Lin Bei froze at her words, his face blank as he sank into thought.
After a long while he exhaled and regained his calm.
"So? Have you chosen?"
"Mm, I have."
"Which path?"
"Both."
"What?"
"I said, I'll walk both paths at the same time."
A faint smile touched Lin Bei's face. Seeing Aleria's stunned expression, he explained, "Since I can keep raising my Combat Power in the low-level world, the Path of the God of War is no problem."
"As for the Path of Rules, the King-Level Dungeon World is an Instance Dungeon of a High-Level Survival World; I can comprehend rules there."
"So, pretty logical, right?"
Lin Bei grinned.
"Logical…?"
Aleria stared, speechless.
"Well, thanks for clearing that up! To repay you, I've got some good news!"
Aleria still looked dazed, unable to snap out of it.
Lin Bei shook his head with a smile. This Overseer can't take a punch—just cultivating two paths at once, what's so strange about that?
"Besides, with the Critical Hit System and Plunder System backing me, walking both roads won't slow me down."
So… this choice is simply Perfect!"
He complained inwardly, but a flash of light in his hand produced a world origin fragment. He waved it in front of the camera. "Hey, don't space out—look what this is!"
Aleria's eyes refocused and she slowly came back to her senses.
Yet the moment she saw the dazzling black shard in Lin Bei's hand, she nearly blackedhed out on the spot.
Clatter!
Aleria plopped onto her rear, legs splayed, shock written all over her face.
"Y-you… that thing in your hand… it's a world origin fragment?!"
"Yep. Surprised? Excited?"
"Excited? This is pure fright!"
Aleria blurted, "You actually got a world origin fragment? That's unbelievable!"
"Oh, I looted it from a World BOSS in the Underworld."
"A World BOSS? No wonder—wait, you entered a King-Level Dungeon World! Since when do World BOSSes in there drop world origin fragments? How come I never knew?"
"Well, my Combat Power is pretty high. Every time I summon a World BOSS I burn through a hundred-odd challenge tickets, so the bosses that spawn are extra strong—probably why."
"A World BOSS summoned with over a hundred tickets?"
Aleria's mouth twitched. If she remembered right, taking first place on the honor ranking only gave one ticket per round.
The Underworld refreshed every ten days, meaning a single cycle produced thirty-six tickets at most.
How had this guy gathered so many in such a short time?
Had he… robbed other factions?
"Must be it. With his strength, no one there could stop him if he decided to loot them."
"But… right now he's basically a bug-level existence in the King-Level Dungeon World!"
"There, his Combat Power isn't capped by world rules, yet anyone else—unless they're local Reborn Ones—will have at least half their strength suppressed the moment they surpass Epic Level."
"And his Combat Power is already over ten trillion; even a Legendary powerhouse who descends now would just be delivering free food."
"Hold on—his power isn't restricted in the King-Level Dungeon World, so… we could send him into the Abyss Sea to scout it out!"
Suddenly Aleria's eyes lit up and she swallowed hard.
That place was beyond the reach of the Celestial Gods themselves!
If they could reap any gains there, the Lucky Faction might rise from the ashes and reclaim its place among the top factions.
"Hey, what's with that stare? Don't look at me like that! I'm… starting to panic."
Lin Bei felt a chill run down his spine under Aleria's burning gaze.
"Hehe, well… Beiming Brother, I've got a tiny favor to ask."
Aleria smiled sweetly, cute dimples showing on her cheeks.
"Uh… I'll trade you the world origin fragment in a sec. I've got stuff to do—gotta run!"
The sight made Lin Bei even more uneasy.
He blurted a quick goodbye and cut the call.
He opened the trade window, tossed in a world origin fragment, then stuffed the pink wristband into his storage space and slapped ten Epic Level sealing scrolls on top for good measure before exhaling in relief.
"Damn, that look just now scared the crap outta me!"
"Better not contact her again for a while."
"Whenever she gets that expression, whatever she asks for is bound to be trouble."
"Pity—I wanted to trade the other fragments with her, but I guess I'll wait."
Lin Bei shook his head, still spooked… Deep in the Abyss Sea, endless darkness.
A colossal pupil slowly opened, flickering with doubt.
"That fleeting sense of dread just now… was it an illusion?"
"Why do I feel as if… I just dodged a calamity?"
"Strange—I'm immortal in this space; why would such a feeling arise?"
"Must've been my imagination."
"That thief got me so riled up last time I'm even hallucinating now."
"But this time I've prepared plenty of goodies—if that thief dares return, I'll make sure he has an 'unforgettable' time!"
"Haha, after so many boring years, I'm actually looking forward to it."
"Hope that thief pays me another visit soon."
…"Achoo!"
On the Island, Lin Bei suddenly sneezed.
"Tch, Aleria must be cursing me. Whatever—since she showed me two cultivation paths, I'll let it slide."
"This low-level world is great; scarce supplies, but the world rules are awesome—Perfect shelter for now."
Smiling, Lin Bei watched the sun rise over the sea, feeling utterly content.