Ye Fan stayed at Liu Mingxi's house for a while, leaving just before her parents returned, and casually left her a new phone.
"This is a dedicated contact phone. My number is already saved in it. Give me your number too so we can stay in touch. I'll call you later, and someone will pick you up when you get to Shangjing."
Just like that, within a single day, Liu Mingxi's phone had nine new contacts: Ye Fan, Baili Pangpang, and the rest from Squad 010.
She really needed to switch to a different data plan; otherwise, how was she supposed to make calls on her current eight-yuan-for-half-an-hour plan?!
In the past, the introverted Liu Mingxi had never answered any calls except those from her parents and China Mobile. Besides, she only ever called her parents via WeChat audio to save money wherever possible, since their conversations never exceeded thirty seconds anyway.
You might wonder why someone who made so much money from painting prizes was still trying to save money. It was simply because she found it annoying. Before she got this plan, her phone would inexplicably run a hundred yuan into arrears every month, leaving her without mobile data—so frustrating.
Better to just grab some random plan as long as the phone worked normally.
Besides, Liu Mingxi was a total homebody who would stay cooped up inside whenever humanly possible.
Her life consisted of a strict two-point line: school and home.
Liu Mingxi finally survived her mentally exhausting day. That night, she opened her black leather notebook once more and wrote in the blank space at the very end:
"Addendum: Ye Fan, Commander-in-Chief of the Daxia Nightwatchers, came to find me and asked if I would protect Daxia as a Human Ceiling. I agreed. That's protecting Daxia we're talking about!"
Finally, taking up the remaining blank space, Liu Mingxi drew a large version of herself confronting monsters, with tiny square city apartment blocks behind her, and little stick figures hiding inside the buildings.
After Ye Fan left, Liu Mingxi’s brother Liu Minghao lost his earlier terror and walked out of his room with a curious look on his face. "Elder sister, who was that?"
"A university professor. He came to talk to me about going to Shangjing for an art competition."
Liu Mingxi knew her younger brother's gossipy nature. Children had no filter and would blurt out anything, especially when tattling to adults—a mistake Liu Mingxi had learned the hard way many times before.
Since she still needed to find an excuse to tell her parents about going to Shangjing later, she might as well tie it in with Ye Fan's visit. Perfect!
That evening, after her parents came home, Liu Mingxi brought up the matter.
"Shangjing?!"
Liu Mingxi's parents asked in a state of thrilled disbelief. That was Shangjing! People of their generation all yearned to go there—who wouldn't want to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City to take pictures?
Seeing her parents' expressions, an idea popped into Liu Mingxi's head: why not have the whole family go together?
Taking a few days off wouldn't impact their wages by much, especially since they now had the Baili family's five billion funds.
They had only been to Shangjing once before, and that was with a tour group. The Liu family rarely had time for a proper family vacation; the last time was the summer holiday right after Liu Mingxi graduated from high school. That tour group trip had been thoroughly disappointing, and the whole family had returned gloomy-faced.
When Liu Mingxi voiced her idea, her parents naturally looked hesitant. Then Liu Mingxi pulled out the bank card, pretending that a wealthy art collector had taken a fancy to her paintings, bought one at a high price, and transferred one hundred thousand yuan to her.
It wasn't that Liu Mingxi didn't want to mention the five billion in the account; knowing her parents since childhood, she knew nobody would ever believe her.
This card convinced them, and they decided the whole family would accompany Liu Mingxi to Shangjing for the art competition and take a vacation along the way.
***
Night.
In a certain secluded place, a massive cathedral fortress stood tall in the darkness. A terrified, shrill shriek tore through the stillness, shattering the oppressive weirdness of the surroundings and echoing across the empty space.
Inside the cathedral, a figure draped in a black robe was prostrated on the floor in sheer terror, face pale, body trembling, and cold sweat pouring down.
"Number Sixteen! I actually had high hopes for you! How could you be so utterly useless!"
The owner of the voice was a phantom-like figure seated high upon a throne of thorns. He sneered coldly as he looked down at the trembling figure below.
Their original plan had been to lure a Mystery of the "Klein" realm into the Guangshen City urban area. The Nightwatchers in charge of that area would definitely fight to the death to defend it, and the Baili family's Forbidden Artifact Wielder would also step in to deal with it, dragging things out as long as possible. Then, they would have the insider within the Baili family lure out that young master and assassinate him.
They had laid out this elaborate plan a long time ago and even specifically sent someone to get close to Baili Tuming. After finally luring him out to a gathering, they were just waiting to strike today.
And just as the fruits of victory were within their grasp, out of nowhere popped a brand-new Human Ceiling! And the bastard had blown that "Klein" realm Mystery to smithereens with a single arrow!
Did anyone have any idea how hard it was to capture a big fellow from the "Klein" realm?! That was something Lord Yiyu had personally stepped out to capture using a dream realm!
And yet, it was all ruined by Number Sixteen, who had provided inaccurate intelligence. Didn't he see how furious Lord Yiyu was right now?!
The various black-robed figures standing off to the side clicked their tongues inwardly, secretly counting their blessings.
When Yiyu's anger finally subsided and his expression grew calm, he didn't even bother to glance down at the kneeling Number Sixteen.
"The Baili Group's young master will require long-term planning. Didn't that Baili Xin announce that Baili Tuming would take over the Baili Group upon his fiftieth birthday? By then, his enemies will undoubtedly throw things into chaos. Let's wait a bit longer, no need to rush!
First, let's talk about that newly emerged Human Ceiling! What's going on with her? Where did she come from?!"
Standing at the very front of the group below, the Second Seat spoke up in response. "Lord Yiyu, that new Human Ceiling is an eighteen-year-old female college student named Liu Mingxi. Based on observation, everything she paints comes true. Her Forbidden Ruins are currently unclear, but looking through Daxia's Forbidden Ruins sequence, none of them match hers. She is a newly emerged Forbidden Ruins user!"
"Heh, everything she paints comes true? Daxia has truly gained a powerful assisting force," Yiyu said, leaning back lazily against his seat with a cold, sarcastic sneer.
"Heh, this is getting a bit interesting! Let's go meet her! Let's test this sixth Daxia Human Ceiling!" Yiyu narrowed his eyes with interest and murmured offhandedly.
"Lord Yiyu, that's a Human Ceiling! The Believers surely don't have the strength to match her!" said the Thirteenth Seat bluntly, completely ignoring Yiyu's darkening expression.
"Han Shaoyun! How are you talking?! Have you got a death wish?!" Before Yiyu could fly into a rage, the Ninth Seat angrily snapped, his eyes concealing endless fury as he waved his arm and pointed accusingly at the Thirteenth Seat.
"No, what he said makes sense," Yiyu said with an inscrutable, half-smile, raising a hand to stop the Ninth Seat's outburst. "Therefore, it's just a test. You don't need to go—I will go personally to probe her true capabilities and have a little fun along the way."
The Believers below exchanged glances, silently feeling a pang of pity for Liu Mingxi. Since Lord Yiyu wanted to play, she was doomed.
***
On Mount Jiuhua.
Night had fallen, and candlelight flickered gently.
An elderly monk draped in a kasaya sat cross-legged on a woven rush mat with his eyes half-closed. His lips moved gently as he chanted in a low voice, fingers slowly turning the prayer beads in his hand. The candlelight draped a layer of golden radiance over him, making his figure appear exceptionally solemn within that glow—like a tranquil saint washing away the clamor of the mortal world in the dark night.
Outside the temple doors stood a young monk who bowed serenely and spoke in a calm voice, "Master, Commander Ye has sent word that a new Human Ceiling has appeared in Guangshen. He went personally, and it was a success."
The old monk slowly opened his eyes, the firelight of the lamp flickering within his pupils, and murmured, "A new Human Ceiling? The decree of fate has changed."
"Destiny shifts its course, karma turns; a single stroke enters the world, blurring truth and reality."
The old monk pressed his palms together. "Amitabha."