"Argh, argh, argh! I refuse to accept this! I am the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao's decree, gathering the karma and fortune of ten thousand worlds! Those who follow me shall prosper; those who defy me shall perish! The myriad realms are entirely within my grasp! I should be high above, looking down upon all living things, yet now I am imprisoned here by you lot! I will not yield! God of Slaughter, let me out! Let us fight a battle to the death once more! Argh, argh, argh! In this world, I am the only one! I am the Dao!" The desperate, roaring voice, thick with unconquered rage and an indomitable will that defied fate itself, emanated from an apparently empty bottle resting on a small square table.

Lin Luo stared blankly at the bottle, noticing that Gui Lai Xi was frowning deeply, clearly displeased. Daring not to joke with her, he turned to Yan Ye beside him and murmured, "Hey, do you think this guy’s chuunibyou is a bit severe?"

"Master, that's not even the half of it. Last time, I captured a hundred Cat Demon Beasts from the lower realm and made them take turns urinating into the bottle. He still claimed he was the protagonist destined for eternal existence, yet was defiled by the filth of lesser beings, spouting nonsense about needing to annihilate all things in the world. After hearing that, I started feeding him foot-washing water every day, hehe." "..." Lin Luo was instantly speechless. This demonically-possessed maid truly had done beautifully!

"God of Slaughter! If you still possess the dignity of a true powerhouse, then..." "Shut up!" Before Mingyun could finish shouting, Gui Lai Xi planted her foot firmly on the table, causing the bottle to shake violently and cutting off Mingyun's tirade. "Dignity your backside! Be careful I don't swat you into oblivion with a single palm strike!"

Gui Lai Xi unleashed her dominance, startling even Lin Luo. If Mingyun projected a one-in-ten-thousand Conqueror's Haki, then Gui Lai Xi possessed the ultimate Haki, the one-in-a-billion variety.

"I told you long ago, you are merely a fractured thread of consciousness that, through a twist of fate, gained a sliver of chance, gradually evolving into the inevitability of destiny. Though you have leaped beyond the world and transcended karma, forming your own Heavenly Dao, no matter how sacred and grand you are to the myriad things in existence, before me, you are nothing more than a fleeting accident."

Gui Lai Xi spoke in a deep voice, devoid of any tone of contempt or disdain, yet anyone could hear her utter disregard for Mingyun. "In the last great war, you deliberately conserved your strength, seeing me heavily wounded, and assumed you could seize the opportunity to destroy me. You failed to realize that even with only fifty percent of my power remaining, extinguishing a mere speck like you would be an easy task. This Sealing Heaven Bottle was forged by my own hands, specifically to imprison experts of the Ninth Heaven. You can't even break the Sealing Heaven Bottle, yet you still desire a fight to the death? You might not feel ashamed, but I find it revolting!" By the end, Gui Lai Xi genuinely seemed disgusted. She kicked the bottle, sending it spinning a few times in mid-air. This bottle, having been dunked in a latrine, filled with cat urine, and used for foot-washing water, eventually dropped into Lin Luo's hands, guided by Mingyun's subtle influence.

Lin Luo instinctively wanted to toss it away, but before he could move, a single sentence from Gui Lai Xi froze him. "This thing is yours from now on. Since you’ve already brushed against the threshold of the Heaven Tier, and even though that fellow is just a remnant of an accident, he is, overall, one of the strongest at the Heaven Tier. Training with him could still benefit you greatly."

"Huh?" Lin Luo felt his scalp tingle, twitching the corner of his mouth as he asked, "Are you telling me to get inside this bottle?" He would rather die first.

Gui Lai Xi gave him a look of utter disdain. "Don't daydream. The Sealing Heaven Bottle only traps Heaven Tier experts. You don't even qualify to enter, even if you wanted to."

"That’s good then." Lin Luo breathed a sigh of relief, only for cold sweat to immediately break out. "Wait, no. If I don't go in, how can I train with him? Even if I can sense his aura, that doesn't count as training. If I actually let this guy out..." Lin Luo truly dared not contemplate that. Even a starved camel is still larger than a horse. He knew that even though Mingyun had drunk urine and eaten foot-washing water, his dignity and strength severely weakened, believing he could actually fight him head-to-head would be a grave mistake. The other party could likely obliterate him with the mere flick of a finger.

Gui Lai Xi explained, "You don't need to worry about that. I’ve modified the sixth level into a training room. As long as you enter the red training room, the entity inside the bottle will be projected out, and its strength will be adjusted to match yours exactly. Even then, defeating him will be incredibly difficult, but if you can't even pass this level of training, you might as well commit suicide." "Alright, I understand." Since Gui Lai Xi had said so, being wishy-washy would be inappropriate. Of course, he promptly handed the bottle over to Yan Ye.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing I almost forgot." Just as Yan Ye was leaving with the bottle, Gui Lai Xi suddenly recalled something. She raised a hand and pointed forward, causing a young girl to suddenly materialize before the two men.

She was a tall, slender girl, her eyes closed, appearing to be around seventeen or eighteen. She possessed a head of delicate, beautiful black hair, and merely standing there gave off an aura of elegance and composure—it was immediately clear she was a young lady of high birth.

"This..." Lin Luo was stunned. He was not unfamiliar with this girl; he had even used her as a model to create a virtual human in the Virtual City. This was Tonari no Kyuuzou, the young lady with the most pronounced aristocratic bearing Lin Luo had ever witnessed.

Lin Luo’s first reaction was to assume Gui Lai Xi had pulled Tonari no Kyuuzou from another world, but he quickly dismissed that idea... While it might not be difficult for Gui Lai Xi to accomplish such a feat, Tonari no Kyuuzou possessed no combat power, no potential, and suffered from a congenital lung disease that could kill her at any moment. Even if Gui Lai Xi were utterly bored, she wouldn't waste energy snatching her over.

If it wasn't Tonari no Kyuuzou, was it the virtual person he created, Hoshigami?

But Lin Luo couldn't be certain. Although virtual humans and real humans were indistinguishable to the naked eye, as the "Creator," he could discern the underlying data structure instantly. Yet, the girl before him appeared to be flesh-and-blood humanity in every way!

"You seem confused?" Gui Lai Xi looked at him with a smile, tinged with an ethereal mystery.

"Who is she exactly?" Lin Luo was indeed very perplexed.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Gui Lai Xi smiled enigmatically, merely waving her hand. A gentle breeze blew towards the girl, and she slowly began to awaken.

"Who... who are you people? Why am I here?" The moment the girl opened her eyes and saw two strangers, one of whom was staring intently at her, she instinctively stepped back several paces, clutching her hands over her chest for self-protection. Although her tone and expression were calm, a trace of panic flickered in her eyes.

"What is your name?" Lin Luo countered instead of answering.

The girl hesitated for a moment before giving her name: "Tonari no Kyuuzou."

"Where are you from?"

"Shanghai, the Magic City."

"A student?"

"Yes."

"Which school do you attend?"

"Onee-sama Academy for Girls."

After Tonari no Kyuuzou answered these questions, Gui Lai Xi waved her hand again, causing her to fall back into unconsciousness. Then she turned to Lin Luo with a laugh, "Well, doesn't that feel fun?"

"Fun my foot, I’m going crazy!" Lin Luo replied bluntly, his gaze fixed on the now-sleeping Tonari no Kyuuzou on the sofa. He simply couldn't reconcile the facts: the virtual city below the Sky City was called the Magic City, one of the noble girls' schools there was Onee-sama Academy for Girls, its anthem was Only My Railgun, and Misaki Shokuhou had once attended. The headmistress there looked exactly like Tonari no Kyuuzou—Hoshigami—but there was no Tonari no Kyuuzou in that city!

But now?

"What in the world is going on?" Lin Luo scratched his head, unable to make any sense of it, finally turning his confused gaze toward Gui Lai Xi.

This time, Gui Lai Xi answered readily. "After you died, the Virtual City underwent massive changes, changes that increased geometrically every single day. By the time it stabilized, Hoshigami had become Tonari no Kyuuzou. That's all I can tell you."

Lin Luo didn't believe she only knew that much. "Then what happened to the original Tonari no Kyuuzou?"

"Hmph hmph." Gui Lai Xi remained silent, but her smile sent a shiver down Lin Luo's spine. "Hey, don't play coy at a time like this, Big Sister!" "Telling you would be meaningless. Some things you need to find out for yourself. Why don't you try taking a trip to the Magic City, Shanghai?" Gui Lai Xi spread her hands.

"I certainly will go, but I need some kind of lead first," Lin Luo had lost his World King abilities, and naturally, he had lost control over the Virtual City. Wait—no, in this situation, even if he still had that control, it probably wouldn't work anyway.

"Since you've already decided, what are you hesitating for?" Gui Lai Xi teased. "Also, do you know why Misaka Mikoto was able to ascend to the Heaven Tier in such a short time?"

"Why?"

"The answer lies in the Magic City, Shanghai."

"Ugh!" Lin Luo was stunned again. How could a mere virtual city influence the advancement to the Heaven Tier? This... this was utterly ridiculous!

Though Lin Luo was skeptical, he couldn't ignore Gui Lai Xi's words.

At this moment, Gui Lai Xi rose and pointed at Tonari no Kyuuzou. "If you want to know the answer, wake this girl up and have her take you to the Magic City, Shanghai. By the way, it won't hurt to tell her your identity; she might even be pleased. Well then, bye-bye."

With that, she strode away with graceful steps, leaving the living room.

As for Lin Luo, looking at the girl lying on the sofa, he felt a headache coming on. Although Gui Lai Xi had said a lot, if it were merely about conquering her, that would have been far simpler.

Sigh!