The strongest intermediary in all realms

For the next five days, Zhou Ming barely slept.

During the day, he ran his "Everything Shop" as usual, receiving a few scattered customers introduced by Chen Jianguo—most of them were ordinary families from urban villages. Some wanted to ask for a calming incense from another world to cure their insomnia, while others wanted to get a martial arts manual for their son who practiced martial arts as a birthday gift.

They are all small orders, which can be completed in one trip to the rift zone. The commission is low, but the frequency is high, and small amounts add up.

That night, he ventured into the rift zone and changed his strategy. Instead of setting up a stall, he chatted with various independent cultivators as an "information broker" to extract information.

He created the persona of "Old Zhou, the know-it-all," and made a point of finding out the activities of the "Blue Star Face Black Team," which had been active in the Rift Zone and surrounding planes recently.

After five days, he had figured out a clear pattern.

"So these people aren't just headless flies." On the morning of the sixth day, Zhou Ming spread the organized intelligence on the table and drew lines on a hand-drawn map with his finger.

"They've been active in at least five rift zone market areas, and each time they've appeared, they've been doing the same thing—inquiring about the 'Dark Green Sword' and 'people carrying items with information from other worlds.' This indicates they're not just tracking down the Green Wave Sword, but also searching for anyone who might be carrying cross-dimensional inherited information."

"That means you." Xiao Qi sat on the edge of the table, swinging her legs. "You activated the Divine Firmament Mark. The mark's aura will remain on your body for a certain period of time. Although the system has shielded it for you, there's still a risk of exposure if they scan you at close range with advanced detection equipment."

Zhou Ming nodded: "So I need to get my hands on something that can 'wash away' the branding residue before they get their hands on the high-end detection equipment. Does the system have a solution?"

Xiao Qi browsed the shop and shook her head: "There aren't any direct products. But there's an alternative approach—you can use similar spiritual energy fluctuations to 'cover' the residue, like reprinting old newspapers with new ink. The jade pendant you got in the rift last time only contained the energy of a low-level talisman, which isn't enough. You need a higher concentration of 'pure energy' to completely wash away the traces of the Divine Firmament imprint."

Where can I find the pure air?

"The Frost Realm." Xiao Qi pulled up the data. "Deep beneath the extremely cold lands lies a vast amount of 'Earth Vein Pure Qi,' which, unlike spiritual energy, is a pure energy naturally generated by heaven and earth. It's most effective for cleansing the imprint of divine consciousness. However, the entrances to the Earth Veins of the Frost Realm are usually occupied by demonic beasts, so you'll have to take another risk."

Zhou Ming stroked his chin. He had been to the Frost Realm, an extremely cold world filled only with ice and snow and low-level demonic beasts like rock badgers. If there were demonic beasts guarding the entrance to the ley lines, they were most likely something of a higher level than rock badgers.

But he has no choice now—either find a way to remove the remaining branding from his body, or one day he might run into the black-clad team in the rift zone and be scanned out on the spot, with unimaginable consequences.

"go."

He packed his backpack, this time bringing a few more things: two low-level attack runes he'd traded from the Rift Zone, the glow pen he'd bought at the Rift Market last time (to use as bait), and a compressed biscuit. Who knew how long it would take to get to the leyline entrance?

The silver-gray passage tore open again, its destination locked on the Frost Realm - Northern Ice Plains.

The moment I stepped onto the snowfield, a cold wind carrying ice particles rushed towards me.

The sky was even more gloomy than last time, with leaden-gray clouds hanging low, and the outlines of the distant coniferous forests blurred by the wind and snow, leaving only dark shadows.

Zhou Ming wrapped his coat tighter, and his breath instantly condensed into frost, which clung to his stubble.

Where is the entrance to the ley lines?

Xiaoqi's navigation showed: "About five miles northwest, there is a glacial fissure with a bottom leading to a ley line. However, I detected spiritual energy fluctuations near the entrance, likely traces of a guardian beast."

Zhou Ming braved the wind and snow and headed northwest. The snow under his feet grew thicker and thicker, gradually burying him from his shoes up to his calves.

He trudged along, sometimes sinking deep into the glacier, and it took him nearly forty minutes to find the crevice.

The fissure stretches across the ice like a wound in the earth, about two meters wide, with sharp edges like a knife.

Looking down, it was pitch black and bottomless, with only a warm mist rising from the depths, condensing into frost flowers in the cold air.

"Is there heat down there?"

"The earth's ley line energy is warm to the touch. You won't feel cold once you go down," Xiao Qi advised. "But the fissure walls are slippery, so look for a place to step."

Zhou Ming groped along the edge of the crack for more than ten meters and found a slope with a gentler gradient. He slid down the ice wall step by step, his backpack swaying on his shoulder, and ice shards rolling down from under his feet, falling into the darkness with a faint echo.

The further down you go, the more noticeably the temperature rises, and the air is no longer bitingly cold, but becomes moist and mild. The ice layer on the fissure walls gradually thins, revealing the grayish-brown rock layers underneath.

After sliding down about five or six zhang (approximately 10-15 meters), my feet touched solid ground. The passage turned horizontally here, and a naturally formed cave stretched forward, its walls glowing with a faint milky-white fluorescent light that illuminated the path ahead.

The air was filled with an indescribable crispness; taking a deep breath made my lungs feel refreshed.

"This is the pure energy of the earth's veins," Xiao Qi said with satisfaction. "It's very concentrated, enough to wash away the remaining marks on your body. Walk a little further, find an open space to sit cross-legged, and I'll guide the pure energy to cover your body."

Zhou Ming walked along the cave for two or three hundred meters, and the space gradually opened up, revealing a natural cave about half the size of a room.

In the center is a shallow, milky-white pool of water, with a thin layer of mist floating on the surface, which is the condensed and liquefied form of pure air.

"A good place." He squatted down, reached out to test the water temperature. It was warm, like bath water. He took off his coat and shoes and socks, sat cross-legged by the pool, and closed his eyes.

"Relax, don't resist." Xiao Qi's voice became gentle and focused. "I'm drawing the pure energy from the air to cover your skin. It will slowly penetrate all the areas of residual spiritual energy on your body, carrying away the traces of the Divine Firmament imprint."

A warm liquid enveloped his body, like being drenched in invisible warm water from head to toe.

The warmth seeped into his pores and flowed along the surface of his skin. Zhou Ming felt a strange "refreshing sensation"—like a dusty spot on his body that had been thoroughly washed clean.

The mist on the surface of the pool rose slowly, wrapping around his limbs and torso, and the milky white halo flickered in the dim cave.

The whole process lasted about fifteen minutes.

"Alright." Xiao Qi's voice was tired, but the tone rose at the end. "All the remaining branding has been removed. Now, even if the black-clad team uses top-of-the-line detection equipment to scan you, they'll only find a clean, ordinary Qi Refining Level 7 rogue cultivator."

Zhou Ming opened his eyes and stretched his shoulders and neck. He definitely felt much lighter, with a faint, warm glow lingering on his skin. He stood up and put his coat and shoes back on, feeling much more relaxed.

"Back-"

Suddenly, a bubble rose from the puddle at my feet.

Zhou Ming looked down and saw a whirlpool churning in the center of the milky white pool, something rising from the depths. Water splashed everywhere, and a palm-sized, completely transparent creature leaped out of the water and landed on the rocks by the pool, still dripping water from its body.

The creature resembled a salamander, but its entire body was as transparent as crystal, revealing its internal organs clearly. It tilted its head, staring at Zhou Ming, then opened its mouth and let out a soft, kitten-like "squeak."

Zhou Ming took a half step back: "What the hell?"

Xiao Qi's system panel frantically popped up a series of data scan results: "Heavenly Frost Realm Earth Vein Spirit... Rare creature... Feeds on pure energy... Intelligence equivalent to a five or six-year-old human child... Gentle by nature... Determined to be non-aggressive."

The transparent salamander squeaked again, then crawled forward two steps and rubbed its wet head against Zhou Ming's shoe tips.

Zhou Ming squatted down and gently poked the top of its head with his index finger. The little guy comfortably squinted its eyes—if it had eyelids—and made a series of gurgling sounds.

"It seems... it's stuck to you." Xiao Qi's tone was somewhat amused and exasperated. "Earth leyline spirits usually stay in the clear energy spring where they were born for their entire lives and won't follow humans. There's no record of your situation in the system."

Zhou Ming looked at the little creature rubbing against his shoe and didn't know what to do.

Take it back? A transparent salamander appeared in a rented room on Earth. The scene was too surreal, but should we just leave it here? It clearly regarded him as some kind of close companion.

"Can you communicate with it?" he asked Xiaoqi.

"The system isn't mind-reading, but it can try to establish a simple signal exchange." Xiao Qi emitted an extremely subtle spiritual energy pulse, touching the transparent salamander's forehead.

The little guy suddenly raised his head and straightened his posture like a child being called on by the teacher.

A few seconds later, Xiaoqi said in a strange voice, "It said... its name is 'Gulu.' It said you are the first 'warm human' to come down to find it, and it wants to follow you. It said the snow up here is too heavy, and it's bored down here all by itself."

Zhou Ming looked down at the transparent little thing. Gulu tilted its head back, its black bean-like eyes staring at him without blinking, and the tip of its tail flicked water droplets in the pool.

He was silent for three seconds, then sighed.

"Alright. I'll take you with me. But you can only stay in the system space; you can't wander around outside."

The gurgle let out a cheerful "Squeak!"

Xiaoqi rolled her eyes, opened the system's storage space, and took Gulu inside.

A faint light flashed, and the transparent salamander disappeared, replaced by a small icon in the corner of the system panel—a crystal salamander sleeping on the "Pets" label.

"Another mouth to feed," Xiao Qi muttered.

"It can just eat pure energy, right? There's plenty of it in the ley lines of the Frost Realm. I can just come and feed it regularly."

Xiao Qi snorted and didn't say anything more.

When Zhou Ming returned to the ice surface via the same route, the wind and snow were less severe than when he came. He wrapped his coat tighter and took a few steps toward the direction of the passage coordinates when he suddenly saw a dark shadow flash by on the distant snowfield.

It's a human figure.

He immediately crouched down and hid behind an ice mound, peeking out with one eye from the edge to observe.

The dark figure moved swiftly through the snowstorm, dressed in a white snow camouflage suit, almost blending into the icy plain. If he hadn't seen the dynamic outline beforehand, he wouldn't have been able to tell it apart at all.

"Blue Star equipment," Zhou Ming whispered.

Xiao Qi quickly scanned: "One person, alone. A long, narrow package on their back, possibly a weapon. Direction of travel... the exit from the Frost Realm to the Rift Zone."

Zhou Ming lay down behind the ice mound and waited for a while. The figure gradually moved away and eventually disappeared into the depths of the snowstorm.

He silently memorized the location and direction—there were Blue Star transmigrators active in the Frost Realm, and they were wearing professional disguises, not just casual black market travelers.

Someone is "managing" the Heavenly Frost Realm line.

He stood up, brushed the snow off his knees, and walked toward the silver-gray passageway.

Today's harvest was quite fruitful: I cleared the Divine Firmament Imprint, picked up a leyline spirit, and also discovered clues about Blue Star forces' activities in the Frost Realm.

This last discovery may be more important than the previous two combined.

The intelligence network in the Rift Zone told him that the black-clad team was being particularly active in the direction of the Frost Realm.

There may be a connection between the two.