I'm caught in the cycle of endless competition, you're waiting for me in the apocalypse.

In front of the city lord's mansion

Two people stood on each side of Gu Shuohan, handing the invitation to the little devil at the door with an air of authority.

Upon seeing the black and gold invitation, the little imp knew the visitor was of high status. He respectfully and politely guided the distinguished guest into the mansion.

After passing through a long, secluded corridor in the bamboo forest, I arrived at a Gothic building. The dark gray stone walls and the pointed roof exuded an oppressive atmosphere.

Upon entering the castle, An Xin was utterly astonished: Damn! No wonder Lin You City is so strange and discordant everywhere; it turns out the real oddity lies in the City Lord's Mansion!

Using so much fake bamboo to create the illusion of a secluded courtyard is one thing. Turning the main building into a European Gothic castle is another. But what's with the lavish Baroque-style interior? And the Rococo-style furnishings... Is this castle lord a lolicon?

After a moment of speechless silence, An Xin sighed. She had always thought it was due to the unique nature of the Ghost Path, with its multi-dimensional and multi-cultural development. She never imagined it was just the mindless planning and construction of a bizarre city lord.

I really overestimated him...

The group walked through a long corridor and finally arrived at the luxurious, gleaming door, like the most important ball in a European court. The door was pulled open by two servants on the left and right.

Waiting at the corridor above the stairs, the butler announced the guests' identities in a voice that could pierce through eardrums: "Gu Han, chairman of the Spirit Liquid R&D Company, and his assistant have arrived!"

—Damn! Was that intentional? Revealing their identities and names, what's the point of the masquerade ball then! You just wait and see, Kwon Yuri!

An Xin was internally ranting, while Gu Shuohan had the worst expression, because he could see that the guests on the dance floor and throughout the hall were staring at him with enthusiastic eyes! The others were silently praying for him.

The group slowly descended the stairs on the right, observing the interior structure and the people present. At this moment, Quan Shaohua and Fu Mochen both took larger strides towards Gu Shuohan.

"Mr. Gu, you've arrived, that's wonderful! Let me introduce you..." Fu Mohan walked up to Gu Shuohan first, nodded in acknowledgment, and then tried to lead him away from there, while also introducing him to some powerful and influential people.

Unexpectedly, Quan Shaohua persisted, saying calmly, "Oh, this must be President Gu. I've heard so much about you! It's great to finally meet you! I am Quan Shaohua, the young city magistrate of Linyou City. I managed to snag a bottle of spirit liquid at the last auction, that was wonderful! There are still some things I don't understand, could you please enlighten me?"

"Okay!" Seeing this, Gu Shuohan had no choice but to nod and agree.

"President Gu, who should we give the spiritual liquid to? It's so valuable, I dare not give it to the little devil or the butler," An Xin said in a low voice.

"Ah! Spirit liquid? Come with me, I'll help you put your things away." Upon hearing the name "spiritual liquid," Quan Shaohua's attention was completely diverted, and he only wanted to get the spiritual liquid as soon as possible.

"Go ahead!" Gu Shuohan knew that An Xin was trying to help him solve his current problem, and he was very grateful, but he said expressionlessly, "You and Ma Hou go together. There's so much spiritual liquid, it's not good for you to carry it all. It wouldn't be good if you broke it!"

"Yes, Boss!" An Xin and Li Qingchuan said in unison.

So, Fu Mochen took Gu Shuohan, Qi Mingxuan, and Wei Ran to befriend powerful figures. Quan Shaohua, on the other hand, took An Xin and Li Qingchuan to put the spiritual liquid into the room.

After passing through the long corridor and taking the elevator to the 5th floor, Quan Shaohua stopped at the end of the corridor, opened a study, and instructed them to put the spiritual liquid on the table before leaving.

An Xin and his companion carefully placed the jade bottle and ten glass bottles of spiritual liquid on the table, then respectfully nodded and left the study.

After they left, a few minutes later, Quan Shaohua pushed open the door and looked outside. Seeing that there was nothing suspicious around, he closed the door again.

He carefully moved the oil painting on the fireplace, pressed the button, and the stone wall next to the fireplace clicked open.

He took the spiritual liquid and entered the secret passage...

"Every castle really does have secret passages and treasure vaults~" An Xin's eyes crinkled with joy.

An Xin and Li Qingchuan were hiding in a storage room on this floor. She had activated her "Heavenly Eye" and could see Quan Shaohua's movements and path clearly.

Before hiding in the storage room, An Xin released the four ghost generals, sending them to the dance hall to replace the four people. Because they had rehearsed many times, the humans and ghosts cooperated seamlessly.

Having been successfully replaced, Qi Mingxuan and Wei Ran found the entrance to the basement from the other side of the corridor.

There was still less than half an hour before the ball was officially scheduled to begin...

In the storage room on the 5th floor, An Xin used her third eye to see Quan Shaohua come out of the secret room on the 1st floor, then turn back through the secret passage, and finally leave through the secret passage on the 4th floor!

An Xin was very curious. The ball was about to start in half an hour, and the promotional event would also be held at the same time. Why did the young city lord go to the fourth floor instead of going directly from the first floor to the ballroom?

She told Li Qingchuan about it, indicating that they would not take any action for the time being, and she would see what kind of trouble Quan Shaohua would cause.

Quan Shaohua sneaked into a room on the fourth floor, and to An Xin's surprise, Anna was in that room.

As soon as Quan Shaohua entered, Anna threw herself into his arms, and the two began to kiss passionately...

—Damn! Are you that thirsty? We've been kissing for 10 minutes already, when will it end?! I'm going to get a sty!

Just as An Xin was losing patience and preparing to stop watching, the two of them finally stopped. She activated her "Heavenly Ears," not wanting to miss any possible information.

Anna nestled breathlessly in Quan Shaohua's arms and giggled, "You're finally here. The thought of having to accompany him to the ball later makes me feel uncomfortable all over."

"Soon, it won't be long. Once my cultivation surpasses his, I won't have to worry about killing him!" Quan Shaohua smiled contemptuously. "As long as we have you and the spiritual liquid, there won't be any problems! He's just an arrogant and greedy old devil, completely brainless, yet he values ​​power and profit so much. Now he's offended the nobles and the world lord; he'll be wiped out sooner or later! It's better to let the two of us benefit!"

“His cultivation level is not low, and his spiritual power must be strong as well. He will definitely be able to break through the boundary! But I’m afraid that the World Lord might take action against us then!” Anna said softly, her slender white finger seemingly drawing circles on Quan Shaohua’s chest unintentionally.

"Alright, the ball is about to start, he's coming to pick you up." Quan Shaohua held her hand and said, "Little vixen, I'll come find you after the ball!"

Then, Quan Shaohua reluctantly kissed her lips again, and his hand also mischievously squeezed Anna's soft breasts.

With a soft moan, Anna blushed and became as shy as an innocent little girl.

Quan Shaohua loved Anna's shyness. Suppressing his impulse, he left her room, returned to the secret passage, went down to the first floor, and hurried back to the ballroom.

Having finally endured watching and listening to the two's ambiguous conversation, An Xin withdrew her supernatural powers and said to Li Qingchuan, "Second Senior Brother, this young city lord and Anna are having an affair. And judging from their conversation, it seems they are pushing Quan Yuli to the brink of madness and coveting his soul power, which can even destroy boundary walls..."

"...This might be a good thing. Let them fight amongst themselves, giving us time to grow and develop. The more chaotic the situation, the more opportunities we'll have. It's easier to fish in troubled waters!"

“Okay! Let’s go to the secret room now!” An Xin’s eyes were sparkling.

She walked through the corridor, quietly pushed open the study door, and opened the secret passage just like Quan Shaohua had done. The two, brother and sister, exchanged a smile and then groped their way inside.

The dimly lit secret passage connected to a spiral stone staircase. An Xin looked up and then down. Li Qingchuan, knowing her hesitation, said softly, "The only sixth floor in Linyou City must belong to Quan Yuli, so let's go down first. The ball hasn't started yet, so he might still be there. Let's go to the secret room on the first floor that you saw first."

An Xin gave a thumbs-up and nodded, then followed the spiral stone staircase to the secret room on the first floor. Using her lock-picking skills, she easily opened the cheapest European antique iron lock. Slowly pushing open the iron door, she was dazzled by the astonishing number of treasures inside.

With a "whoosh," a white bolt of lightning shot out from An Xin's neck, flying straight towards a corner of the secret chamber filled with gold coins and various gems. A small white snake wriggled and buried itself in the treasure pile.

An Xin sighed, both amused and exasperated: "Ao Jue, I know you dragons love blinblind things, so every dragon has its own treasure trove. I bet your original treasure trove was much better than this one."

A round head popped out from the pile of treasures, its big round eyes sparkling with excitement even more than An Xin's: "That's right, the treasures here can't compare to those in my treasury, it's like comparing a fish eye to a pearl! But I can't help it... I get excited when I see something sparkly!"

An Xin's peach blossom eyes darted around, then curved into a smile, and she said in an extremely ambiguous tone, "Dragons have an extraordinary obsession with treasures, but there's also a saying, 'Dragons are inherently lustful.' So, are you very lecherous, that you pounce on any pretty female you see?"

"...Cough cough...cough..." Upon hearing An Xin's blunt words, Ao Jue choked on his own saliva, coughing so hard his snake body stiffened. After finally calming down, he stammered, "The truth...is that so...but...but there are exceptions! I'm the exception, look, did I pounce on you?"

"Then you're a good dragon. To avoid suspicion, you can't wrap your arms around Xinxin's neck anymore, and you can't go into her room either!" Li Qingchuan interjected abruptly while observing the treasures on the shelf.

Actually, he had long found this big white worm an eyesore. He could tolerate An Xin treating it like a pet, but since the issue had come up today, it was time to deal with it.

"You, you, you! I... how could I have romantic feelings for her! I have very high standards!" Ao Jue awkwardly buried the snake's head in the pile of treasures, grunted twice, and then fell silent.

"That's great! You'd better remember that!" Li Qingchuan glanced at the pile of treasures and continued to look at the treasures.

"Senior brother, senior brother, come quick!" An Xin didn't care what Ao Jue was saying at all. She saw that there were signs of movement under a wooden shelf with books on it. "Senior brother, look, there should be another secret room behind this secret room. The door should be behind this wooden shelf."

"Yes, let's look for the agency together."

An Xin touched the wall next to the wooden shelf, while Li Qingchuan searched for books on the shelf.

Li Qingchuan carefully examined the bookshelf and noticed a particularly thick book on the top shelf, with severe wear and tear along its spine. He tried to pull the book out, and sure enough, it was very tight. When he pulled it out with force, "click," the familiar sound, the familiar formula—the bookshelf had moved.

Opening the bookshelf immediately revealed a secret chamber behind it, with rows of wooden crates neatly stacked. They each went to one side, opened a crate, and found two crates filled with colored spirit stones. Opening a few more crates revealed even more colored spirit stones.

After opening the tallest rows of wooden crates, they discovered that the crates were stacked according to the different colors of spirit stones. "Xiao Jiu, can we retrieve things remotely now? I don't want the crates, I just want the spirit stones inside," An Xin communicated with Di Ting in her mind's eye.

“No problem, Xinxin. Don’t you have the ability to sense wood elements? Just put your hand on the wooden box and use material exchange to directly store the contents into your Qiankun World.”

"Hehe~ Heaven's helping me~" An Xin rubbed her hands together and winked at Li Qingchuan, "Senior brother, I'm going to collect all the spirit stones from the boxes downstairs. Can you keep watch for me?"

After a while, he clapped his hands and said, "That's enough! Let's go, senior brother!"

"Should we collect the treasures outside?"

"Leave them for now, otherwise they'll be easily noticed, but they'll all be mine sooner or later! Hahaha~" An Xin suppressed her laughter, trying not to make it too loud, but the tone of her laughter changed, sounding like a demon's low murmur in the dark, secret room.

Fortunately, the improvement in their cultivation level also enhanced their eyesight, making even dimly lit places as bright as day. The two people and the snake restored the secret chamber to its original state and stepped onto the stone steps once more.