Chapter 45: The Class Game (Part 11)

Fu Wuxuan held the 1.5 million gold coins they had obtained. “She calculated it quite precisely.”

To elevate both of them to noble status required a total of 3 million gold coins. They already possessed 1.5 million, so Xie Mingyue had only loaned them another 1.5 million.

Yun Xueqing looked at Fu Wuxuan. “Aren’t you afraid she’ll discover you’re not the true owner behind the casino?”

“What she cares about is profit. As long as I transfer the remaining seventy percent of the casino’s interests to her, she probably won’t say anything.” Fu Wuxuan tugged at his lips and smiled.

“The money is already in hand. Even if she does take issue with it later, there will always be other ways to handle it. We’ll meet soldiers with generals and earth with water.”

By the time she found out, they would have long since entered the Blue Castle to participate in the King’s Challenge—or might have even already left this Weird Domain.

Yun Xueqing pushed the wheelchair out of the loan company and suddenly asked, “What about the casino boss, then?”

Yun Xueqing stood behind the wheelchair’s backrest and couldn’t see Fu Wuxuan’s expression. Naturally, he also didn’t notice the smile gradually fade from Fu Wuxuan’s face, the amusement dissipating. “Yun Xueqing, in a Weird Domain, sometimes you need to play dumb.”

“If you care too much about irrelevant people,” Fu Wuxuan suddenly looked up, meeting his gaze, “you might be the one who ends up dead.”

Under the stinging sunlight, his watery, alluring peach-blossom eyes shed their ambiguous charm, leaving only faint indifference and inorganic coldness.

Yun Xueqing fell silent for a moment before abruptly asking, “What about me?”

Would he become someone to be discarded?

Fu Wuxuan hadn’t expected him to ask that. He couldn’t help but chuckle, his pale hand covering half his face, casting a small patch of shadow that deepened his eye sockets. “Why ask that? Finally getting curious about me?”

Yun Xueqing shook his head, realizing the other couldn’t see it, and asked in a calm tone, “Not at all. It’s just that this matter requires me to reassess our relationship once more.”

Should he let it develop naturally, or end it once they left the Weird Domain?

Fu Wuxuan understood his concerns and smiled lazily. “Yun Xueqing, sometimes people shouldn’t overthink things. It’ll just tire you out. Let it flow naturally— just go with the flow.”

“Clear and inactive,” Yun Xueqing nodded. “You have a real talent for enlightenment. Are you interested in joining the Sword Pavilion?”

Fu Wuxuan: “…”

He gave Yun Xueqing a strange look. “Is your Sword Pavilion some kind of cult?”

If it wasn’t a cult, why were they proselytizing and trying to recruit disciples at every turn?

This time, it was Yun Xueqing’s turn to fall silent.

He couldn’t explain it, so he gave up trying.

The two took their gold coins and went to certify their noble status.

As it turned out, gentry already enjoyed decent privileges, but nobles were truly a class above.

As they walked down the street, passing gentry and commoners had to bow and greet them. Some gentry even proactively cleared the street for them without their knowledge, driving away passing commoners and slaves.

The displaced people showed no resentment and meekly obeyed the orders.

In the Class World, the commands of those higher up were absolute. No one dared to resist.

Originally, when Fu Wuxuan and Yun Xueqing had broken the casino rules set by the nobles, not only were the nobles furious with them, but some gentry and commoners also despised these two for disregarding class rules—though class constraints prevented them from showing it.

Now that the two had ascended to noble status, those who had hated them instantly reversed their attitudes by 180 degrees. They fawned and flattered, practically lining up to praise their brilliant decisions.

Yet the two paid no heed to the shifting attitudes of those beneath them—neither pleased nor upset by it. They simply focused on information about the King’s Challenge.

There were two days left until the opening of the King’s Challenge day. They only needed to wait quietly.

Apart from a few nobles causing minor disturbances at the casino as usual, things remained relatively calm. The two days passed in a flash, and they arrived at the base of the mountain leading to the Blue Castle.

This time, the two goatmen saw them and offered no obstruction. Instead, they bowed respectfully and gestured for them to proceed inside.

The Blue Castle stood at the mountain’s absolute peak, with no cable cars available. They followed the mountain path upward.

Though it was the height of summer and the weather was somewhat hot, the high altitude brought cooler air. The two wore light clothing and felt no heat—in fact, due to the cold breeze, Yun Xueqing pulled his sleeves tighter and tucked Fu Wuxuan’s blanket more securely.

Some sections of the path allowed the wheelchair to roll flat, but most were stone steps, which proved troublesome. Yun Xueqing simply had Fu Wuxuan store the wheelchair and carried him directly, executing Lightness Skill to reach the mountaintop in a few leaps.

Fu Wuxuan floated through the woods and sighed with feeling. “I know some Qi Gong masters who can also tread on trees as they walk.”

But none could fly as high or as fast as Yun Xueqing, and they required more points of leverage.

The wind whistled past their ears, blowing away the blanket covering Fu Wuxuan. Yun Xueqing didn’t notice as he carried the man upward. Fu Wuxuan didn’t mind either and wasn’t afraid Yun Xueqing would tire and drop him from the sky. Instead, he said leisurely, “Your skill is so refined—you must have practiced for many years, right?”

Executing Lightness Skill was effortless for Yun Xueqing. He replied with ease, “It didn’t take much time.”

At Foundation Establishment, one could levitate briefly. After forming a Golden Core, Imperial Sword Flight became possible. His current method of borrowing force to fly through the air could even be managed in the Qi Refining Period, and it consumed little Spiritual Power.

Fu Wuxuan didn’t know the details and assumed the other simply didn’t want to discuss past hardships.

He was about to say something else when he saw Yun Xueqing stop borrowing force and descend directly.

They had reached the mountaintop.

Fu Wuxuan retrieved the wheelchair from his Storage Space and looked at the Blue Castle before them. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Though it’s built on a mountain, it’s truly a luxurious castle.”

Previously, the Blue Castle had been shrouded in clouds and mist, and too distant to see clearly. Now, up close, they could appreciate its grandeur.

The deep blue castle loomed before them—a European-style structure with three-dimensional columns in perfect golden ratio proportions. It covered a vast area; it might take ten minutes to circle it on an electric scooter.

Fu Wuxuan eyed the building and curled his lips. “Not only spectacular, but full of weird aura.”

The Blue Castle’s ghostly blue hue came not just from blue bricks, but from the blue-black specters entwining it, infusing an ominous aura—this castle had claimed many lives.

Even if the King might be inside the castle, Fu Wuxuan didn’t hesitate to say, “Probably because this King has too much blood on his hands, having killed many. The resentful spirits refuse to disperse.”

Yun Xueqing said flatly, “This castle has been maintained for a very long time… Those with heavy karma might not be limited to this generation’s King.”

Fu Wuxuan smiled innocently and cracked a hellish joke. “Maybe it’s hereditary.”

Hereditary slaughter.

Yun Xueqing didn’t engage. “Let’s go in.”

They approached the grand entrance of the Blue Castle, guarded by armored soldiers with strict vigilance—as if they were entering not an ancient castle, but a true palace.

Fu Wuxuan smiled and whispered to Yun Xueqing behind his hand, “The Qing Dynasty fell, yet here we have a local emperor.”

In this domain ruled by class hierarchies, the King truly reveled in power.

Even as an NPC of this domain, being King was exhilarating—commanding everyone.

Fu Wuxuan hadn’t lowered his voice much, and the soldiers heard. One immediately leveled his long spear at Fu Wuxuan’s neck, eyes icy as if regarding a dead man. “Class rules forbid disrespecting the King.”

With the spear tip at his throat, Fu Wuxuan’s current frail constitution meant a single thrust could end him on the spot. Yet he remained unperturbed. “I’m a noble contending for the throne. What status do you have to point a spear at me?”

If they valued class identity so much, he’d counter magic with magic.

The soldier paused, then withdrew his spear. “Noble lord, please enter.”

Once inside, the lavish interior stunned them.

Even Fu Wuxuan, who had experienced many Weird Domains, couldn’t help but marvel. “Where is this? Did they bring the White House here?”

It was the accumulated wealth of generations of Kings that built this resplendent Blue Castle.

A maid in a lavish cake-like gown approached, lifting her skirts gracefully. “My lords, please follow me.”

She led them up the staircase. Fu Wuxuan observed the spiral stairs’ segmented construction. “Also in perfect golden ratio.”

Evidently crafted by professional artisans.

Yun Xueqing didn’t understand such things. He only knew this place was exceedingly luxurious—far more so than the Sword Pavilion.

Sword Cultivators were all poor; their home was little more than a rundown mountain peak. Even the Academy where disciples came and went had tables and chairs centuries old.

No money, no exposure to such spectacles.

Yun Xueqing kept his composure and followed the maid upstairs.

She ushered them into one of the rooms, which was spacious and held thirteen chairs—seven already occupied.

The occupants dressed variously but all respectably, clearly nobles.

Yun Xueqing spotted San Zhi, dressed extravagantly, without surprise.

San Zhi saw him and smiled delightedly. “You made it! I thought you might not scrape together enough money and we’d never meet.”

He tapped his cheek with a fingertip, his smile malicious. “I was even thinking, if you couldn’t, I could mercifully help out. But looks like you don’t need it.”

Neither Yun Xueqing nor Fu Wuxuan had any intention of dealing with a Weird—that would be making a pact with the tiger.

Both ignored him. Unfazed, San Zhi pointed to the chair beside him. “Come, sit here.”

There was only one chair next to him, so he deliberately smiled at Fu Wuxuan. “You probably don’t need a chair, right?”

His gaze shifted downward, his grin infuriating. “After all, you come with your own… Yun Xueqing is really pitiful. The King’s Challenge is tough enough, and now he has to drag along a useless cripple who can’t even walk. What if you two get wiped out in the end?”

Fu Wuxuan smiled, snapped off the chair’s armrest, and flung the broken piece at San Zhi’s face. “No need for your concern, Weird lord.”

He deliberately exposed San Zhi’s identity while observing the others’ reactions.

This Weird Domain surely held more outsiders than just them three—others would be present too.

Hearing San Zhi was a Weird, reactions were inevitable.

He noticed one person wearing a black ghost mask glance toward San Zhi.

Fu Wuxuan recognized him and said with interest, “Ji Tongsheng of the Strategy God Heavens?”