Chapter Five: Torches Burning Across the Nine Heavens

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Witnessing the situation, one of the college students tugged at Xiao Liu and whispered, “Let’s just forget about it. It’s not like we can’t find a place to stay. If it comes to it, we can crash at my place for a few days. We might as well give up the deposit.”

“No, that’s three months’ rent. The landlady will never return our money,” Xiao Liu gritted his teeth and, carrying his luggage, entered.

At this moment, Li Mingxing also slowed his pace, surveying his surroundings. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about this place, though he couldn’t quite pinpoint what.

Not long after, the landlady who had rented rooms to the students appeared. Like the other residents, she was exceedingly thin. Upon hearing that Xiao Liu had brought another prospective tenant, she didn’t mention the issues with the neighborhood at all. Instead, she started describing where she had available units, which building, which floor, and the locations in detail.

Li Mingxing said little, merely accompanying the landlady as she showed him several apartments. At last, he pointed to a particular building in the complex and asked, “Do you have any units in that building?”

His question left the landlady momentarily speechless. After a pause, she explained, “When everyone was moving out, the owners in that building refused to sell me their apartments, so...”

“I want to live in that building. Can you help me? I’ll pay you a commission,” Li Mingxing offered, unconcerned about the expense now that he had enough money.

Seeing his generosity, the landlady hesitated, then said, “Alright, I’ll help you get in touch. But are you sure you don’t want to look at some of my better units?”

With the landlady’s assistance, Li Mingxing finally rented a unit in his building of choice from a middle-aged man who arrived by taxi.

The location, the floor, and the intense aura of darkness in that unit all satisfied Li Mingxing greatly. If the owner had been willing, he would have bought the place outright.

After paying two years’ rent, Li Mingxing received the keys and, without even moving in his belongings, went straight to inspect the apartment.

As for the students and the landlady, he paid them no further heed.

After locking all the doors, Li Mingxing examined the three-bedroom, one-living room apartment. At only eighty-five square meters, it was divided into several small rooms.

Having been uninhabited for a long time, the apartment was pervaded by a chill, shadowy air. Even switching on all the lights could not dispel the oppressive cold.

This, however, was exactly what Li Mingxing wanted. At three hundred a month, the rent was affordable even for him. The aura of darkness and violence here was no less than what he’d sensed in the securities building. If the owner had agreed to sell, Li Mingxing would have considered borrowing money to buy the place.

Once he’d finished inspecting, Li Mingxing checked to ensure no one was watching, then took out the torch Raymond had given him and thrust it forcefully into the floor.

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The moment the torch touched the ground, a black flame sprang to life at its tip, and within the fire, Raymond appeared mysteriously.

He took the torch, about to praise Li Mingxing, when he noticed something amiss. After carefully surveying the surroundings, Raymond remarked, “You’re quite lucky.”

“I know. Finding a suitable place on the first day isn’t something a person with bad luck could manage,” Li Mingxing replied with some pride at his mentor’s praise.

“That’s not what I mean,” Raymond said coolly. “This is the entrance to an unformed inner world. Are you planning to turn it in, or keep it for yourself?”

“An unformed inner world entrance?” The term startled Li Mingxing. After a moment’s thought, unable to decide, he asked, “What’s the difference?”

“If you keep it, it becomes your personal inner world. You control the entrance. But if someone enters your world through a portal, they could follow the trail and find you.

If you turn it in, the Dark Alliance assumes the risk, and you receive substantial rewards and a share of the world’s resources.”

After understanding these options, Li Mingxing felt even more hesitant. He wanted to keep the inner world for himself and become a lord-level hero ahead of others.

But if he kept the entrance here and went off to complete tasks in other worlds, he might not even know if his home was attacked.

After much deliberation, Li Mingxing clenched his teeth and said, “My ultimate goal is to control all the inner worlds on Earth. Whether I take this one now or later makes no difference. Right now, I need to pick up the pace and develop.”

Raymond nodded and whispered a few words into the shadows. The gatekeeper Li Mingxing had seen at the portal appeared, glanced at Li Mingxing, then seized a black orb and left without a word.

Once the gatekeeper was gone, Raymond said, “Alright, with that thing gone, some of the reluctant owners will return, and the place will regain some life. That will make your presence here less conspicuous, and you’ll be safer.”

Raymond then thrust the torch back in and told Li Mingxing, “This torch must burn for seven days. During this time, you need to watch over it and make sure it doesn’t go out. If it’s about to extinguish, use your spirit coins as fuel. I’ll spend these days preparing materials for your city-building.”

He chuckled self-deprecatingly, “Originally, everything was ready for you, but now you’ll gain even greater benefits, which gives me an excuse to get you the best supplies. Actually, let’s burn it for nine days, in accordance with the Nine Nights Flame specification—it’ll be to your advantage.”

As Raymond prepared to leave, Li Mingxing suddenly asked, “Raymond, you’re not expecting me to stay here nine days straight, are you? What about my job? What about eating and sleeping?”

“Can’t you make do? And as for your job—do you still need a job in the real world?” Raymond smiled at him.

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“What about my tasks? I have three unfinished missions,” Li Mingxing pressed.

“None of them have deadlines. Nine days’ delay won’t matter,” Raymond replied with a laugh. “Just make sure not to let the fire go out—it would be bad for your future castle.”

After Raymond left, the resigned Li Mingxing called Zheng Yuan to tell her he’d be away for nine or ten days and couldn’t attend the company interview she’d arranged.

Zheng Yuan seemed quite concerned, questioning Li Mingxing in detail about his plans, whether he’d brought his belongings, whether he had enough money, and so on.

She told him repeatedly to call her whenever he had time, before finally hanging up, leaving Li Mingxing alone, staring into the black flame.

And so, he stayed there for nine days. During that time, he survived on instant noodles soaked in cold water and drank tap water when thirsty. When boredom struck, he’d stare into the black flame or call Zheng Yuan—his days were dull to the extreme.

Of course, Li Mingxing didn’t spend all his time sitting idly. Sometimes he exercised his increasingly agile body, and at other times, he practiced controlling the range of his sovereign aura.

Over those nine days, he mastered keeping the aura compressed to an inch outside his body for an entire day, or expanding and contracting it freely within a five-meter radius.

During this period, Yin Haitao, having received notice, came by, even bringing all the materials and equipment Li Mingxing needed for making poisons, so he could work on them while practicing his aura.

When Raymond reappeared suddenly on the morning of the ninth day, Li Mingxing was so excited he began recounting every detail of his monotonous days and his progress in controlling his sovereign aura.

Raymond, unaware that Li Mingxing was simply eager for conversation, took it as a sign of great motivation, nodding approvingly as he presented the city-building tools he’d prepared.

These so-called tools were not just a single item, but a whole set. Raymond pulled out four different objects, placing them in front of Li Mingxing.

One of them resembled the prop from the first of Li Mingxing’s three active missions—a large transparent bottle filled with capsules. Raymond’s bottle was bigger and contained more capsules.

The other three items were a scroll, a small piece of purple crystal, and a black, metallic, glossy box.