Chapter 58: Crystal of Illusion

Cheng Yuan gently tugged at her older brother's sleeve, looking at Cheng Mo with a hint of reproach. "Brother! Didn't you say you were going to bring her into the guild as a member to nominate you?"

She carefully swept a sideways glance at Li Luyan.

Though she lowered her voice on purpose, Li Luyan still heard her.

Cheng Mo shook his head, looking at Li Luyan with appreciation. "No, for someone of Li Luyan's caliber, being just a member would be a terrible waste."

"A level-three supernatural being is entirely qualified to run for guild master."

"Guild? What is that?" Li Luyan stared at Cheng Mo's straight back, voicing the question in her mind.

Cheng Mo walked ahead to lead the way, his tactical boots making crisp echoes against the marble floor.

"The guild system is the actual power core of the sanctuary," Cheng Mo said in a low voice. "The four major guilds control material distribution, armed forces, and research privileges."

Li Luyan's gaze swept across both sides of the corridor.

Where fire extinguishers should have been, several mutated beast skulls were now nailed to the walls, their hollow eye sockets stuffed with glowing crystal cores to serve as crude illumination.

Cheng Yuan suddenly slowed her pace, leaning close to Li Luyan's ear. "My brother is the captain of the First Outfield Squad, you know."

She blinked with mischievous cleverness. "And he's also the person most likely to become guild master at the election convention."

"Of course, every supernatural being has the opportunity to participate in the election convention."

Participating in the election convention and becoming a guild master would undoubtedly attract unnecessary trouble. Countless eyes were fixed on those four positions.

Now, in the early days of the base's establishment, many systems were still imperfect. Naturally, the old systems could not be applied, and under the selection of the new system, everyone had a chance to become a guild master.

Those potential candidates for guild master would inevitably draw jealousy. No matter how strong Li Luyan was, two fists could ultimately not fight four hands.

She disliked trouble and had no intention of staying in this base for long. The higher one climbed, the more eyes gathered around, and the harder it would be to extricate oneself in the end.

"Thanks for the kind offer," she finally spoke, her voice as calm as stagnant water. "But I have no interest in the game of thrones."

"But, Miss Li," Cheng Mo stopped in his tracks, turning back to look at Li Luyan. His eyes were full of appreciation for a talented individual; such a great talent shouldn't be wasted like this. "You can—"

Knowing he was about to try persuading her again, Li Luyan cut him off. "I have no desire to be any sort of guild master."

Cheng Yuan grabbed Li Luyan's arm, staring intently into her eyes. Li Luyan furrowed her brows slightly.

She wanted to pull her hand back, but she was held tightly by the girl. "Sister Li, I'm serious. Even if you don't want to be guild master, you must participate."

"The reward for the chief guild master is a shiny thing, entirely pink-blue in color. They say its energy fluctuation is massive."

"Even though I don't know what it's used for, it's definitely a good thing."

Little Bastard heard Cheng Yuan's description and immediately latched onto Li Luyan's trouser leg. "Master! Master! You absolutely must participate. This is definitely a good thing."

This girl's description sounded rather like the Dream Illusion Crystal of the Dream God. Something with such powerful force must be obtained by Li Luyan. Thinking of this, Little Bastard spoke even more anxiously, rubbing its two little puppy legs against Li Luyan's calf.

Liu Qingye reacted with lightning speed and hoisted Little Bastard up by the scruff. After the creature kicked its four limbs in the air for a bit without being set down, it let out a few anxious barks.

With an expression of disgust, Liu Qingye dropped the puppy onto the floor, then patted his hands. "Don't rub your dog fur on Sister."

"I... but that thing is truly important." It wanted to explain to Li Luyan just how formidable the Dream Illusion Crystal was, but there were two unfamiliar humans nearby.

This willow tree spirit was very obedient to Master, but the other two people nearby were still of unknown allegiance; it could not blatantly spell out the capabilities of the Dream Illusion Crystal.

It stammered for a long time without managing to squeeze out another half-syllable.

Li Luyan swept her gaze across the three people and one dog, finally letting her eyes linger on Cheng Yuan's excited face. The corners of her lips curved upward. "Alright then, take me to the registration office."

A flash of surprise crossed Cheng Mo's eyes, followed by a hearty laugh. "Great!" He turned around and strode forward, not forgetting to explain to Li Luyan, "The premise of the convention is that we need to slaughter all the monsters in the countryside and see whose crystal count is the highest."

"The top four will become guild masters, and the number one will be the chief guild master, managing the remaining three guild masters."

"We can team up. I'll secure the position of chief guild master, and the prize for the guild master will belong to you. How does that sound?"

"Fine by me," Li Luyan said calmly. As it happened, she had no wish to secure the chief position, and most people would probably be doing the same as Cheng Mo—teaming up with others to increase their crystal yields.

Changing the subject, she asked, "Opening up the countryside—is that to build a new base?"

Cheng Mo's pace paused slightly, his tactical boots frictioning against the floor to produce a short, sharp sound. "No."

He explained, "Because these monsters are continuously leveling up every day, we have to eliminate them all as a priority before they reach an uncontrollable level."

Lowering his voice, Cheng Mo spoke with heavy, labored breaths, "Besides, we discovered something out in the countryside..."

"Brother!" Cheng Yuan suddenly grabbed his arm, casting a wary glance in his direction. This brother of hers was simply too naive; he really dared to blurt anything out to outsiders.

She smiled at Li Luyan. "It's nothing important, just some internal matters."

Li Luyan noticed Cheng Mo's pupils contract sharply.

She nodded thoughtfully. What on earth could it be that made the Cheng siblings refuse to speak a word of it?

He quickly adjusted his expression and laughed offhandedly. "The registration office is right around the corner ahead, I'll take you there."

Registration was at room 203 on the second floor of this building. Patrolling guards who passed by immediately saluted upon seeing Cheng Mo. One of them curiously sized up Li Luyan. "Captain Cheng, who is this?"

"A newly arrived level-three supernatural being." Cheng Mo patted the guard on the shoulder. "I'm bringing her here to register for the election."

A look of shock washed over the guard's face. This was a level-three supernatural being, after all; there were only a handful of them in the entire base. It felt highly probable that she would be a candidate for guild master—though the chief position was still up in the air, considering that person was also around...

Still, securing a guild master position would definitely be a sure thing. He had better cultivate a good relationship with her. With this thought, the light in Little Liu's eyes grew even more fervent.

He reached out his hand and said respectfully, "Hello, my name is Liu Xiao. You can just call me Little Liu."

"Li Luyan," Li Luyan said briefly, extending her hand for a handshake.

A flush of red rapidly climbed up Liu Xiao's face. He had actually touched the hand of a level-three supernatural being! He stammered, "You... the registration office is up ahead, I'll take you there."

"Ahem..." Cheng Mo coughed lightly. Liu Xiao immediately withdrew his hand, scratched the back of his head, and said somewhat nervously, "Then... then Captain Cheng will take you. I live at 303, Building 20 in District A. You... you can come find me."

The expressions of the others turned strange. Liu Qingye glared at Liu Xiao with deep hostility; if the fellow uttered one more weird remark, he would surely kill him.

Noticing the surrounding gazes and realizing what he had just said, Liu Xiao blushed until his face was dripping with crimson. "No, no, no... I mean, I just wanted to get acquainted with you, absolutely no other meaning intended."

"Mhm." Li Luyan nodded coldly at Liu Xiao, then turned to Cheng Mo. "Lead on."

Watching Li Luyan's slender figure gradually recede, Liu Xiao thought with vexation: What on earth had he just blurted out?! And that man with a dog was looking at him as if he wanted to devour him alive.