Wait? Wait for what? Wait for death?

Huai Shi held his fan, huddled in a corner where no one paid much attention. He shivered, then looked around cautiously; none of the beings seated on either side resembled humans.

"Hmm? It seems there is a human scent."

"Must be a mistake. Drink up, drink up."

The two brightly colored, large ghosts from Yingzhou sitting in front of Huai Shi picked up their wine cups and drank merrily once again, soon getting lost in the song accompanying the dance music.

Behind the hanging curtains, the maimed Musicians played pipa and konghou, presenting an almost wailing, desolate tune for the decayed Court Officials. Yet, under the chilly breeze, this somehow made the banquet even more lively and boisterous.

"All good stuff here. Don't waste it, eat up," the Raven urged.

Picking up his chopsticks, Huai Shi selected several cold dishes that were perfect with the wine. The pickled vegetables were particularly refreshing, each bite filled with a potent abyssal essence that spread through his mouth, providing a delightful taste sensation.

Especially those edamame; they made his eyes sparkle, and his initial aversion vanished without a trace.

"More vegetarian dishes for me, and absolutely no meat," Huai Shi commanded with his fan to the kneeling Attendant beside him. "I've been fasting and praying recently, blessing the Former Emperor. It doesn't matter if I break my spiritual discipline, but what if I shorten the Former Emperor's life?"

The Attendant hurriedly kowtowed, and soon, the dishes on the table were entirely replaced with an array of vibrant greens, looking incredibly healthy. Just as the Attendant was about to remove the wine, Huai Shi stopped him.

"No need to take this away. Bring me several more kinds of wine," he said sternly. "Do you know TaiBai? He's like me; the more wine he drinks, the more fluently his poetry flows. Once I'm in high spirits, I'll compose a poem for each member of your family..."

Despite the Attendant's barely concealed "you're full of shit" expression, he dutifully brought several measures of different sake, as Huai Shi had ordered. Then he knelt beside him, eyes wide, waiting for this shameless fellow to compose poetry.

Huai Shi tilted his head back and took a sip of wine, then picked up a couple of peanuts and some edamame. After chewing them for a moment, he felt faint, unfamiliar wisps of cold vitality sprouting in his mouth amidst the almost inaudible wailing, prompting him to let out a comfortable sigh.

An unavoidable rush of intoxication went to his head.

Seeing the Attendant kneeling there with a hopeful look, Huai Shi shook his head.

Raising his wine cup and sighing deeply, he took a deep breath. After a moment's deliberation, he tilted his head back and began to chant faintly, "Ah, the horse is thin, its coat long, its hooves fat; a son stealing from his father... is not considered a thief..."

"..."

The Attendant rolled his eyes and shuffled back a couple of steps on his knees, no longer bothering with this freeloader who had crashed the party.

Behind his fan, Huai Shi paused, surprised that the Attendant had already left before he could even begin the tragic and sentimental love story of the blind old man and the blind old woman.

Forget it, you just aren't fortunate enough...

Huai Shi shook his head, clicked his tongue, and sighed, pleased to have finally become an ignored, invisible figure. He continued to drink and eat quietly, treating the distant screams as mere background music.

Waiting, but for what, he didn't know.

Even when he asked, the Raven wouldn't say.

Huai Shi waited and waited, taking sips of wine and bites of food. After finishing two plates of edamame, he still hadn't gotten what he was waiting for. He had no choice but to pull the list of materials the Raven had given him from his sleeve and start flipping through it.

The very first line made Huai Shi's eyes start to ache.

—50 Source Crystals.

According to the latest exchange rate, one Source Crystal was equivalent to 2,400,000 Dongxia Yuan. A bulk purchase often demanded a premium of about ten percent, meaning roughly 100,000,000...

"Just kill me!" Huai Shi sighed. "One hundred million! I couldn't earn that much even if you killed me! Besides, it's just for an advancement. Do I really need to find some system to whale on?"

"Out of the fifty Source Crystals, roughly thirty will cover the rental fees for a top-notch Alchemy Workshop in the Dongxia Genealogy. Trust me, 60,000,000 for a week's use is already an extremely friendly price," the Raven said calmly. "Of the remaining twenty or so, ten are specifically for you to extract Source Substance later. The rest are a safety reserve. If you can manage to freeload access to an alchemy lab on par with a Cavendish Workshop, you can cross this item off the list."

"...Does it really have to be that high-end?"

"It absolutely has to be. The Stigma from the Soloist requires absolute precision and stability. Otherwise, if even the slightest thing goes wrong, you might as well get a membership card for the Abyss 'barbershop'—you'd need bloodletting treatments at least once a week."

"..."

Huai Shi endured the heartache and continued reading. Never mind the myriad of other miscellaneous items; the materials listed from the Current Circumstances Borderland and the Abyss alone were enough to drive someone mad.

"Blood Revenge Crystal, Holy Grace, Undying Flames, Sinister Ashes..."

Weren't every single one of these items unique products of The Great Genealogies, precious materials monopolized by various organizations, or tightly controlled strategic resources?

"Why is the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy so ridiculously expensive?"

"You have to understand, when the Astronomical Society revised the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy, they were at their most prosperous and powerful. Everything, from the Current Circumstances Borderland to the depths of the Abyss, was theirs for the taking. When designing it, they never needed to consider cost-effectiveness. Or rather, the 'cost-effectiveness' they considered was based on long-term gains, so they always strove for perfection."

The Raven said nonchalantly, "Actually, there are versions that don't burn so much money, but haven't you experienced the difference yourself? Consider the power gap between you as a Yin Soul and the Yin Souls within Nibelungen. Even if originating from the same source, the difference is like heaven and earth. To gradually unlock the permissions within the Book of Fate, certain necessary investments are indispensable."

They're both instruments, so why does a master-crafted antique treasure cost so much more than a factory brand? Besides the huge difference in sound quality, isn't it also about the disparity in status?

Huai Shi understood the reasoning, but why did it have to cost so much money?

Never mind that; at least those were concrete things Huai Shi could strive for. What baffled him most was the part the Raven had written at the very end—the most important things:

"The birth of life, the true meaning of nothingness, the connection of Souls, the Phantoms of yesterday... What in the world is all this?!"

"It means exactly what it says. Whether you achieve understanding yourself, obtain an item with the same effect, or even possess it for just a fleeting moment—it doesn't matter. This is the most essential Power of the Soloist, and you must experience it. Compared to tangible things that can be bought or stolen, these ethereal, elusive concepts are the most precious and the most difficult to acquire. It will come down to your luck and effort. If we're lucky tonight, we might be able to secure one of the hardest pieces to obtain. Then, it'll all depend on your performance."

These words managed to lift Huai Shi's spirits somewhat. After finishing those few measures of wine, he stopped indulging further. Instead, he sat up straight, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and waited quietly.

Who wouldn't like a chance to save money?

Perhaps it was because he had been there too long, or maybe he had finally grown accustomed to the atmosphere; Huai Shi felt that his suppressed Stigma finally had a sliver of room to stir. The calm Source Substance within him gradually began to ripple.

It was like finally starting to adapt after diving hundreds of meters underwater.

After absorbing the vitality from the food and drink, Huai Shi's chaotic Source Substance began a massive Transformation, converting into a type more suitable for this place. Like a chameleon, it freely altered the subtle details of its properties.

Upon discovering this, Huai Shi couldn't contain his joy. Doesn't this mean that in the future, wherever I go, I can just pluck a random blade of grass, taste it, and become immune to any negative effects of the local environment?

Then, he finally became aware of an abnormality drifting in the air.

Abnormalities were to be expected; in fact, it would be stranger if there *was* anything normal in a place perpetually shrouded by eternal darkness. Yet, Huai Shi couldn't shake the feeling that something was fundamentally wrong.

Gazing at the debauched banquet before him, a sense of unease inevitably welled up in his heart.

Much of the chill brought on by his Death Perception stemmed from the wanton, jeering participants within the hall, but a crucial portion of it seemed to have no discernible source.

Or perhaps, this anomaly was hidden so perfectly that Huai Shi couldn't find the slightest trace of it.

Huai Shi picked up his fan and, peering through a gap in it, observed them one by one.

The Evil Ghosts, who had become debauched and violent after drinking, and the Court Officials, who appeared even more sinister, were either singing loudly, reciting poetry, or gathered in small groups of two or three, amusing themselves with the game of tosspot.

Still others were feasting with abandon, indulging in pure Gluttony.

Some of the more refined ones had even drawn curtains and were engaging in incense appreciation on the spot, loudly praising the elegant aromas.

When the drinking was at its height, someone sighed in resignation, "What a pity! We have good wine and good music, but no bright moon to admire. Wouldn't that make it even more delightful?"

"A bright moon? Isn't that simple?"

The Snake-faced Doctor on the dais laughed heartily. He casually pulled a sheet of white paper from his sleeve, cut it into a round disk with scissors, and tossed it towards the dark, cloud-covered Sky Dome outside the hall.

The white paper flew into the sky, expanding rapidly. Like a jade disk, it cast down a brilliant glow, transforming into a bright moon.

This technique of Paper-cut Moon was truly astonishing. Bathed in the pale light, the revelry of the Court Officials in the hall became even more unbridled.

The host of demons sang at the top of their lungs, dancing and making merry.

But Huai Shi felt himself growing increasingly dazed, almost groggy.

It wasn't just the alcohol suddenly going to his head; the Transformation of his Source Substance had attuned to the dark pulsations of this place, causing the scene before Huai Shi's eyes to rapidly become illusory.

A gust of cold wind swept through, bringing a wave of coolness, while the din inside the hall grew even louder.

But in Huai Shi's eyes, that cold wind seemed to ripple the scene before him, as if a hanging brocade curtain had stirred, revealing a narrow gap at a seam of nothingness.

"You noticed it so soon?"

In that instant, the Raven within the Book of Fate sighed, "Now, don't go saying I deliberately scared a child."

A crisp snap of fingers echoed by Huai Shi's ear.

In an instant, the splendid illusion was torn apart, revealing the darkness hidden behind darkness.

A Hell clinging to the back of Hell.

Huai Shi gasped, sucking in a sharp breath.

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