Chapter 388

"Star River"

Wang Yu in the private room suddenly opened his eyes, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.

He never imagined that Li Xiaodao's special channel was connected to Star River, the only global game!

He knew all this because he had shrunk a white bone demon to the size of a grain of rice, attached a thread of spiritual awareness to it, and then shot it onto Li Xiaodao.

Originally, without a vessel, his spiritual awareness could not extend more than two or three hundred meters, but with the white bone demon—a creature naturally suited to host spiritual awareness—he could now move freely within a radius of dozens of li.

He had once used this very method to shake off the British Commonwealth's trackers.

The building Li Xiaodao entered must be the rumored "Star River Bar," a dedicated internet cafe established by various nations to promote the Star River game.

He had learned about this promotional plan online while at the base, but never expected that after returning to Blue Star over a year later, even a second-tier city in Xierde would have a "Star River Bar."

Thinking of this, Wang Yu glanced at his wrist and poured spiritual energy toward it.

The next moment, a translucent, sci-fi-style wristwatch silently materialized on his wrist, its display ticking forward with time.

It was the countdown device he had brought out from the Star River game!

The watch's screen showed eight years and eighteen days remaining until countdown zero.

Speaking of which, after obtaining the Star Mind Force cultivation method from this game, he had already realized its background was unfathomably deep—almost as if the entire world was giving the game a free pass.

Even the British Commonwealth, the strongest power on Blue Star, dared not act against Star River, as if the divine force behind the game was one no nation on Blue Star wished to offend.

Now that Li Xiaodao had turned to the Star River Bar, it was unexpected—but also made sense.

If it truly was the force behind Star River, there was no need to fear British Commonwealth surveillance or suppression.

As Wang Yu pondered, his spiritual awareness had already seen Li Xiaodao casually pay at a counter, then find a game login pod and lie down inside.

Wang Yu stared, speechless.

He finally understood what Li Xiaodao's special channel was—it was the Star River game itself.

Indeed!

Star River was the only global game, unregulated by any national authority; if both parties logged in simultaneously, they could exchange information unseen and unheard within the game, with zero risk of exposure.

After calming down, Wang Yu thought for a moment and pulled the bone box from his pocket, examining it closely.

Under the sweep of his terrifying spiritual awareness, every groove on the box's surface was clearly visible.

The bone box looked strange.

Though it appeared to be made of common animal bone, its surface bore not a single trace of craftsmanship—as if the entire box had formed naturally.

Not only was there no lock or keyhole, there wasn't even a single seam on the box!

Wang Yu pressed a fingertip against the box and slowly slid it, feeling the chilling energy seeping from within.

This energy was faint, mostly blocked by the bone box, leaking out only in tiny traces.

Yet he could still sense its chaos and agitation—far more violent than heavenly qi, even less stable than yin energy.

But on the other hand, in terms of raw power, this energy's quality seemed higher than heavenly qi.

If the faint energy leaking from the box were converted into cultivation-world artifacts, it would equal at least a first-rank ordinary artifact's strike.

This revealed the immense power contained within the box.

It seemed the "White Wolf" wasn't entirely lying when he said whoever opened the box would die.

More crucially, his spiritual awareness could not penetrate the box—the chilling energy within forcibly repelled it, and brute force destruction would likely fail.

Who knew if external force might trigger an explosion? The resulting blast could erase the entire street.

Wang Yu stared at the box, stroked his chin, and mentally ran through a dozen secret techniques and spells, searching for a way to open it.

Since brute force wouldn't work, only slow, gradual erosion remained.

Jin-fire spells were out—their destructive power was too great.

Mu spells were gentle, but mostly focused on healing and restoration.

Feng spells he knew were mostly auxiliary—flight, concealment, etc. none suited.

That left only Shui spells.

Shui spells were famed for sustained power; for merely eroding the box's exterior, one entry-level technique—Water Refining Art—seemed ideal.

This technique was originally an auxiliary method for artifact forging, slowly polishing and reshaping hard materials to suit spirit inscription, a Shui-art requiring extreme precision.

As a second-rank artifact forger, he had long mastered this technique, even refined it to perfection, controlling it with effortless ease.

But to avoid accidental disaster here, he'd wait until he found an open, isolated place before activating it.

With this thought, his spiritual awareness stirred—a silver light shot from between his brows, and the bone box vanished from his hand, appearing within the mysterious talisman.

Wang Yu exhaled slowly; now he only needed to hide in Pengjie City for a while, then let Huaguo arrange his return home.

…

Half a month later, a convoy of over a dozen vehicles appeared at the entrance to a wide road.

Most of the sedans were dull gray, their original colors unrecognizable; some even bore bullet holes, as if they'd endured something terrible.

"Mr. Sai, ahead is Pengjie City—we're almost there!" A blond head popped out from the lead car, glanced at the sign several li ahead, and shouted back to the others.

"We've finally reached Pengjie City?"

Inside a rear vehicle, he who had been resting with closed eyes opened them and exhaled softly.

Xierde was truly a land of chaos.

This half-month journey had been unforgettable—even for him—but at least he'd arrived safely in the nation's largest city.

Sitting in the front, Cindy and Li Xiaodao wore similar smiles, yet both clearly carried dark metallic pistol grips at their waists—they were both armed.