Chapter 162: Ink-Stained Hanfu Society

Three years later.

Zhang Ning blocking Chu Hanyun with a resolute attitude, declared, "Master, you are not allowed to leave. Today, you must make a choice!"

Judging by Zhang Ning's furious yet unwavering gaze, one might genuinely think he was about to fight Chu Hanyun to the death.

Logically speaking, Zhang Ning would never dare to raise his voice at Chu Hanyun. He hadn't lost his mind, nor did he possess the audacity of someone who had eaten the heart of a leopard, but Zhang Ning had simply been pushed to his wits' end!

Three years—a full three years—and his Master had actually remained a complete shut-in at home all this time!

In truth, the artifact-crafting methods suitable for this world, which he and his Master had compiled, had long been handed over to the official authorities and subsequently spread far and wide. In recent years, people had even begun researching how to better utilize spiritual artifacts.

However, precisely because of this, the corresponding series of problems arising from actual implementation could probably only be resolved by either Zhang Ning or Chu Hanyun.

Of course, Zhang Ning didn't expect his reclusive Master to handle such matters at all, so he had taken everything upon himself. As a result, he discovered that this was truly not a job for a human!

Over the past few years, Zhang Ning had been practically worked to death, rushing about so constantly that his feet barely touched the ground, unable to stay home for more than a few days at a time. Although knowing his Master was safely tucked away at home brought him a sense of peace, staying cooped up like that all the time was bound to drive someone crazy eventually!

With his thirteenth birthday in this world fast approaching, Zhang Ning used it as an excuse to forcefully drag his Master out for another trip (as pulling him out had become increasingly difficult in recent years).

Right now, the tablet held high against his chest displayed a few tour groups he had carefully selected and deemed quite suitable, and he was currently pestering his Master to make a choice.

Faced with his disciple's behavior, Chu Hanyun truly had no idea how this personality—alternating between meek and easily bullied one moment, and fiercely stubborn the next—had been cultivated. Where on earth was the trigger for this drastic shift between softness and hardness?

Yet, looking at Zhang Ning's animated and claw-gesturing appearance, Chu Hanyun felt a headache coming on. With a casual wave of his hand, he pointed and said, "Let's go with this one."

Zhang Ning looked over and saw that his Master was pointing at the Mo Ran Hanfu Club. His face instantly broke into a beaming smile as he exclaimed, "Master, I knew we had a telepathic connection—great minds think alike! I thought this one was great, too!"

The Mo Ran Hanfu Club had indeed been Zhang Ning's top choice. He had long since reviewed some of the previous tourism-related plans and itineraries organized by this club of Hanfu enthusiasts and travel lovers, and he felt their planning was simply brilliant.

Although it looked like a venture casually put together by a bunch of wealthy second-generation heirs who lacked for nothing, it was surprisingly hardcore. Their various scenic routes and entertainment projects sounded so appealing that anyone hearing about them would immediately want to experience them firsthand.

Not to mention that over the past few years, alongside his frustration over his Master's reclusive lifestyle, Zhang Ning also felt a pang of sympathy, sensing that his Master must deeply miss the Azure Realm. This club happened to offer various Hanfu dress-up experiences at any time, so letting his Master occasionally wear Hanfu, which bore a very close resemblance to the attire of the Azure Realm, wasn't a bad idea at all!

And so, Zhang Ning cheerfully signed up for this travel club online. Furthermore, since his Master had long since reached an invincible status in this world, and Zhang Ning himself had cultivated to the point of being entirely fearless against any schemes or plots over the past few years, he had flatly rejected the protection offered by Director Xing of the Special Operations Bureau.

***

Fan Yunfei walked listlessly down the street, holding a large shopping bag containing two scallions and a few scattered vegetables, and nothing else.

Among the passersby, a few young girls occasionally marveled at his striking good appearance and wanted to strike up a conversation, only to be discouraged by his lazy and unhurried demeanor.

Fan Yunfei lacked even the slightest trace of youthful enthusiasm. He cast a casual glance around, decided there was truly nothing to do, and prepared to head back. If he had a choice, he really didn't want to leave the house, but it was unavoidable—after all, he was a man with a dual identity.

Normally, he was the president of the Mo Ran Hanfu Club. As the president, he had initially gained everyone's willingness to follow him because of his eccentric thinking and endless stream of brilliant ideas that constantly surprised people, combined with a unique charm when he actually got serious. However, later on, their business grew so massive that, logically speaking, others would have coveted it and tried to steal the fruit of his labor; yet, he still managed to keep it firmly grasped in his own hands.

By now, the Mo Ran Hanfu Club had become a magnet that countless people pursued eagerly, whether as a channel for making money or for making social connections. Consequently, Fan Yunfei was forced to put on the airs of a club president and maintain a certain level of public exposure. After all, his fellow club members had given him a thorough and earnest lecture, demanding that he step out of the house at least twice a month, and he simply had to show them some respect.

That's right. As the president of the Mo Ran Hanfu Club, Fan Yunfei—who was now famous enough to be a frequent topic of conversation in certain circles—actually possessed a remarkably lazy and indifferent personality. His favorite catchphrase in daily life was—

"Sigh, what a hassle!" Fan Yunfei muttered with a sigh.

It wasn't that a verbal tic had suddenly acted up; rather, he had caught sight of a bus parked right in front of him.

This might have seemed completely normal, except that Fan Yunfei happened to know there was no bus stop in front of the vegetable market, nor had he ever seen a bus pass through this area. Thus, how this bus had appeared went without saying, to say nothing of the few sparse passengers sitting inside it.

He cast a helpless glance at the dwindling number of pedestrians around him, and with no other choice, he held his nose and boarded the vehicle, still clutching the shopping bag containing just a few scallions.

Though filled with resignation, he didn't complain after getting on. He simply closed his eyes and dozed off in the back row. Then, exactly as he expected, the bus drove toward an increasingly desolate area, and the passengers on board got off one by one.

Until finally, the vast interior of the bus left only him and the driver. The driver showed no intention of saving electricity for the company; instead, the heater was kept running at full blast, creating a comforting warmth that made one drowsy.

When Fan Yunfei stepped off the bus at a familiar location, he listlessly carried his shopping bag with its two scallions through heavily guarded gates.

This was an area without any markings on the map, yet it housed a sizable military camp guarded by sentries at the entrance, making anyone who happened to pass by give it a wide, respectful berth and turn away immediately. Yet Fan Yunfei strolled in as leisurely as if he were wandering through his own backyard, effortlessly walking right past and instantly making the atmosphere of the entire military camp look completely out of place.

The reason for this brought up Fan Yunfei's other identity.

That's right, he was also the representative of a newly rising faction—the Artifact Masters!

Artifact Masters—a newly coined term in the world of supernatural beings. Perhaps it was a profession that confused many, leaving them clueless about what its practitioners actually did; yet in reality, it was the designation for a group of newcomers who were rising to prominence with an unstoppable momentum.

They were all capable of fighting using refined spiritual artifacts, and could even burst forth with formidable combat power in a short span of time. Some particularly gifted individuals could even use those refined objects to accomplish things entirely beyond human imagination.

For instance, an ordinary magnifying glass refined through artifact-crafting techniques could allow the naked eye to see microscopic entities invisible even under an electron microscope of countless magnifications, making one feel as though they had touched... the realm of gods!

However, not everyone could become an Artifact Master. Aside from good comprehension, powerful spiritual strength, and willpower, becoming a top-tier practitioner also required a mysterious affinity for spiritual artifacts.

This left many sighing in despair, forcing them to focus solely on training their own willpower and spiritual strength.

And Fan Yunfei was simply an unlucky lucky soul.

The reason for describing him this way was because one day, he was suddenly struck on the head by a fragmented spiritual artifact. Just as he was silently cursing his bad luck, the artifact stained with his blood suddenly began to glow, and he instantly comprehended how to wield that spiritual artifact, embarking randomly on a series of extraordinary urban adventures.

If Zhang Ning were to ever discover that the fragment of the spiritual artifact in Fan Yunfei's possession was actually produced when Chu Hanyun first attempted artifact crafting in this world, creating a magical tool that this world could not possibly bear and causing a rare explosion, one could only wonder what expression he would wear—not to mention the fact that over the coming years, Fan Yunfei would embark on a legendary quest to collect the scattered fragments.