resurection
The awakening of a cultivator's Thaumaturgy has always been without any delay. Unexpectedly, Sequence could exchange powers in the void, but it would take two hours.
"Since my divination technique is being exchanged, does that mean I can't use it again?" he asked.
A line of text quickly appeared:
[I exchanged the knowledge, experience, skills, abilities, and achievements you have acquired. If you can learn it back, then you've lost nothing, rather you are the winner in this exchange.]
Liu Ping took out a coin and flicked his fingers lightly, making it spin rapidly on his fingertips.
"It's strange... It seems that I really can't use three, six, and nine copper coins to foretell, but I clearly remember all the knowledge related to divination, and I can learn them back at any time" he murmured.
Ding!
The coin was thrown out, rolled a few times on the ground, and then stood still. Two lines of small text appeared before Liu Ping's eyes:
[Exchanging anything else is equivalent to losing it, but knowledge is different. Knowledge can only be exchanged by copying, so—]
"Knowledge is the cheapest, the most expensive, and even priceless" Liu Ping nodded silently.
'If so, knowledge is indeed priceless. Although it is very difficult for others to understand the knowledge of divination, I can understand it at a glance. I can practice divination and use it to exchange things in the void.'
'—Can this be done?'
The void was silent for a while, and it took a moment for a line of small words to appear:
[Very few people can practice divination. If you can cultivate to the peak again, you can exchange it for other unimaginable powers.]
Seeing this made Liu Ping feel better.
He jumped up from the ground and began to experience the feeling after the foundation was established.
Abundant spiritual power slowly flowed out from the dantian, filling all the meridians around his body.
Foundation Establishment stage!
From now on, the lifespan will increase to 150 years, and the total amount of spiritual power will also increase several times.
'—Finally, I can fight properly!'
Liu Ping can activate those life-sapping spells without worrying about dying on the spot if a dangerous situation arises.
"I remember when I established my foundation back then, there was no grudge between monsters and humans, and many friends came to congratulate..."
"We drank until dawn that day," Liu Ping murmured. With a smile on his face, he fell silent for a while, shook his head, and glanced around.
The world is in ruins.
—Since when has there been a schism between the human race and the monsters?
Liu Ping suppressed his thoughts, heading straight to the bar and standing before the phone booth once more.
Yes. This was the phone booth, a technological communication tool.
Liu Ping felt a bit helpless.
—I don't possess something called a "phone number," so I'm afraid I can't activate it.
Wait, let me take a closer look.
He began to review the common knowledge of communication in the world.
Ring Ring—
Suddenly, the phone rang.
Liu Ping raised his eyebrows in surprise.
I didn't do anything yet, why is the phone ringing?
Who is calling?
RING! RING!
The phone continued to ring persistently. After a moment of hesitation, Liu Ping opened the glass door of the phone booth, stepped inside, and picked up the receiver.
"So, as long as I wish to retain the official identity of the "Night Watchman of Dark Mist Town", I must maintain contact with the entity on the other end of the phone line."
"Hello, who is this?" he asked politely.
"Is the bartender dead?" inquired the caller immediately.
"Yes," Liu Ping confirmed.
"Please exit the phone booth and wait patiently for ten seconds" instructed the caller.
"Okay" Liu Ping agreed.
He placed the receiver down, turned, and stepped out of the phone booth.
Ten seconds passed in the blink of an eye.
The entire telephone booth disassembled itself, its metal parts scattering across the ground. These components swiftly reorganized, forming a humanoid figure made of silver metal.
—According to the knowledge acquired by Liu Ping, such an entity is called a robot.
As the robot materialized, it drew a black gun and aimed it at Liu Ping, stating, "Night Watchman Liu Ping, I need to inspect your ID card."
"Here you go" Liu Ping replied, handing over his official identity card.
A metal tentacle extended from the robot's chest, tapping the ID card, Suddenly, a beam of light emitted from the ID card, scanning from the top of Liu Ping's head to the bottom of his feet.
"The identity verification is done. That's it, don't be nervous. Let's smoke a cigar first" the robot said, stowing away the gun and offering Liu Ping a cigarette.
"No, thank you" Liu Ping declined.
"Boring rookie" the robot muttered in frustration. It took a step forward, approached the wall of the secret room, and began to climb up.
"Wait, where are you going?" Liu Ping questioned.
"Do you know where the bartender died?" the robot asked.
"On the floor of the bar, but he's already burnt" Liu Ping replied.
"Burnt? You carbon-based life forms are too fragile to withstand anything. But he's quite resourceful, so he shouldn't die so easily" the robot commented.
The two returned to the bar floor and inspected the charred body together. The robot's eyes emitted a ray, scanning the corpse. Then, it squatted down, held the corpse's head with its hands, and commanded, "Card Release."
Bang!
The corpse on the ground suddenly vanished, transforming into a floating card, which the robot caught.
On the card, a figure was depicted hiding in the mud, holding a dummy in their hand and placing it on the ground.
Liu Ping stared at the card, and a line of words appeared in front of his eyes:
[Card: Playing Dead.]
[Release this card to form an illusion of death instead of yourself. The real body sinks into the ground instantly, restraining all breath and entering a state of suspended animation, awaiting rescue.]
"Oho!" Liu Ping exclaimed, looking at the card with great interest. Besides firearms, he had discovered another intriguing item.
"Card masters, tsk tsk" the robot remarked enviously, before tossing the card out and uttering, "Enlighten!"
Bang—
The card vanished.
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the ground, and the bartender crawled out from the gap.
He looked rather disheveled, with bloody wounds covering his body, yet his face radiated joy for having survived.
"I figured you'd find someone to save me" the bartender said, patting Liu Ping on the shoulder.
"What made you so certain?" Liu Ping inquired.
With a casual wave of his hand, Liu Ping conjured a cloud of rain and mist emitting bursts of emerald green light. The mist encircled the bartender, continuously swirling around him before sinking into his wounds.
"Hiss—it really hurts—" the bartender gasped.
"Be patient, your injuries aren't serious; they'll heal in a bit" Liu Ping reassured him.
The bartender chuckled and explained, "I shuffled the cards yesterday, and you just happened to..."
At that moment, the bartender's words were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a group of armed figures bursting into the bar, their expressions stern and determined.
"Represent luck in my deck—it can bring me luck" the bartender explained.
"You have to clean up the mess here as soon as possible, otherwise the higher-ups will blame you and you will all be hanged," the robot interjected.
The bartender nodded in acknowledgment. "Understood. You rest first, and work later."
"Okay, I'll charge it for 5 minutes first" the robot responded.
With a plug from its waist, the robot walked to the wall, squatted down, plugged it into a socket, and then stopped moving.
"What is it doing?" Liu Ping asked.
The bartender explained, "Robot No. S0005 can quickly build city walls, houses, and various equipment—it has many functions, and it can also make audio, video, and calls. It also has a little bit of card master ability, which can remove the effects of cards. which was what Got me out."
Liu Ping gazed at the robot with an impressed expression.
—Although he also knows some methods of feigning death and escaping, this robot is obviously not something that can be made by weapon refining. There must be some other trick.
"Okay, let's cut the long story short—" the bartender interjected, clapping his hands. "My duty is to protect Dark Mist Town, and your duty is to guard Dark Mist Town at night. Now we have all failed. If we don't take immediate measures to recover the loss, the people above will directly execute us."
"Who destroyed Dark Mist Town—the little girl from the night before yesterday? I guess you've heard of her" Liu Ping tentatively asked.
"It wasn't her who came last night. In fact, I had several conversations with that little girl, but she is a very high-level existence. She has no enmity with us, and won't do anything without provocation" the bartender clarified.
"What was it then?" Liu Ping asked.
"There are so many monsters, too many, it seems like the end of the world" the bartender remarked.
"Has something like this ever happened before?" Liu Ping inquired.
"Hardly," the bartender replied.
"The monsters are coming towards Dark Mist Town?" Liu Ping asked.
"I think... they are not aimed at our town, but for some reason..." the bartender said, his face displaying a puzzled expression.
Liu Ping was stunned for a moment. Even a small town is so difficult to defend, how did the civilization of this world survive?
As he pondered, he voiced, "Under the impact of so many monsters, Dark Mist Town has no resistance at all. In other words, there is absolutely no need for this town to exist."
The bartender disagreed, saying, "No, this is the entrance to the first act of the hidden space-time. There must always be a stronghold here to block darkness and explore the hidden space-time in depth. This is related to the interests of all living beings."
"What benefit?" Liu Ping questioned.
"If Dark Mist Town is lost, the pace of Eternal Night's progress will accelerate again, and you will see darkness devouring everything. There will be fewer and fewer places where living people can reside" the bartender explained.
He walked to a wall and pulled out a brick.
Click!
The walls opened, revealing another wall inside with a line written on it:
"Night Watch Graveyard."
Below this line of words, there are dark cards pasted one after another. Liu Ping looked intently and saw a line written on the first card:
"Captain of the Night's Watch, Karador, The Archmage"