Chapter 48: Inheritance of Qualifications

The combat range of Wang Qing and the other person was extremely broad. Their figures shifted continuously, appearing sometimes in the sky and sometimes on the ground.

Their astonishing leaping power allowed them to soar dozens of meters into the air without needing to fly.

Although they exercised great restraint over their destructive power, the terrain where they fought was still left pitted and scarred.

This was caused by the aftermath of their collisions.

If the two of them had fought without holding anything back, the destruction would have been far more terrifying.

Murong Xun could only hide with the utmost caution.

Fortunately, his location was close to the residential complex, so both Wang Qing and his opponent consciously steered clear of this side, terrified that the commotion of the battle might disturb more people.

If too many people found out, even if they massacred all witnesses, the upper echelons of the Special Security Bureau would still step in to deal with them.

The death of one or two could be covered up. But if the death toll mounted, the bureau would pay the price to use abilities like Time Reversal, and everything they had done would be laid bare.

Even while locked in a life-or-death battle, the two of them were acutely aware of this.

Why was the real world so peaceful?

Did anyone seriously think players were that well-behaved!

After gaining formidable power, they actually managed to remain docile and law-abiding. Though ripples occurred occasionally, overall it remained remarkably calm.

This was not because the players possessed high civic consciousness, but because the strength of the Special Security Bureau was formidable enough.

Through battle after battle, they had crushed all voices of rebellion.

As long as one could not challenge the authority of the Special Security Bureau, one had to hunker down and behave in the real world.

The name Special Security Bureau was not earned for nothing.

With a full three Tier-6 powerhouses holding down the fort, the strength of the bureau directly towered above the three major factions.

Yet Murong Xun did not know that not far behind him, another figure was also peeking out and hiding, watching the battle in the distance.

Because sensory perception was suppressed in the real world, and out of fear of being discovered by the combatants, that person had deliberately suppressed their aura. Consequently, they had failed to notice when someone approached very close to them.

Li Wenna had actually intended to come out for a drink of water. Seeing Murong Xun secretly slip out of the house, she grew curious, wondering if he was going to meet a girlfriend, and followed him out.

To her surprise, she witnessed such an explosive scene.

At first, she thought a movie was being filmed. But upon closer observation, there was no production crew around, and besides, what movie added special effects right at the start? Weren't those usually added in post-production?

Excitement surged in her heart. Realizing she might have encountered legendary martial arts masters, she quickly covered her mouth, wondering if they would accept her as a disciple if she begged them after the fight.

If she learned their skills, would she be able to leap over roofs and bound across walls?

Lost in her fantasies, she had no idea how perilous such spectating truly was.

"You forced this!"

Wang Qing's roar rang out, followed by an earth-shattering explosion.

"Bang!"

A figure plummeted from mid-air, crashing into the ground to form a crater, and lay motionless for a long time.

Murong Xun did not move. Seeing that a human life had been claimed, Li Wenna also covered her mouth in shock, not daring to make a sound.

She was only a seventeen-year-old girl who had never encountered such events before, so she had no idea how to handle the situation. Her gaze instinctively turned to Murong Xun for help.

At this moment, her only hope lay in her cousin.

Exercising caution, Murong Xun waited for a while and only moved after confirming that the person on the ground was truly motionless.

He slowly approached the fallen figure. At that moment, the person was charred black from head to toe, their original appearance unrecognizable, and their clothes were tattered and shredded, as if they had endured the most terrifying of explosions.

In truth, that assessment was not entirely wrong. After all, Wang Qing had just detonated himself. The horrifying power of that blast was hardly inferior to that of a tactical missile, except that the explosion occurred high in the sky, minimizing the impact on the ground.

"Hhuu... hhuu..."

Gongsun Yuan's chest still heaved, proving he was still breathing, though at that moment, aside from breathing, he could not even twitch a muscle.

Walking up to him, Murong Xun did not hesitate; the wooden saber in his hand plunged straight down.

Gongsun Yuan probably never imagined that after all his painstaking efforts to kill Wang Qing, before he could even reap the fruits of victory, he would fall victim to the old idiom of the snipe and the clam fighting while the fisherman profits.

"Ah?"

Seeing Murong Xun actually kill someone, Li Wenna could not help but cry out, though she quickly clamped a hand over her mouth the next instant.

Seeing the condensed blood-red badge, Murong Xun felt a trace of curiosity, noticing that three of the six edges of this badge were golden, unlike any he had obtained before.

Just as he picked up the blood-red badge, his brow furrowed.

[Warning! Promptly eliminate and execute anyone nearby who is aware of relevant intelligence!]

Someone was here?

Murong Xun was about to search for the traces of the nearby person when his expression suddenly turned somewhat dazed the next second.

[Alert canceled!]
What was going on here?

Unable to make sense of it, he shook his head. He had better head back first!

Such a massive commotion had occurred here; relevant personnel would surely arrive very soon. Lingering here any longer would spell trouble.

What he did not know was that the spot where Li Wenna had been hiding was now completely empty.

To Murong Xun's regret, his Genshin gloves could not be brought out; otherwise, swallowing those two formidable experts should have added a considerable boost to his attributes.

Fortunately, obtaining a blood-red badge already counted as an unexpected windfall.

He felt no psychological burden whatsoever about killing a stranger. Players inherently existed in a kill-or-be-killed relationship; falling into his hands and being executed by him was entirely justified.

Returning home, he carefully locked the front door, went back to his room, and made not a single sound.

Meanwhile, over at the park, authorities quickly cordoned off the scene.

At the site, staring at the charred corpse, a middle-aged man furrowed his brows deeply, his expression unsightly.

"Director Long, the dead man is Gongsun Yuan!"

A young man hurried over.

"The other person who fought him has been identified as Wang Qing. There are two other corpses nearby whose specific identities are still under investigation, but it can be confirmed they were ordinary civilians."

"I see."

The death of a subordinate left Long Yan in a less-than-pleasant mood.

"That kid Gongsun Yuan must have been pushing too hard, otherwise Wang Qing wouldn't have been driven to fight to the death."

Long Yan naturally knew the temperament of his subordinates.

"Why couldn't it be that Gongsun Yuan saw Wang Qing committing murder and tried to stop him, leading to a conflict when Wang Qing attempted to escape?"

The young man asked, puzzled.

"Would a Tier-3 idler like Wang Qing have nothing better to do than run into a park in the middle of the night to murder a pair of lovers?"

Long Yan retorted sarcastically.

"And why would he murder ordinary people, and why was Gongsun Yuan there?"

"This..."

The young man froze.

"I heard Wang Qing was recently looking for partners to raid that newly discovered dragon-clan instance dungeon. I'm afraid Gongsun Yuan was the one he invited."

Long Yan sighed.

"That kid Gongsun Yuan has a loose tongue; I've warned him many times. I'm afraid this time he leaked information about the Magic Tower, was overheard by someone, and Wang Qing wanted to silence him while he wanted to silence Wang Qing."

"You mean they perished together?"
The young man looked at Long Yan with admiration.

"Kill each other my foot!"

Long Yan shot him an exasperated look.

"Can't you see those obvious wounds on Gongsun Yuan? A third person was present and finished him off. The exact scenario was likely that Wang Qing used a technique similar to the Heavenly Demon Self-Destruct to blow himself up, leaving Gongsun Yuan heavily injured, and then someone else reaped the benefits. The commotion we heard earlier was caused by Wang Qing."

"So that's how it was!"

The young man was suddenly enlightened.

"Director Long is truly wise. What should we do about this side?"

"Just classify it as an accident and compensate their families. What an unmitigated disaster for them!"

Long Yan lamented. They had simply been out enjoying a romantic evening when sudden catastrophe struck—who could they reason with?

"Sigh, I'll have to dispatch someone to garrison this sector again!"

The thought of the severe manpower shortage in the bureau gave Long Yan a headache.

As the branch director bearing the heavy responsibility of a city's safety, Long Yan felt immense pressure.

Recent consecutive incidents had left him physically and mentally exhausted.

Garrisoning a sector required at least Tier-3 strength, but Tier-3 experts weren't cabbages you could find on every street corner. The urban center and various counties demanded far too much personnel, leaving supplies somewhat stretched thin now.

He even had to consider whether to recruit ordinary freelance vagrants.

Yet the thought of those people's erratic personalities gave him another headache.

Meanwhile, Murong Xun, having returned home, remained entirely oblivious to these developments. He turned the blood-red badge over in his hands; since it could not be activated in the real world, he could only store it away first, planning to unlock it once he returned to the Magic Tower Paradise to see what good items awaited.

Waking up the next day, Murong Xun prepared breakfast and noticed that Li Wenna still hadn't gotten up, which struck him as strange since she usually woke up on her own without needing to be called.

He knocked on her door, but the door swung open at the slightest touch, revealing an empty room.

"What's going on?"

Seeing no one there, Murong Xun grew suspicious.

There were still two days left before the exchange period ended, and even if Li Wenna went somewhere, she should have given him a heads-up. It was impossible for her to just vanish inexplicably by herself.

Suddenly, Murong Xun's face turned pale as a thought struck him.

Last night, the Magic Tower had issued a warning, proving someone was nearby, yet no one was found afterward. What did that imply?

Ordinary people wouldn't understand, but having personally experienced an inheritance instance dungeon, he knew very well that if someone died while others were nearby in the real world, those bystanders could inherit the qualification and enter the Magic Tower directly.

That was how he had entered in the first place.

Could it be that Li Wenna had also gone out last night? And that the person the warning referred to at the time was her?

Panic gripped Murong Xun's heart. If it really was her and something had happened to her, what would he tell his aunt?

Though the rest period was not yet over, Murong Xun no longer had the slightest inclination to rest.