of melodramatic romance play.

"Ahem! Are you four going to be dilly-dallying your lives away over there, or will the two contestants surnamed Yang and Liu get their asses up here?! Kids these days, don't even have the slightest virtue!"

With faces flushed in embarrassment, Yang Zhelan and Zero quickly rushed up onto the stage while attempting to retain their elegance and repair their images as the reliable senior brothers, not that anyone had such an impression of them in the first place. 

"Since everything is ready, I will be asking the two of you beast tamers to try and get little wyrmy behind me to submit and pledge it's loyalty to you. If neither succeeds, then both are eliminated. Are you prepared? Please start anytime you'd like!"

When the last word was dropped, both Zero and Yang Zhelan started to plan out ways to have this huge creature to submit without agitating it or letting it backfire midway.

Truthfully, Zero could just get it to submit by exerting his God-leveled cultivation, but that would give him away to this mysterious Lady Liu and that is the last thing he wants to occur. 

Unsurprisingly, Yang Zhelan was the first to make a move by presenting the creature with many rare delicacies enjoyed by various spiritual beats in this world. However, as expected, the wyrm, who had been with the hermit named Lady Liu for quite a while and had seen many aspects of this world, didn't even flinch when being tempted by these delicious luxuries.

As if he had expected that reaction, Yang Zhelan backed down and decided to prepare for his backup plan.

The wyrm then turned to face Zero as if questioning why he hadn't made his move yet, then its body jolted as if spotting something out of place.

Out of nowhere, the gigantic wyrm, who was capable of murdering everyone (except Lady Liu) here, started to move towards Zero and continuously circled his figure. Then it lowered its head to sniff him and its eyes visibly lit up.

It gave a low, but soft growl and proceeded to lie down in front of him like a dog awaiting instructions from its owner.

This time, even the mysterious Lady Liu was starstruck, yet bewildered by this situation.

Yang Zhelan, who was on the opposite side, had his jaw nearly planted to the ground.

"W-winner is Liu Feng!", Lady Liu announced in a daze, which of course, no one heard.

Even Zero himself was startled. He had made sure not to let out any of that scent he usually emitted as he didn't want to be exposed, but this gigantic wyrm had somehow still managed to get a wisp of it?

By now you dear readers should've figured out the true identity of Lady Liu, right? Well, for those who haven't let's take a little trip back to Arc 1.3 and take a look at the part where "Lady Liu" was mentioned. Was it just a coincidence that she had the same surname as Zero? Of course not! This is a story for goddamn sake! This part is obviously part of the plot the dumb author had written! 

As stated, Lady Liu is the biological mother of "Liu Feng" who had supposedly died all those years ago. The wyrm had been a pet adopted by Lady Liu, so it had spent most of its lifetime with her and is very familiar with her scent. When it first spotted Zero in the crowd, he was just an ant that had somewhat caught its interest, but when it got closer and even smelled the other side, it realized that this "human" had the same scent as its Milady! Not only that... there was something more attractive and more powerful mixed inside, but that's a story for later.

So now we have a wyrm who had hopped aboard the ship of Zero's admirers. What could possibly go wrong?

And so, the entirety of round two wrapped up with Nie Yuan losing against our protagonist, Nan XiSheng (obviously), who had barely managed to summon 10 000 warriors by mixing in a bit of his ancient dragon blood into the drawing. Not to mention there was also a group people who had gotten too many surprises and a recuperating Chu Qiu.

Many people went up to congratulate their Junior Brother Nan for winning the round, but the person in question didn't look the slightest bit elated at his victory as he was still pondering over the scenes that occurred before.

What was Senior Sister Shi going to say before they were ever so rudely interrupted by that Lady Liu? His darling (yes, he had not acknowledged that Zero was "taken" away by Lanhua) was about to be snatched and he must take action soon, or things may go downhill.

'This is no good, I must become even stronger!', he thought in resolution.

Nan XiSheng quickly informed Zero that he wasn't going to be back to their room until very late, so just go ahead and sleep without worrying about him.

Of course, Zero's instinctive response was, "Who would want to wait for you? Hmph!"

Nan XiSheng just shook his head and chuckled as he disappeared off into the distance to who knows where.

None of this was in the plot, so even 005 had no idea where the protagonist went. Yes, it was suspicious, but Zero couldn't care less. He knew that Nan XiSheng was up to something, so he only bothered to observe every one of his actions during the daytime. As for the night, no way he's going to sacrifice his beauty sleep for this. 005 was also too "busy" to go and tail the protagonist, so they came to the conclusion of letting things take the course of nature because whatever happens, happens.

When he wasn't looking for a good adventure to spike up his life, Zero was naturally a pretty lazy person, prepared to go to sleep after the feast they had in celebration of completing the second trial without too many casualties.

This night was destined to be a long and sleepless one for many individuals.

- - - - - - - - - -

*Bzzzt*

In the darkness, two figures suddenly appeared. One was a muscular man, while the other was a scholarly-looking youth.

The man opened his mouth and said, "Young master, the preparations are nearing completion and those whom we have dispatched are all in position. We'll be ready to attack tomorrow."

"Good. No failures are to be tolerated this time around!", replied the youth, seemingly of a higher status than the burly man.

"Understood."

"Remember, all is for the Goddess"

"All is for the Goddess"

- - - - - - - - - -

[...]

*Snore*

[GET UP YOU LAZY SON OF A BISH]

'?!?'

[My esteemed host~ How much longer are you planning to sleep?~]

'Calm down! You nearly scared the wits out of me!'

[Haha... We talked about this yesterday! Everyone, once again, is already downstairs eating! All except for you! Even the protagonist, who had run off to who knows where last night and hadn't returned until an hour ago, is downstairs enjoying a good breakfast meal with the rest!]

'Come on! Just a few more minutes! As long as Hua-er is getting the nourishment she needs, who cares about the rest? Just let me sleep! Immortal cultivators and above don't need to eat anyways..."

[Minutes? Minutes your head! More like hours... Hell no! It's either you get up, or no food. Don't give me that crap about not wanting to eat. Host, I'm telling you to get up, or I'm throwing the both of us out of this realm!]

'Okay, okay, I'm up! Geez, being a host sure is a hard job...'

[...] Hard job your mom! I'm clearly the one who's suffering the most, okay? I must've been the one who got their head crushed by a meteor when I decided to chose you to be my host. Wait, I don't even have a head...

Like always, Zero quickly cleaned up his messy appearance and forced himself out of his stupor before heading to the dining hall where the rest of the group was gathered.

"Look who had finally decided to come down", Yang Zhelan said sarcastically. 

'Hey, 005. Is it a little too late to take back my role as a villain?', Zero asked, feeling the anger that was bottled up when he bickered with 005 earlier rise up again.

[Please do...]

"Someone of my status obviously has to get a sufficient amount of sleep! Otherwise are you, who had miserably lost to me yesterday, going to take responsibility if I fail the last round?", Zero retorted, emphasizing the fact that the other side had lost to him.

As expected, Zero hit right on the dot and within seconds, the two had started another fight.

"Shut up you imbeciles! Unlike the two of you, who obviously have too much free time on your hands, the rest of us are actually trying to eat in peace, you know?", Zhou Fu grumbled.

The both of them had wanted to tell him to stay out of their business, but with Shi Lanhua suddenly giving them the death stare, they could only bring themselves to end the argument and unwillingly sit down in their seats.

Thanks to our big sister coming to the rescue, everyone harmoniously finished the rest of their breakfast.

"Ahem! As you all know, there were over half of your who were eliminated in the second trial yesterday. Therefore, the ones who will be participating in the last round are: Chu Qiu, Nan XiSheng, Shi Lanhua, and Liu Feng!", Lady Liu reported.

"Pffft--- Nie Yuan, ah, Nie Yuan, I say, is your old age really getting to you? You weren't even able to win against a little boy!"

Chu Qiu was recuperating during the entirety of the previous test, so he obviously didn't know about the utter defeat of his good friend. When he heard that a young boy (CQ & NY are around 700) had actually crushed Nie Yuan, he couldn't help but make fun of the other party.

"Would it kill you to not pick on me at every chance you get?", Nie Yuan said grudgingly, clearly upset about having his sore spot poked, "I'm telling you, he is no ordinary boy! I could feel a really strong, yet hidden power inside of him!"

"Suuuuurrreee. Make up as many excuses as you want and it still doesn't change the fact that you had just lost to a child~"

"Goddamnit Chu Qiu!"

"Heh"

The group who had qualified for the last trial all followed Lady Liu to the testing grounds.

"The amount of people who have managed to get to this stage in the past has been pitifully little, so without further ado, I wish you good luck."

"Wait what? You didn't even tell us what we're going to be doin---"

Before Zero was able to finish his words, a thick set of walls rose, separating the 4 individuals from each other.

'Well, isn't this just great!'

[Host, this is the final round, so if you want to cure your sister, either you, Chu Qiu, or Shi Lanhua have to pass this! In the original story, this final test was supposed to be a spar between the last ones standing, but for some reason when I switched to a bird's eye-view to take a look at what was going on, it has become a maze!]

'Hmm, perhaps it's because Shi Lanhua, Chu Qiu, and I were additional factors... After all, only Nan XiSheng, Yang Zhelan, and Zhou Fu were the ones who passed the second level in the original work. Plus, with my accidental "overwhelming" display in beast taming, Lady Liu must've raised the stakes.'

[It makes sense, but host, we must find a way out of here quickly! I already mapped out the route and sent it to your mind. Just follow the red line.]

'Understood. 005, go monitor my sister and make sure no harm comes to her.'

[I cannot directly interfere with this world's matters, but I can guarantee that I'm able to watch over her and notify you if anything's going wrong. Even if something goes awry, your sister is a strong woman and she should be able to hold on until you arrive by her side.]

'I know, but did you forget her injury? She can't fight for too long or else she'll have to experience immense pain every time she tries to use her immortal phoenix fire qi.'

[Well then, let's just hope nothing bad happens. I'll go and keep an eye on her!]

'Thanks 005!'

[No problem, host!]

Following the map that 005 gave him, Zero started to work his way around this seemingly eerie and complicated maze. 

Along the way, he encountered some aggressive spirit beasts, but they all became submissive when they saw him. 

Zero took another turn to the right and encountered something odd. It was shaped like a saber-tooth tiger, but the color of its fur was completely dyed in black. Unlike Zero and Lady Liu's jewel-like ruby colored eyes, it had blood red eyes and they contained this savage look in them, as if it would stop at nothing to destroy everything they encounter.

Ever since he arrived in this world, Zero had only seen that look in another being, and that was the dragons when they decided to wage war on the phoenixes. 

Demonic beast.

That was the term that came to mind when he first looked into those eyes. In the original novel, Nan XiSheng had killed an abundance of demonic beings, both beasts and cultivators, which aided in having his name spread throughout the world.

All demonic beings had one similar trait and it was that their eyes always contained a ruthlessly vicious look in them.

Thankfully the one whom this demonic beast had bumped into was Zero, or else the person in his place would have been in mortal danger.

Unfortunately, this fact only served to send off warning bells inside Zero's head. Since he managed to casually chance upon a demonic beast, it must mean that there will be more hiding in other areas of this maze. That also means that his sister may be pulled into a crisis.

But the book clearly stated that Secret City was the core of this entire world and that it is the holiest place in the entire realm! How did such filth-contaminated beings like demonic beasts pop up here?

A bad feeling arose inside of him and the only thing Zero could think of was to get to his sister as soon as possible, even if 005 hadn't reported about her being in any emergency.

'005, scratch the original plan and give me Hua-er's coordinates now'

[Okay? I sent it to the map in your mind, so you should be seeing it any second now. She's not exposed to any threat, but the appearance of a demonic beast might indicate that something's bound to happen]

'Great minds think alike. Seems like someone, no, some kind of demonic organization wants to stir up trouble around here. Have you noticed the pattern of the way the the exit? The red line vaguely outlined the shape of the word "Doomsday".' (Word: 末日)

[Oh no! Is something big gonna happen?]

'No duh. After so many years of peacefulness, the time has finally come for it to be ruined. Light and dark cannot coexist, yet neither can survive without each other. Peace is not an everlasting thing, and even if the book finishes off with a happy ending, no one knows what truly comes after that. I'll trouble you to investigate what the hell is going on.'

[Roger that!]

With one slash of his sword, Zero decapitated the demonic saber-tooth tiger and started running towards the area where his sister was located.

Halfway there, he saw many dents and gouges indicating that there had been a battle in those places. As he continuously traveled forwards, a pack of demonic beasts came into view, but this time, it wasn't simply just some beasts; the protagonist, Nan XiSheng was also there battling against them.

The most surprising thing wasn't encountering him, but it was the fact that he was slicing the demonic beasts up like pieces of tofu: clean and precise.

At the current stage of the story, Nan XiSheng shouldn't be able to wield that type of power yet, so Zero was give quite a shock when he saw that scene. Then again, he didn't have a high IQ for nothing. It was now pretty obvious what he was went to do the night before this. Deep in his heart, he secretly envied the latter for being able to progress so fast, completely forgetting that he spent practically no effort to reach immortal stage.

If Zero knew that the reason for Nan XiSheng's fast pace of growth was actually himself, what would his reaction be like?

After killing the last beast, the bloody protagonist turned around and saw a dumbfounded Zero standing there.

By the time he came back to his senses, the other person had already discovered him, so he could only awkwardly laugh, "Haha... what a coincidence?"

Nan XiSheng gently nodded to show that he acknowledged his presence. From his cold facial expression, no one knew how ecstatic he actually felt when he was able to find Zero. 

In fact, the two shared the same mindset because the moment Nan XiSheng came upon this demonic beast pack, his first thought was to worry about his beloved's safety, just like Zero's concerned towards his sister.

They kept on staring at each other and the atmosphere soon became really awkward. Zero couldn't take it anymore and scratched the back of his head while slightly tilting his eyes up to look at Nan XiSheng.

"Uhh, want to... go together?"

The moment he said that, he instantly regretted it. What was he saying? He needed to get to his Hua-er as soon as possible, but as if he overused his IQ earlier, it got turned off for a split second and he actually invited the goddamn protagonist to tag along?! Why does this happen every single time they come face to face?

"Sure", the secretly delighted Nan XiSheng replied. He would take any chance thrown at him as long as it would help shorten the distance between him and his Zero. Even if it was only for a while, being able to be with his darling was the best thing in the world!

So kids, that's the story of how a lovesick dragon and an oblivious phoenix ended up travelling together.

The End!

Like hell.

That's the story of how a lovesick dragon and an oblivious phoenix ended up travelling together, but they were completely unprepared for the series of events that are going to take place after.

This experience would change the future. 

Forever.