Ruthlessly slaying the Immortal Lady to save the damsel in distress?

Don’t give me that bullshit.

It was obviously Feng Bei who cut down the Immortal Lady with one slash, okay?

The records under [Experience] were like a history, appropriately detailed and concise.

Zheng Xiu glanced at it and tried to rub it off with his finger. When he couldn’t, he had to give up.

Looking back at the paper, he saw a new column: [Fitting].

Zheng Xiu subconsciously picked at a bump on his forehead. With a flicker of thought, a blood-red twenty-sided die flew out from between his eyebrows.

The first time he gazed into the die, he had seen an illusion of himself curled up and trapped within it.

Now, the die had changed again. The numbers on the other nineteen faces had grown slightly blurry, while the "One" face was as clear as if it were imprinted. Looking closer, he could faintly make out the shape of [Purgatory].

"Purgatory."

CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.

The flesh of Zheng Xiu’s palm split open as white bone burst through the skin, extending outward.

Zheng Xiu watched wide-eyed from his Heart Prison as his own bone pierced his flesh, was instantly engulfed in black flame, and then gradually morphed into the shape of a chain. The flames extended along its length until they abruptly solidified at the end, forming two menacing Large Curved Sabers.

’Am I still human?’

The sensation of a weapon growing out of his body made Zheng Xiu deeply uncomfortable, but he was soon captivated by the strangeness of [Purgatory].

Between [Purgatory]’s two Curved Sabers, a thin black line extended in his vision, ultimately forming a faint, empty slot.

On the Game Table, several unassigned green flames suddenly flared, burning restlessly—they were the Traits that were supposed to be equipped in the Incarnation’s Trait slots.

’Don’t tell me...’

The hint was so obvious that Zheng Xiu felt anyone who wasn’t a complete idiot could see what it meant.

It was practically highlighted for him.

Surprised, he beckoned to one of the adorable little green flames.

The flame came to rest in Zheng Xiu’s hand.

CLICK.

He casually slotted [Tracking] into place.

The green flame settled into the empty slot, a perfect fit.

Whoa!

’You can actually do that?’

’The [Prisoner] Path is this flexible?’

The Main Body and the Incarnation seemed to be two extremes.

The freedom of his physical body was severely restricted.

But the Incarnation, it seemed, held infinite possibilities.

RATTLE—

Zheng Xiu swung the twin chains within his Heart Prison. They struck the rusty bars, creating a shower of dazzling sparks before recoiling limply back into his hands.

There were no targets to kill right now, but when Zheng Xiu whipped out the Chain Blade, he could feel it. The instant he released it, the two Curved Sabers of [Purgatory] seemed to search for something, imbued with a strange, new liveliness.

’His Chain Saber could track targets?’

Ridiculous.

Zheng Xiu was dumbfounded.

’Isn’t this... a weapon plugin?’

But it got even more ridiculous than that.

"POP~"

Zheng Xiu pulled out [Tracking] and, one by one, tried the other Traits that were supposed to be slotted into the Incarnation.

They all worked!

Even more absurdly, he could even slot in [Medical Principles]!

Anything could be slotted in.

With [Medical Principles] slotted in, [Purgatory]’s special effects changed slightly. A few green flecks now floated within the pitch-black flames.

Zheng Xiu swung it a few times but didn’t feel any difference.

But he had a wild idea.

’Could it be? With [Medical Principles] slotted in, would [Purgatory] turn into a benevolent healing blade?’

’The kind that could cure someone by stabbing them?’

Before witnessing the Miracle Masters’ Combat Skill with his own eyes, Zheng Xiu would have found such an idea absurd.

But after personally watching Yue Yan fight the deaf, lame, and blind trio, Zheng Xiu’s perspective had broadened. He now felt that in the world of Miracle Masters, anything was possible.

"Fucking awesome!"

Even Zheng Xiu, a man who could remain unfazed while sitting on a massive fortune, couldn’t help but cry out in awe before such an ever-changing weapon.

Looking at the [Fitting] column, he could tell [Purgatory] was only the beginning; it was far from over.

’Once I unlock more forms for this weapon and install different plugins in each, won’t I have infinite possibilities?’

’Why can I only slot in one at a time!’

’Not being able to slot them all in is such a waste!’

The greedy Master Zheng’s heart ached with disappointment.

His current mood was like that of an old patron of the brothels, gazing at a house full of fresh young women, his spirit willing but his flesh weak.

But the flaws couldn’t hide its virtues. It was still a sweet deal.

Master Zheng held [Purgatory], looking at the delightful green flame on the twin blades, and a heroic spirit swelled in his chest.

’Even that Feng Bei!... Ahem, on second thought, maybe not Feng Bei.’

"It’s not that I couldn’t beat Feng Bei, ahem, but we’re allies. There’s no need."

Zheng Xiu lacked confidence as he muttered to himself, but he still said the words out loud.

Once a boast is made aloud, confidence naturally follows.

After opening the eighth door.

Beside the Incarnations of [Zheng Shan] and [Zheng Er], a new, blurry figure had appeared.

Clearly, he could now create a third Incarnation.

With the number of his Incarnations growing, Zheng Xiu was becoming more deliberate.

First, he had to consider how to configure this Incarnation’s Attributes.

Second, when this new Incarnation appeared before others, he had to consider what relationship it should have to the others—simply put, its seniority.

Zheng Shan was Zheng Haoran’s brother.

Zheng Er was Zheng Shan’s son, and also possibly Zheng Xiu’s son.

As for the third Incarnation... ’I can’t just make another younger brother, can I?’

Dark currents were now surging within the Imperial City. Many were wary of the Zheng Family’s Brotherhood, Thousand-Mile Eye, and Sharp-Eared.

Zheng Xiu closed his eyes, thinking deeply.

’That’s it! As the saying goes, the older the ginger, the spicier the spice. If the Zheng Family is to be secure, it needs something like an "Old Ancestor" figure!’

’The "Family Ancestor" doesn’t have to make public appearances, but they must exist.’

’Zheng Shan could fit the bill, but he’s inconvenient to use right now. If Feng Bei were to get ahold of him... it would be a huge problem.’

’Besides, his seniority isn’t high enough.’

’I need an Incarnation with a higher seniority than my own father.’

’An Incarnation that can suppress any and all upstarts!’

’An Incarnation whose name alone makes everyone tremble!’

’I need to use some pretext to create a legend for this Incarnation!’

’And for that, I’ll need to borrow Feng Bei’s fearsome reputation again.’

As he pondered, a blurry figure began to take shape in Zheng Xiu’s mind.

But creating this Incarnation would be extremely difficult. Just grinding for the Basic Attributes would require a huge amount of time and Experience.

Zheng Xiu muttered to himself. He felt that creating Incarnations was too random, too difficult to control, and full of "variables."

[You know, there actually are.]

As he muttered to himself in the Heart Prison, a line of text suddenly flashed before Zheng Xiu’s eyes.

The sudden appearance of the text made Zheng Xiu leap from his chair, his expression a mixture of shock and uncertainty.

A bead of cold sweat suddenly broke out on Zheng Xiu’s forehead.

He only then remembered. Back in the Ghostly Realm of the Immortal Maiden Temple, when his chains had suddenly transformed into a new weapon, he and the text had engaged in a certain degree of... "interaction."

’Why would I have overlooked something so bizarre?’

Cold sweat dripped from Zheng Xiu’s brow. He now felt an incredible strangeness, as if the very concept of "doubt" had been erased from his mind.

The moment the seed of "doubt" was replanted, a torrent of long-suppressed thoughts burst forth one after another.

’And another thing, this [Prisoner] path was never a tabletop game, so where the hell did a Keeper of Secrets (KP) come from?!’

’Why did I subconsciously assume from the very beginning that the narrator was a Keeper of Secrets?’

’In a normal tabletop game, the Keeper of Secrets is played by a real person!’

’But here, in this world, who’s playing this damn KP?’

Zheng Xiu glanced around. The Heart Prison was empty. But the "conversational" feel of the text suddenly made the place feel haunted, sending a chill down his spine.

[You are very shocked by this sudden development.]

[All this time, you believed this was like a role-playing game, with a "Keeper of Secrets (KP)" who didn’t actually exist.]

[You suddenly realize now that this Keeper of Secrets might actually... exist.]

[This horrifying thought, one you seem to have deliberately ignored, chills you to the bone.]

"Stop playing dumb and talking to me in the second person. Who the hell are you?"

[Could it be possible? You suddenly have another thought: your conversation with the Keeper of Secrets (KP) in the Immortal Maiden Temple was less a conversation and more you talking to yourself, listening to your own inner voice.]

Zheng Xiu carefully backed against the bars of the cell. Even though he knew this was his Heart Prison and he couldn’t escape, the action still gave him a small sense of security.

Text appeared line by line, flashing on all four sides of Zheng Xiu and trapping him within a smaller "prison of words."

With a raised eyebrow, Zheng Xiu started cursing, "Damn KP."

[You are now like someone looking in a mirror. Staring at your reflection, you feel as if you’re looking at a stranger, one who might act in unpredictable ways.]

"Damn KP."

[You feel as if you’re cursing yourself.]

"Damn KP."

[You gradually begin to suspect your thoughts are merely a delusion, that "Prisoner" is just an ordinary Jiazi Path.]

"Damn KP."

[You feel ashamed of your foolish thoughts.]

"Damn KP."

[...Ah, you suddenly remember. The Rulebook exists, and on its final page, there is a true ’Inner Rulebook.’]

A massive, purple-covered book, as thick as several bricks stacked together, floated in from outside the cell and landed silently on the Game Table.

Two more beads of cold sweat dripped down Zheng Xiu’s forehead.

WHOOSH—

On the Rulebook’s purple cover was a large, blood-red eye. It had a vertical pupil that was currently darting back and forth.

Zheng Xiu, of course, didn’t touch it. But the book opened by itself.

WHOOSH—

Zheng Xiu glanced over. The pages were filled with incomprehensible text.

He glimpsed one page that seemed to be filled with "WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF—"

’It even has dog language?’

The book flipped all the way to the last page.

The last page was actually an indented slot.

Hidden in the slot was a small booklet.

The booklet was pure white. This appeared to be the [Inner Rulebook] the text had mentioned.

This method of concealment made the [Inner Rulebook] feel to Zheng Xiu like a gully with a trickling stream in the Black Forest—utterly secret, magnificent, and magical.

[Do you want it?]

"...I do."

A golden light descended from the heavens, landing on Zheng Xiu’s head.

The bizarre special effect made Zheng Xiu look up suspiciously, his tension instantly broken.

It was the classic "sudden enlightenment" special effect.

[Though your mouth says no, your body says yes. You have achieved great enlightenment, grasping the true essence of a wealthy merchant and comprehending the dao of "By Any Means Necessary."]

[Talent "No merchant is honest" has skipped a level, reaching the realm of Masterful.]

[You are now thoroughly convinced that this is your own inner voice.]

"Damn KP, who’d believe your bullshit? Be honest, are you some thousand-year-old remnant soul trying to possess me, or maybe some old geezer who failed his ascension and is now begrudgingly serving as a weapon spirit?"

[Cognitive distortion failed.]

[Deceitful Object: Jiazi, current Fitting: "One/Twenty."]

[You want to know the answer.]

[Then...]

Opposite Zheng Xiu.

The gray mist seemed to transform into writhing tentacles.

A portion of the mist, which had always kept its distance from the Heart Prison, suddenly surged into the cell.

Opposite the Bone Chair, the mist formed a hazy mirror, or perhaps a patch of pure shadow.

Zheng Xiu stood frozen on the other side of the Heart Prison, coldly observing the bizarre transformation.

For some reason, he had a feeling this wasn’t a bad thing.

He had always been curious about why the Heart Prison existed.

What was the gray mist outside the Heart Prison, and what lay in its depths?

He watched silently as the gray mist poured into the Heart Prison.

Suddenly.

A pair of pale, slender hands reached out from the mist.

Only the hands.

The two hands extending from the mist were held open, palms up.

The text stopped appearing.

After the two pale arms were extended, they made no further movement.

But the gesture seemed to say to Zheng Xiu:

"Please, have a seat."