Hall of the Star Dawn.
Fang Zheng had heard from Shana and other Fire Mist Warriors that it was the headquarters for the “Masquerade Ball,” and some Followers of the Crimson Realm had told him that Hall of the Star Dawn was an air fortress that would constantly move and change direction in the sky, and because of some special protection by the Free Method, it nearly never revealed itself in front of anyone.
However, having said that, once Fang Zheng actually entered the Hall of the Star Dawn, he discovered that this place wasn’t at all like the dark organization’s lair he had imagined it to be; rather, it resembled a magnificent piece of art... Well, it was akin to the Western Fantasy world sector in the main park.
But unlike amusement parks, the biggest problem here was...
“It’s really deserted here.”
Standing in the grand hall paved with black floors, Fang Zheng looked at the young girl before him and couldn’t help but feel resigned.
“There are only the two of you here now?”
Indeed, according to what the young girl said, currently in the entire Hall of the Star Dawn, there were only her and a middle-aged man in a suit respectfully following behind her.
“Yes, Alliance Hierarch.”
Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s question, the middle-aged man wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, his voice trembling as he responded.
“The Shapeshifter is still outside, and Berupeoru has her own mission, so right now in the Hall of the Star Dawn, it’s only me and the Grand Priestess...”
“From your face, it’s clear. Be careful not to work yourself to death at night, Uncle,” Fang Zheng said, looking sympathetically at the Follower of the Crimson Realm before him, known as Lanti Feckoru. It was strange; every Follower of the Crimson Realm had learned the Transformation Technique, but their attractiveness differed greatly. Beauties like the girl before him and Tilia were typical, but this Follower of the Crimson Realm looked like a coder who had been working overtime in the office for seven days and nights without going home, only to find out there was a bug in the program that needed fixing — Uncle, your looks are really not up to par.
“Thank you for your concern, Hierarch.”
Hearing Fang Zheng speak, Feckoru gave a bitter smile, then wiped the sweat from his face again.
“Just to be clear, I’m not really a ‘hierarch.’
However, Fang Zheng clearly wasn’t going to play by his rules. He waved his hand and continued to walk forward.
“You say I’m the hierarch, but I actually refused. Because, you can’t just make me one. First, I need to know what kind of organization this is, because I don’t want to join only to find out I boarded the wrong ship, as that would cause everyone to come looking for me. So, I must first test it out, then decide.”
“But, you really are our hierarch...”
Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s reply, Feckoru felt like crying. He didn’t know why; logically speaking, the hierarch should be very familiar to them, but what on earth was up with this human? To be honest, Feckoru was also doubtful, but the young girl standing confidently believed that the man before her was their hierarch, so what could he do?
He was truly desperate!
The white-robed girl didn’t speak, and Fang Zheng didn’t say anything more but just kept walking forward with Tilia and Nanoka. It wasn’t long before the white-robed girl stopped in front of the stairs. She turned respectfully, silently looking at Fang Zheng, and although the girl said nothing to complete her thought, everyone else understood what she meant — from this point on, only Fang Zheng could continue forward.
In other words, no one else was qualified.
Tilia visibly showed a bit of displeasure, but for once, she did not continue to cling to Fang Zheng. Instead, she cast a meaningful glance at the white-robed girl before moving aside. Nanoka and Sanya were even less daring to speak — this was the lair of the Followers of the Crimson Realm, and she was a Fire Mist Warrior. The current situation was just like the righteous main character running alone into the villain’s headquarters; Nanoka didn’t think she had the capability of a 007, so she had no choice but to obediently stand aside and act like a grandchild.
Fang Zheng glanced at the white-robed girl and continued to walk forward without stopping.
Just as he stepped on the stairs, a stretch of stairs that had previously been empty began to materialize before him, extending upwards as Fang Zheng continued his advance. When Fang Zheng reached the top of the stairs, a chair appeared before him.
This was far from the Frozen Throne.
Looking at the plain, unimpressive black chair before him, Fang Zheng was speechless. Was this organization called the Masquerade Ball so short on money? Not only did their staff look like they were about to die of overwork, but even the chair prepared for their boss was so simplistic; it seemed this organization truly understood the meaning of living austerely.
Thinking this, Fang Zheng sighed and then turned around to sit on the chair.
“Uh... Should I be trembling with a majestic aura right about now?”
Looking at the white-robed girl and the unfortunate uncle below, Fang Zheng suddenly felt that his present demeanor might really be letting them down.
“This, this...”
Hearing Fang Zheng speak, Feckoru was sweating profusely, completely at a loss for words. Seeing him like this, Fang Zheng just shook his head.
“Alright, let’s stop playing. After all, Uncle, you’re getting on in years and can’t handle the stress.”
Although to be honest, Fang Zheng didn’t care about these matters, the image of Feckoru was just too awkward. Every time Fang Zheng saw Feckoru, he was reminded of the poor yet adorable programmers in his company’s software team, who looked exactly like this when they sat in front of their computers to debug during overtime.
What made Fang Zheng more nostalgic was that, at those times, he would always go forward and offer them a steaming cup of coffee, then smilingly look at them and say, “I’d like to change the requirements...”.
They were all good people, so he shouldn’t make things difficult for them.
Thinking this, Fang Zheng casually opened the Codex and then picked up the black Soulstone and put it inside.
“Click.”
The next moment, the atmosphere around him abruptly changed.
It came!
Feeling the scene before his eyes start to shake, Fang Zheng closed his eyes. This was how he should have reacted the first time he activated the Soulstone. Every time he activated the Soulstone, Fang Zheng would review the soul’s identity and experiences within the Soulstone as if watching an opening animation. However, when he initially got the Soulstone, such a scene had not occurred, but Fang Zheng knew that was because the Soulstone was sealed, and now... he had finally activated the Soulstone.
And Fang Zheng finally learned the true identity of this Soulstone.
One of the three great Demon Gods of the Crimson Realm—the God of Creation, Ritual Snake.
Through these memories, Fang Zheng finally understood what kind of place that world known as “the Crimson Realm” was.
It was a chaotic Another World. Not only were the physical laws completely different from Earth’s, but even the so-called “five senses” didn’t exist. Instead, it was a dimension where influence and interaction could be exerted through consciousness alone. Based on this, it was a world “existing by a mixture of power itself.” Moreover, it represented an extremely harsh living environment, where merely maintaining one’s existence was extremely difficult. For this reason, the residents of that world, in order to survive, had abandoned everything, so there was no “matter” in that world, let alone a “culture” that depended on the existence of “matter”.
If one were to describe it in terms Earthlings could understand, then the Crimson Realm would be more like the Netherworld or Spirit World—ethereal worlds without strict physical characteristics, and the Followers of the Crimson Realm were mere “spiritual bodies” with self-awareness but no physical bodies.
And with this, the entire process of the Followers of the Crimson Realm coming to this world also became clear.
Firstly, within the “Crimson Realm,” as “spiritual bodies,” they needed to cast a spell to create a bridge between the Crimson Realm and Earth, after which they would travel through that channel to this world.
Upon arriving in this world, the spiritually bodied Followers of the Crimson Realm needed to first attach themselves to some object—it could be a living being, an inanimate object, or even clothing. Only then could they possess a fixed form in this world.
However, this was just the beginning. Having a fixed form was crucial for them to stay in this world, but that was not enough. They needed to devour more Power of Existence, and only after their strength had increased could these Followers of the Crimson Realm use the Transformation Technique to transform from “enlightened objects” into humans.
It was so with Faliagni, Tilia, and even Lamy. Even stepping back, Aralastor and Sanya, the Contractors of the Fire Mist Warriors, were the same. It was like the necklace that Aralastor inhabited, the bracelet Sanya lived in, and the book that Marjorine used—these were all the initial “material vessels” needed by the Followers of the Crimson Realm when they first came to this world.
From this step, they were no different from the Followers of the Crimson Realm. It was only thereafter that the divergence occurred—the Followers of the Crimson Realm would devour enough power to transform themselves into a freely operating human form.
Meanwhile, the King of the Crimson Realm would contract with humans, using their bodies as a “vessel” to infuse the Power of Existence, enabling him to exist in this world and become a Fire Mist Warrior.
Thus, the reckless actions of the Followers of the Crimson Realm in this world became understandable.
Their original world was one where both food and power were scarce; you see, these Followers of the Crimson Realm, in their struggle to survive, had even erased the existence of “matter.” It was as if a person who could only subsist on grass roots suddenly found themselves in a world abundant in food and devoid of danger and natural enemies. Everywhere there were delicious foods and wonderful beings they had never seen before; for the Followers of the Crimson Realm, this place was truly like heaven!
Moreover, when the Followers of the Crimson Realm first arrived on Earth, there were only a few verifiable city-state civilizations, much like 23rd-century astronauts forced to leave Earth due to scarce resources discovering a new continent filled with fertile land and minerals— and it’s only populated by natives waving spears!
Even Avatar would only manage to deal with private development companies; If a group of Star Spirits came, they too would be helplessly outmatched.
Not to mention the people on Earth 3,000 years ago... They were probably much more primitive than those in Avatar.
Beyond any doubt, when Followers of the Crimson Realm with combat capabilities rivaling that of Star Spirits arrived in such a place, what ensued needs no explanation.
Attracted by this new world full of wonderful things and rich resources, unfortunately, the difference in the level of worlds meant that even if the Followers of the Crimson Realm wanted to relocate, they faced an issue—they needed sufficient Power of Existence to continue existing in this world.
Hence, under the plea of the Followers of the Crimson Realm, the God of Creation appeared. He created the “Great Shackles” in an attempt to fulfill the wishes of his kin.
From this perspective, the Ritual Snake was flawless; he was the Demon God of the Crimson Realm, specifically responsible for affirming desires and creation. Was it wrong for someone to do their duty so diligently? As a deity, he came all the way to Earth in answer to the call of his people, working tirelessly to realize their desires until the last moment... No wonder the Followers of the Crimson Realm respected the God of Creation so deeply; in today’s materialistic society, leaders who take responsibility and are willing to lead the struggle at the forefront are rare indeed.
Fang Zheng felt that, were he a Follower of the Crimson Realm, he would certainly be moved by such a dedicated leader.
In comparison, that so-called Punishment Deity and Guiding God left somewhat to be desired...
Not only that, but Fang Zheng also learned a secret from this Soulstone.
“So that’s how it is...”
He slowly opened his eyes, gazing at what lay before him; at this moment, the white-robed girl was kneeling respectfully in front of him, and Feckoru was also tremblingly half-kneeling behind him. As for Tilia and Nanoka, they still stood by the side, but no one cared about them—after all, there were only a few people here.
However, for Fang Zheng, these were not what mattered. What was important was the secret he had learned from the Soulstone of the Ritual Snake.
And at this moment, he finally grasped the key to completing the main quest.

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