Golden Core is a Star, and You Call This Cultivation?

Qi Yuan looked at the Wraith with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

The Wraith also looked at him.

Unfortunately, this Wraith seemed to be like those dirty things—unable to speak.

"What's... your name?"

Qi Yuan asked softly.

The Great Forgetfulness Heart Sutra and his other special abilities were also activated.

He wanted to hear if the Wraith had any inner thoughts.

Unfortunately, even as he stared intently at the Wraith's face, he didn't hear any sound.

"Are you like those dirty things and can't speak? Do you want me to teach you?"

Qi Yuan was very proactive. He started teaching immediately.

Around him, the girl in hot pants couldn't hold back her shock.

Her friends were also dumbfounded.

"Is this guy... teaching a Wraith?"

"Am I going crazy?"

Originally, they were filled with terror, but now, all they felt was absurdity. They had a lot of colorful language they wanted to use.

"Still haven't learned?" Qi Yuan looked at the Wraith. He had been teaching for about ten minutes.

He spoke quickly, his tone gentle.

The Wraith remained expressionless, as if it had no intelligence.

"It's okay, you're doing great. Let's keep going," Qi Yuan continued, showing great patience.

Kindergarten teachers could teach children to read. Although he didn't have a teaching certificate, he had a mental illness certificate. Both were certificates, so teaching a Wraith to speak shouldn't be a problem, right?

But while teaching, not only did he need patience, but he also had to encourage and give positive feedback.

So, even though the Wraith remained motionless and unresponsive, Qi Yuan continued.

"You're doing so well, your eyes are even moving."

"Keep it up, good job. You're so focused, I'll reward you with some pig trotter rice."

The Wraith quietly listened, while the young women and the pig trotter rice shop owner were completely stunned.

The young women could still see the Wraith.

The shop owner couldn't see it and thought Qi Yuan was a lunatic, talking to himself.

After an unknown amount of time, the one-armed red-dressed female Wraith finally spoke. She wasn't good with language and spoke in a timid, almost pleading voice.

"Help... help... me..."

After saying these three words, she seemed to have exhausted all her strength and couldn't speak anymore.

At this moment, something slightly unexpected happened to Qi Yuan.

The game's notification finally sounded.

[Received a plea for help from a Wraith.]

[Main quest initiated: Reduce the number of Abandoned Lands, prevent the Abandoned Lands from becoming "Void."]

[The more Abandoned Lands you help, the greater the reward.]

[The quest can be terminated at any time to claim rewards.]

Hearing these prompts, Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"The quest has finally started."

"Help the Abandoned Lands?"

"The more, the better the reward?"

This meant he could terminate the quest at any time and claim the rewards.

Of course, he could also help all the Abandoned Lands across the myriad worlds and then claim the rewards.

The rewards would likely be substantial.

[Note: The deeper your entanglement with the Abandoned Lands, the worse your luck becomes.]

Hearing this, Qi Yuan was slightly stunned.

Bad luck?

Misfortune?

"It seems this game is a bit challenging," Qi Yuan sighed.

He looked at the Wraith, his expression serious. "I'll do my best to help you."

The beautiful Wraith seemed to understand Qi Yuan's words. A sweet smile appeared on her face.

Then, her figure disappeared in an instant.

Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.

"No magical fluctuations, no spatial distortions, no rules... she just disappeared like that?"

Qi Yuan murmured.

The young women around, seeing the Wraith disappear, were filled with joy.

"We survived!"

"We actually survived!"

"Wait, where's that handsome guy?"

"Supernatural?"

"Superman?"

They suddenly realized that after the Wraith disappeared, Qi Yuan was also gone.

On the other side, Qi Yuan murmured, "Indeed, I can't figure out how the Wraith disappeared, just like they couldn't figure out how I disappeared. They don't cultivate immortality, and I don't understand the Wraith's system."

Qi Yuan thought as he stopped by a trash can, picking out a few dozen yuan from it.

He hadn't paid for the pig trotter rice yet.

He didn't steal or rob, so he could only pick up money.

"Although the Wraith ate some of the rice, she ran away. I have to pay for the meal alone. What a loss."

After saying this, Qi Yuan paid the bill and disappeared again.

He wanted to meet more Wraiths, observe more Wraiths, and better understand this Abandoned Land.

Thus, in the following time, the people living in the Sky Federation suddenly felt that the world had undergone significant changes.

First, the Federation suddenly enacted a national policy.

This policy was... national restrooms.

They began large-scale construction of various public restrooms.

The Sky Federation's council members even held a press conference and sent messages to everyone's phones.

"If you encounter a Wraith, please run to the nearest restroom as quickly as possible. If the Wraith knocks, respond with 'Someone's here.' This may save your life."

This news left all the Federation citizens dumbfounded.

They wondered if the council members' heads had been kicked by a donkey.

Later, the Federation also announced:

"If you don't have time to reach a public restroom, immediately start picking your earwax. As long as you maintain the action of picking your earwax, the Wraith won't harm you."

This series of bizarre actions left the citizens speechless, calling it absurd.

However, absurd as it was, it actually worked.

This left many citizens in a daze.

"I told you, our world is a giant game."

"Such a setting can exist, and you still say we're not NPCs?"

"Only getting new clothes during the New Year, shoddy character models, daily fixed location check-ins—if I'm not an NPC, who is?"

In addition, in some places, people saw a handsome young man appearing beside Wraiths, seemingly teaching them to speak.

The world was becoming more and more absurd, more and more chaotic.

However, it was only superficially full of jokes. In reality, despair was everywhere.

Even though the Federation government had issued various policies, countless people were still killed by Wraiths every day.

Besides Wraiths killing people, some people even killed each other.

Although in the news, it might just be a cold number, each number represented a living life.

Each of them had their own life.

Ordinary or extraordinary, brilliant or mundane.

"This world... has no World Spirit."

"And... although my divine decree can prevent Wraiths from killing people... the number of deaths hasn't decreased significantly, or rather, hasn't decreased at all."

"Or rather, it's not just people."

At a noodle shop, Qi Yuan's face was clouded with worry.

This game quest was more difficult than he had imagined.

Even though his divine decree influenced the Wraiths and saved many lives.

He still found that the number of deaths hadn't decreased significantly.

If not killed by Wraiths, they might be killed by other disasters.

In other words, the effect was much worse than expected.

It seemed like an invisible hand was harvesting the lives of the world.

He ate his noodles, rarely frowning.

At this moment, a little girl about six or seven years old walked over. She was wearing a princess dress, black leather shoes with two bows, looking lively and cute.

"Big brother, are you unhappy? Have a candy. Eating candy will make you happy."

The little girl spoke with effort, tightly clutching the candy in her hand, her palm slightly sweaty, looking very nervous.

Not far away, her mother smiled, seemingly encouraging her.

Looking at the little girl, Qi Yuan smiled. "Thank you, little one."

He took the candy from the little girl's hand, a smile on his face.

"You should go back to your mom. Big brother has been unlucky lately, don't let it affect you," Qi Yuan said calmly.

"Big brother, smile. If you smile, your luck won't be bad," the little girl said thoughtfully, then returned to her seat.

Qi Yuan picked up his noodles, his thoughts complex.

A smiling girl's luck won't be bad.

That's the truth. Those with bad luck can't smile.

At this moment, a fly buzzed around, seemingly about to land in his bowl.

He glanced at it, and the fly turned to ash.

"Is this what bad luck looks like?"

"Or is it that while my divine decree is saving people, other lives are dying in other ways... like this fly seeking death."

Qi Yuan murmured.

Originally, he thought this was just an ordinary world.

But upon closer contact, he realized this world was much deeper than he thought.

Beside him, conversations in the noodle shop continued.

"We should thank that Vampire Emperor. If it weren't for his divine method, I would have died when I encountered a Wraith the other day!"

"These restrooms really work."

"Does that mean one day, our Sky Federation won't have to suffer from Wraiths anymore?"

"Thank the Vampire Emperor!"

"Life is getting better."

The people around were filled with joy and hope for the future.

The little girl also pestered her mother to go play on the little train.

In the past, under the shadow of Wraiths, her mother would have taken her home long ago.

Now, life was getting better, and the threats seemed to be decreasing.

At this moment, suddenly, a cement truck seemed to lose control and crashed toward the noodle shop.

Boom!

The people in the noodle shop were stunned, feeling like they were about to die.

But at that moment, it was as if an invisible hand had appeared in the world, stopping the out-of-control truck.

The driver, terrified, looked confused and scared.

The people in the noodle shop also breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts racing, unable to calm down for a long time, feeling like they had narrowly escaped death.

At this moment, the little girl seemed to notice something and looked at where Qi Yuan had been sitting.

"Big brother... where did he go?"

...

On the Mountain of Ten Thousand Gods.

Qi Yuan took a deep breath.

"My luck is getting worse and worse."

"All sorts of strange disasters are happening in the Sky Federation."

During this time, he spent most of his time in the Sky Federation, encountering various Wraiths.

Unfortunately, even with all his special abilities activated, he hadn't gained any useful information.

"Your Highness, this is the information you asked for about the Abandoned Lands."

At this moment, Feng Ye walked over, holding a book in his hands.

After receiving Qi Yuan's instructions some time ago, he had gone to various places to collect information about the Abandoned Lands.

All the information was recorded in this book.

He was somewhat puzzled, not understanding why His Highness was looking for such forbidden knowledge.

"Thank you," Qi Yuan took the book and began reading it carefully.

"However, my status is lowly, and I couldn't access the higher levels of the library. The information I collected is quite rudimentary. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

"It's fine," Qi Yuan said, his expression serious as he read the information in the book.

"The so-called Abandoned Lands, as the name suggests, are forsaken places.

There are rumors that the Abandoned Lands are related to a mysterious powerhouse.

After the fall of this mysterious powerhouse, the lands he ruled were plagued by disasters.

Finally, twelve powerhouses, including the Emperor God, banished the lands ruled by the mysterious powerhouse."

"So, to solve the problem of the Abandoned Lands, we first need to understand the identity of this mysterious powerhouse.

Even the Emperor God took action, so he must be a powerhouse of the same level.

Sigh... I'm still too weak now to access such high-level secrets."

Qi Yuan sighed.

"Your Highness, the Abandoned Lands are mysterious and extraordinary. Generally, the Myriad Heavens Mirror doesn't connect to the Abandoned Lands.

But there are exceptions. If you encounter an Abandoned Land, never enter it," Feng Ye said with concern. "According to the information I found, a True God at the peak of the Divine Lord realm once entered an Abandoned Land. He didn't know what an Abandoned Land was.

So, as usual, he devoured the World Spirit of that Abandoned Land. Then... something terrifying happened to him.

First, many eyes inexplicably grew on his back. Later... hair grew from his nose and mouth. In the end... he died in agony.

At the time, even a Dao God intervened but couldn't save him."

Feng Ye's eyes were filled with fear as he spoke of the Abandoned Lands.

This information was recorded at the end of the book.

Qi Yuan frowned. "Is that so?"

A Divine Lord realm powerhouse, comparable to a Realm Lord, could crush the Milky Way with a single hand.

Yet, after refining a World Spirit, he died a bizarre death.

"This Divine Lord realm powerhouse was the descendant of one of the Twelve Pillars of the Mountain of Ten Thousand Gods, the Tian Immortal... An Ba Xian," Feng Ye continued.

"Where is An Ba Xian's body?" Qi Yuan asked.

He wanted to see An Ba Xian's corpse to see if his special abilities could uncover any secrets.

"This... I don't know, but I can contact An Ba Xian's descendants for Your Highness," Feng Ye said.

"Good," Qi Yuan nodded.

Feng Ye left.

The empty palace was now only occupied by Qi Yuan.

"This game is still quite complicated."

"I wonder what rewards I'll get when the game ends."

Now, he could end the game at any time and claim the rewards.

But if he claimed them now, the rewards would surely be meager.

"This Abandoned Land seems like a trap.

But isn't that normal for games?"

...

In a palace.

The Hei Tian Divine Lord received a report from his subordinate, his eyes filled with curiosity.

"Qi Yuan is actually interested in An Nan. Could it be related to An Ba Xian?"

The news of Feng Ye seeking an audience with An Nan was somewhat notable.

Because the Tian Immortal and Tian Kai were both among the Twelve Pillars, and the two were at odds.

Their descendants rarely interacted, avoiding each other as much as possible.

Thus, Qi Yuan's invitation to An Nan naturally ended in failure.

"Should I help Qi Yuan?" the Hei Tian Divine Lord pondered.

He was hesitant.

Others didn't dare to befriend the Tian Immortal's descendants, but the Hei Tian Divine Lord wasn't afraid.

Because he had long considered himself a dead man, just waiting for the day he would be sent out to die.

Tian Kai didn't interfere with his life.

"Some time ago, Tan Ying became a named disciple of the Infinite Dao God. However, after paying his respects to the Infinite Dao God, he... committed suicide that night. There are rumors that he fell in love with his master, and unable to attain her love, he killed himself," the Hei Tian Divine Lord narrowed his eyes.

Things definitely weren't that simple.

After all, a True God of Divine Decree committing suicide over love was absurdity to the extreme.

There must be more to it.

And Tan Ying had always been arrogant, offending many people, including Qi Yuan.

"It just so happens that An Nan owes me a favor. Helping Qi Yuan can be considered an investment."

The Hei Tian Divine Lord said.

After saying this, he felt a bit wistful.

He didn't know if he was just wasting his efforts.

After all, only when Qi Yuan reached the Spirit God or Dao God realm could he speak up for him and potentially save him from death.

And even then, it wasn't a guarantee.

"Do your best and leave the rest to fate," the Hei Tian Divine Lord thought.

After all, he had many friends. He wasn't pinning all his hopes on Qi Yuan.