233: Dragon Sky Journey Chapter: The Reality and Illusion Change Hands, Secretly Breaking into the Forbidden City

"Don't kill me!"

"Ha, ha, ha..."

Long Tianxing suddenly opened his eyes, sat up abruptly, gasping for breath, his entire body soaked in sweat.

The dream featured familiar places and familiar people.

The difference was that the person's Face hadn't become clearer, yet he somehow recognized them and subconsciously knew their name.

He covered his Face with one hand, while the other was tightly clenched, as if only this could alleviate the invisible influence.

Only when his emotions finally stabilized did he wipe the sweat with his sleeve, rise, walk to the window, push it open, and gaze at the bright moon outside, muttering to himself.

"Ancestor Dragon?"

"Who exactly are you?"

The waning moon in the sky gradually gave way to daylight, and time jumped to the morning.

"Where is your identification?"

"Lost it."

"Lost it?!" Hui Yuxuan and the registration staff member exclaimed in unison.

"You're a grown adult! You can't even handle something this simple!"

"If you can do it, do it. If you can't..." The staff member suddenly remembered the current shortage of personnel, and the words caught in his throat, forcing an awkward change, "If you can't, then get over to the corner and get it done quickly!"

"Clap!"

A bright red stamp was affixed to Long Tianxing's competition entry form. The staff member continued in a hostile tone.

"Later, I will contact your client and inform them about this matter."

"They will submit the supplementary documents then, and you just wait for the consequences!"

"Honestly, needlessly causing me trouble, you..."

The person was still rambling, but Long Tianxing had already picked up the stamped form and turned to leave.

Hui Yuxuan watched Long Tianxing walk away, then glanced at the incessantly nagging staff member, made a Face at him, and quickly chased after Long Tianxing.

Inside the room, only the staff member remained, grumbling to the air.

"Brother Zhao, wait for me!"

Hui Yuxuan pounced and wrapped her arms around Long Tianxing's ankles, gripping his trouser legs, letting him drag her forward.

Long Tianxing paused briefly, but didn't pay much attention, continuing toward the assigned rest room.

Along the way, Hui Yuxuan kept talking about herself and the important reasons why Lianxing Pavilion had come to the Kaifeng this time.

Roughly, she said that her Great-Grandfather was the person in charge of Lianxing Pavilion in the Jiangzhou area of Great Yu, and this time, the Pavilion had transferred many personnel from various branch stations to support the event in the Kaifeng.

The two of them were just participating to occupy a few spots, ensuring their side's seeded contestants could advance smoothly—the colloquial "stepping stones."

After the competition ended, their main responsibility would be logistics.

Throughout the process, aside from having to throw a few matches, the rest were easy tasks, specially arranged due to her Great-Grandfather's Face.

In all her words, she either brought up her family background or asked Long Tianxing if he had any dreams. Although her tone carried a hint of youthful pride, her meaning was quite clear.

She wanted to "sponsor" the dreams of this young man, Zhao Da, and give him a chance to start a business.

Long Tianxing didn't engage much, only responding occasionally. It wasn't until they reached the inn where they would rest that he quickly shook her off and hurried back to his room.

Closing the door and cutting off the noise outside, Long Tianxing sighed in relief, leaped, and collapsed onto the bed.

"Ugh, this little girl is too noisy. I really want to kick her away."

"Speaking of which, she's so small that if I didn't use Divine Sense, I wouldn't even notice her hiding at my feet... Someone really could hide under another person's shoe."

After muttering to himself for a while, Long Tianxing began planning his upcoming trip through Great Yu.

His identity issue was self-evident. He probably wouldn't have to wait for the real young man to return and expose him; as soon as the supposed client replied and discovered he was an imposter, he would likely be kicked out, perhaps even beaten.

But he didn't care. Among the Spells he had learned, there was a Body Tempering Method specifically designed for taking a beating. When activated, it emitted Qi that induced attackers to dissipate their anger while simultaneously strengthening his Physical Body and reducing pain.

This could both shorten the duration of the beating and reduce the damage.

Furthermore, he continuously maintained a Spell that made him look merely handsome, yet difficult to see clearly in detail, and hard to remember afterward.

Taking a beating in exchange for a competition spot was still worthwhile. After all, nobody knew him.

He had mastered all of Fifth Elder's flashy Spells, ensuring both safety and utility when traveling outside.

While enjoying the remaining rest time and waiting for judgment to descend, he ended up falling asleep.

Until a sudden, urgent knocking on the door startled him awake.

Drowsily, he opened the door and saw a middle-aged man speaking to him with a serious expression.

"Are you Zhao Da?"

Long Tianxing rubbed his sleepy eyes and mumbled, "Mm."

The man sighed and said.

"I regret to inform you that your previous client was attacked and has been cleared out by the Government."

"Consequently, your documentation cannot be filed temporarily."

At this point, he symbolically wiped the corner of his eye.

"But don't worry, we have contingency measures for sudden situations like this. We can process a Temporary Certificate for you."

"Rest assured, the Temporary Certificate holds the same validity as a formal one and will not affect your actions. However, it will expire along with your formal certificate after seven days, requiring you to renew it during that period."

"Given the current emergency, the usage period for the Temporary Certificate will begin after the conclusion of this mission."

"As for the salary issue you are most concerned about..."

He paused, observing Long Tianxing's expression. Although he couldn't quite make it out for some reason, his emotions seemed stable, so it should be fine.

"We are deeply saddened by this, but accidents are always unpredictable. We will proceed with the insurance process, but it requires time. It's not that we won't handle it, but..."

What followed was a stream of official rhetoric, the gist being: both parties must share the loss this time; they would do their best to help him obtain compensation; in short, there was no money now, and perhaps none later, so he was just out of luck.

Long Tianxing didn't care about the salary, as he wasn't the real Zhao Da. But holding the Temporary Certificate he had obtained merely by casually filling out a form, he felt somewhat bewildered.

What did this count as? Going from a passerby to a permanent employee?

It wasn't until the man left that Long Tianxing gradually realized something was wrong.

If the organization was legitimate, why was the client wiped out? And why hadn't the real Zhao Da appeared yet? Coupled with his consistently strong Luck, which seemed to be secretly operating... all of this indicated that the matter was not simple.

Since no one claimed this identity, Long Tianxing decided to use it for now, observe the changes, and take things one step at a time.

Having thought this through, he relaxed again, lay back on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

Even those in the Foundation Establishment Stage needed rest.

Traveling for days, coupled with frequent nightmares, meant his condition had not fully recovered.

In order to deal with his primary target, he had to maintain peak condition.

He slept until sunset, when he was once again startled awake by a nightmare.

Gazing at the waning moon high in the sky, Long Tianxing's thoughts drifted toward the Imperial Palace.

What exactly is calling out to me?

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then flipped out the window and employed a series of techniques—Aura Concealment, Sound Nullification, Divine Sense Shielding, and Consciousness Distortion—heading straight toward the Imperial Palace.

Long Tianxing knew that going to such a place now was definitely unwise, but the recurring premonitions and repeated nightmares seemed to be communicating something.

Based on his decade-plus experience as a Child of Destiny, if he didn't go this time, the subsequent torment would likely be no less severe than the Heavenly Lightning he faced after missing the Secret Realm last time. Even if it wasn't lightning, it would be another form of suffering of equal magnitude.

Given his current state, he truly shouldn't defy Destiny again so soon.

Long Tianxing was already located within the Inner City, so he quickly arrived near one side of the Imperial Palace. However, the Palace defenses were strict, and he had to be extremely careful.

A quarter of an hour later... Huh?

Seriously, no one?

During this time, it was as if he had entered a land without people. The area seemed to have been cleared beforehand, allowing free access. Even if he killed someone, no one would likely notice.

It was like a venue prepared specifically for some kind of operation.

Of course, this should have nothing to do with Long Tianxing.

After all, he had only arrived a day ago, his identity wasn't revealed, and he hadn't expressed any intention of entering the Imperial Palace.

Damn it, why is it getting weirder and weirder... Ouch!

He suddenly tripped, stumbling and falling to the ground. Fortunately, the sound around him was sealed, so he made no noise. But even if he had made a sound, probably no one would have noticed.

Long Tianxing looked at the gradually dissipating trace of magical power on the ground, momentarily dazed.

It was as if it overlapped with the dream from that day.

As this mark was activated, the entire area seemed to undergo a specific change.

"Come here..."

"Come to this place..."

Long Tianxing's heart tightened, but he still cautiously advanced in the direction the voice came from.

Finally, he reached a room that looked like a storage closet. Above the door hung a plaque with four large characters.

Royal Treasury.