Carried by Zhang Yuhe and flying swiftly over Cloud City, Wang Guofeng was too shocked to speak.
He opened his mouth to say something but was silenced by the sight of an imposing mansion looming ahead.
The two guards at the mansion gate spotted Zhang Yuhe's arrival and quickly shouted with deference.
"Greetings, Lord Keeper!"
Zhang Yuhe gave a slight nod and walked straight through the gate into the mansion.
Wang Guofeng felt numb, unsure when he had even followed Zhang Yuhe into a grand lobby.
Zhang Yuhe turned to him with a smile.
"Sit down. Let's talk."
Still dazed, Wang Guofeng sat and looked at Zhang Yuhe with disbelief.
"You're the Guard?"
Zhang Yuhe nodded calmly.
"How is that possible?"
From where he sat, Wang Guofeng could feel the immense aura radiating from Zhang Yuhe—a presence as deep and vast as the abyssal sea.
He muttered to himself, unable to accept the reality before him.
How could Zhang Yuhe, a fellow Blue Star player, cultivate so quickly?
Not only that, he had become the town guard of Yunzhong Mansion. It was unimaginable.
Was he really a gamer?
Wang Guofeng began to doubt.
Could it be that a native was pretending to be a player to extract information about Blue Star from him?
The thought made him tense. He quickly asked, "Are you really a gamer?"
"Yes," Zhang Yuhe replied simply.
Even after the answer, Wang Guofeng struggled to believe it. The transformation of Zhang Yuhe shattered his understanding of what was possible.
After a moment of silence, Wang Guofeng narrowed his eyes and asked, "What is Blue Star's national treasure?"
He watched Zhang Yuhe closely, trying to detect any hesitation or deceit.
Zhang Yuhe chuckled and shook his head slightly. He understood Wang Guofeng's doubts. Given the strange circumstances, skepticism was natural.
"The national treasure of Blue Star is the giant panda. It's a species unique to Blue Star. Yufantian has no such creature."
He then continued, "Don't overthink it. I was just lucky. Not long after arriving in Yufantian, I joined the Dao Holy Sect. I cultivated there for hundreds of years before coming to Yunzhong Mansion to serve as town guard."
Hearing this, Wang Guofeng finally exhaled in relief.
Back on Blue Star, there had been rumors of a powerful figure suspected to be a native. Seeing Zhang Yuhe's terrifying cultivation, Wang Guofeng had feared the worst—that a native had infiltrated their ranks with malicious intent.
But now, it all made sense.
Information about Blue Star couldn't be shared with natives due to some kind of mysterious restriction. Since Zhang Yuhe clearly understood Blue Star's details, he had to be a real player.
Still, his cultivation progress was unnerving. Wang Guofeng struggled to wrap his head around it.
Yet, in that very strength lay reassurance. With someone as powerful as Zhang Yuhe, Blue Star's safety was far more secure.
Many had worried about threats emerging with the spiritual revival on Blue Star.
But now? What could possibly stand against Zhang Yuhe and his sword?
A smile crept onto Wang Guofeng's face.
"You were the one who killed the eight-clawed kraken on Blue Star, weren't you?"
Zhang Yuhe nodded.
"I saw the report on Skynet, so I took care of it—no need for things to escalate."
Then his expression grew serious. "Let's talk about the Demon God Cult. Where did you find their traces?"
Zhang Yuhe knew this subject was urgent, and Wang Guofeng might need time to fully accept everything else. But the Demon God Cult couldn't be ignored.
If there was a secret base within Yunzhong Mansion, it needed to be discovered and reported to the sect for immediate eradication.
Wang Guofeng scratched his head, looking uncertain.
"I don't know where to start. I'm not sure if what I saw is real. It's mostly a guess."
"That's fine," Zhang Yuhe said patiently. "Speak slowly. Just tell me everything you know."
He didn't expect Wang Guofeng to have seen a real base of the Demon God Cult—such a thing was nearly impossible. With the Cult's secrecy, any witnesses would be eliminated instantly. And while players had the advantage of resurrection, dying repeatedly still made escape unlikely.
Wang Guofeng gathered his thoughts and began slowly.
"I have a friend. When Yufantian first opened, and he wandered out of the wilderness, he found a city. But as soon as he entered, he was killed by the natives—seemingly without reason.
"The next day, after logging back in, he was killed again. He thought the natives were hostile to players. But as you know, the natives don't understand what players are, and even if we try, we can't explain it to them."
"Despite being killed over and over, he kept logging in daily. Determined."
"Eventually, he managed to stay alive long enough to see a massive high platform in the city center. It was covered in black mist, and within that mist, there seemed to be a horned monster."
Wang Guofeng looked at Zhang Yuhe, his tone cautious.
"I suspect that the platform was an altar, and the horned creature might be from the Demon Race—or part of the Demon God Cult."
Zhang Yuhe tapped his fingers on the table, listening intently.
He weighed the story in his mind. If it was true, it was no small matter.
A horned demon... it might be a horned fiend.
But the boldness required to erect an altar openly in a city was hard to believe.
The demonic aura of such creatures couldn't be concealed. It could be sensed from hundreds of miles away. How could one appear in a city without being detected?
Unless... the city was hidden in a pocket dimension or outside the Dao Holy Sect's control.
Wang Guofeng's friend must be incredibly persistent. To endure daily deaths just to investigate the place—rare dedication.
Thankfully, players had unique mechanics. When killed by a native, the native assumed they were dead for good. When the player revived and returned, the native's memory of that event would reset.
Still, was it all real?
Could his friend have been mistaken or hallucinating?
"Does your friend know the name or location of the city?" Zhang Yuhe asked, his voice calm but serious.
If such a place existed, it was likely a hidden stronghold of the Demon God Cult. But without an exact location, it would be nearly impossible to investigate—let alone report to the sect.
And without concrete evidence, how could he justify such a report?
"Yes," Wang Guofeng said. "Although he's usually killed quickly, he sometimes survives a few minutes. He overheard people talking and learned the city's name—Mirror Sky City."
"What?" Zhang Yuhe nearly jumped to his feet. "Mirror Sky City?!"
That was a city under Yunzhong Mansion's jurisdiction, comparable in size to Feiyun City.
It wasn't especially prominent, but it had one distinctive feature—it was the ancestral land of the He family.
Before the He family rose to prominence, they were based in Mirror Sky City. Later, they relocated to Yunzhong Mansion City, but they never abandoned their roots.
In fact, after their rise, the He family gradually pushed out all other forces from Mirror Sky City.
Now, the entire city was under their sole control—no outsiders could interfere.