"If it weren't for my Gauze Clothing being quite useful... I really took a loss. A seafood buffet as an appearance fee was a complete rip-off."

As soon as Ren Suo returned home that night, he immediately took off his clothes, which were covered in stains. There were no bloodstains, but there were plenty of rust marks and even several holes.

Without a doubt, Ren Suo had no Skills related to 'Tailoring.' Though he could heal people, he couldn't mend clothes, so he had no choice but to throw them away.

Eating someone's food makes you indebted to them. After accepting Zhao Huo's treat, Ren Suo went straight to their rehearsal for the stage play.

Zhao Huo and the others had actually been rehearsing for a long time, with the main actors being Zhao Huo and another Cultivator. But now that other Cultivator had suddenly become unavailable, they had to turn to Ren Suo.

In Zhao Huo's original words, "You're the only idle Cultivator I know who has nothing to do."

Ren Suo took it as a compliment.

As for the role of Zhang Fei, Ren Suo naturally wasn't there to display the historical figure's Skills in horse riding and archery; besides, he couldn't ride or shoot, at least not in the conventional sense.

The stage play Zhao Huo and his group were rehearsing was a surreal adaptation based on a certain Three Kingdoms game. In it, both Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun were extremely powerful Non-Humans capable of plowing through armies like tractors, so Ren Suo's task was to get hit, then Counterattack!

They had just run through a rough rehearsal. The actors playing Cao's Army didn't hold back, coming at him with steel pipes and cleavers. To display Elder Zhang San's might, Ren Suo had to endure a few rounds of their beating. Only then could he swing his plastic, soft-bladed snake spear and knock them to the ground. After all, they weren't Cultivators, so Ren Suo couldn't go all out on them.

And that wasn't all. Zhao Huo had also found several strongmen from an archery club to act as Cao's Army's long-range troops, attacking Zhang Fei. This ensured the arrows they shot whistled impressively, truly evoking a battlefield atmosphere.

Ren Suo would then have to either deflect or block the arrows. According to the script, a true warrior facing any Attack wouldn't Dodge but would shout, "Useless, useless, useless!" and "Weak, weak, weak!" as they countered.

It certainly sounded very cool, but this is Zhang Fei we're talking about.

Of course, Ren Suo wouldn't be the only one getting hit. Zhao Huo, playing Zhao Yun who charged seven times in and out of the enemy ranks, wouldn't escape a beating either.

The whole play really focused on Ren Suo and Zhao Huo, the two Cultivators, because taking hits requires real skill. If you don't actually hit each other on stage, it looks too soft and fake to the audience. Therefore, only Cultivators capable of using the Garment Series could play these two leading roles.

However, I do need to find some time soon to see if I can fully master Gauze Clothing. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing if I got injured by accident... Ren Suo thought.

As it was his most vital life-preserving Spell, Ren Suo had to master it himself for safety. If he were attacked while using Healing Magic to treat someone else, he wouldn't have time to switch Spells—there was a 10-second cooldown to switch between the backup slot and the Equipment Slot.

Moreover, rumor had it that the Garment Series had an even High Order version, and that Clothing and Gauze Clothing themselves might be weakened versions of some powerful awakened Spells. As long as Ren Suo continued learning, fully mastering this series of Spells wasn't considered difficult.

After washing off his sweat, Ren Suo turned on his computer and, as usual, checked the intranet. A system notification had popped up:

"Researcher Suo, congratulations on your promotion to Level 3 Researcher."

"Other sections have been unlocked for you."

"You have received a secret question invitation."

Ren Suo breathed a sigh of relief—finally, a promotion. However, on the surface, the intranet hadn't changed much for him; there were just a few more sections he could access. The rise in his salary and benefits wouldn't be apparent until next month.

But this message was also interesting. A secret question invitation?

After clicking on it, the system prompted again:

"Secret questions are important confidential content on the intranet, so all viewers will be logged. In the event of a leak, regardless of the impact, the individual responsible will face criminal liability. Do you wish to continue viewing? (This secret question is only viewable by Level 3 Researchers and above.)"

Ren Suo blinked. This warning was akin to "FBI WARNING" or "No Minors Allowed" messages. It might convey the seriousness of the matter but hardly posed a real threat; rather, it was more likely to pique his curiosity.

Not to mention, this was an invitation concerning a question related to Ren Naiser. Ren Suo had to look.

"Federal Secret Realm Disappearance Event and Australian Secret Realm Mysterious Event"

"The earliest sighting record was on August 31st, in Federal Nevada, 13 kilometers from Las Vegas in a restricted zone blocked off by the Federal Military; the Secret Realm inside had disappeared. As of September 7th, there have been no further sighting records of its reappearance.

On September 3rd, the Australian Secret Realm in Australia, located in the Southern Hemisphere, refreshed its usual monsters such as Goblins, Clay Monsters, and fairies according to its temporal cycle. A British Transcendent, while hunting monsters, suddenly saw a pear-shaped purple gem the size of a person. However, upon its discovery by the British Transcendent, the purple gem quickly fled. Some Cultivators from the Yangtze Troops witnessed this. After escaping all lines of sight, the gem completely vanished.

At the same time, Federal Extraordinary Ones exhibited unusual behavior during their operations in the shared Secret Realms: they paid more attention to their surroundings rather than quickly killing the realm's creatures to absorb their Energy for self-nourishment.

Provisional Conclusion 1: A 'treasure' capable of terminating the Secret Realms themselves might exist within them. This item possesses enormous value. The Federal Extraordinary Ones may have already obtained such a treasure and are now attempting to seize similar treasures from other Secret Realms.

Provisional Conclusion 2: Assuming Conclusion 1 is correct, the pear-shaped purple gem that appeared in the Australian Secret Realm could be this 'treasure,' or related to it."

The seven sanctums actually had further developments? Ren Suo nibbled at his fingernails. He went out, turned on the Mini-World Game Console, and found that "Mage Under the World Tree" hadn't released any new DLC. So, most likely, these subsequent changes aren't anything bad.

As for the discussion under this topic, the Researchers basically agreed with the two provisional conclusions. They offered three main suggestions: do not tamper with the gemstones; take the gemstones for observation; or take gemstones from other countries for observation.

Ren Suo naturally liked the most roguish response: "Jointly develop other countries' secret realm treasures." This was his way of stating his stance.

This topic belonged to the "Secrecy Section." Ren Suo glanced over it and discovered it truly contained a lot of content that wouldn't normally appear on the intranet:

"Seeking Earth Spirits in the Mysterious Country (Continuously Updated)"

"Undead Peach Blossom Land's Wuyi Mountain Festival Plan: Five Years in Peach Blossom Land, Three Years of Worship"

"Midnight Walker Video Brainwashing Effects Explained: Half-Demon Heart Cleansing, Demon Ghost Submission"

"Project Sky Jacking: Main God Space"

"Faith in the Three Gods: Suppress or Observe Development?"

...

The intranet was mostly filled with discussions of mysterious phenomena. In contrast, the Secrecy Section, besides discussing phenomena, also detailed many secret plans the Mysterious Country was undertaking.

For example, "Project Sky Jacking: Main God Space" was the Mysterious Country's plan based on a hugely popular infinite-flow web novel. Using Illusion Technique Awakeners, Cultivator construction teams, and thousands of people, they created a "Main God Space." This forced participants to achieve Awakening through the danger of death and the Fear of Alien Lands.

This experiment actually had some success, with an Awakening rate that could reach over 33%. Of course, such a high Awakening rate was largely because the chosen participants were humans with considerable Talent; those with high Talent naturally had a higher Awakening rate.

However, the resource consumption was too great, and there were already plans to halt it. Besides, this experiment was only effective on ordinary humans. After Cultivators mastered Supernatural Abilities, their bodies and minds grew stronger. They naturally developed confidence and would no longer achieve Awakening so easily through Fear.

Nevertheless, the content in the Secrecy Section was indeed marvelous, much of it involving national projects conducted in secret. Browsing this content gave him a subtle sense of superiority, as if he were part of it all.

Perhaps it was a trait inherited from his mother; Ren Suo couldn't stop reading. He completely forgot about sleep and unknowingly read until dawn.

It's light out. Time to sleep.

Ren Suo yawned, ready for bed, when his phone pinged with a message from Huo He, the Dean of Instruction:

"Ren Suo, special medical staff of the Heavenly Lotus School infirmary, this is an official notice from the Heavenly Lotus School office: You are invited as a guest to the Heavenly Lotus International Exchange Dinner. The event starts on September 12th at 18:30 (Sky Capital time). Please ensure you wear formal attire. There will be an exchange of Transcendent experiences with international guests.

Unless there is a significant force majeure, please be punctual.

If you need to take leave, please inform Teacher Huo He, Dean of Instruction at Heavenly Lotus School, in advance."

Hmm? The school is hosting a dinner?

Seeing this invitation, Ren Suo rubbed his eyes. He wondered how the school had managed to invite international guests to exchange Transcendent experiences. Could they be Transcendent Ones from the Federation?

But why come to Lotus River for an exchange? Why not go to the Superior Schools in Sky Capital?

When it came to domestic Superior Schools, Sky Capital undoubtedly reigned supreme...

As Ren Suo pondered these matters that were none of his concern, he naturally couldn't fall asleep quickly. He suddenly remembered something, sat bolt upright in bed, grabbed his phone, opened WeChat, and tapped on Dong Chengling's chat window.

At the beginning of the month, Dong Chengling had mentioned catching a flash of inspiration for her Cultivation and being busy with work, so she wouldn't cook for three days. Later, she extended it by another two days, so five days had now passed.

Actually, Ren Suo didn't mind too much. But having his Clone order takeout was indeed quite taxing—an hour round trip meant his Clone's time available for household chores plummeted.

However, asking directly, "Can I have lunch?" doesn't seem right. It might make me look like I'm eager for a free meal.

Ren Suo thought for a moment, swallowed awkwardly, and pondered how to naturally broach the subject with Dong Chengling and then segue to the topic of food...

Almost instantly, Ren Suo thought of a reason and sent the message.

"Have you bought formal attire yet?"

"Have you bought formal attire yet?"

Ren Suo blinked, confirming it wasn't his phone repeating itself. Rather... Dong Chengling had just sent the exact same message.