I might have been playing a fake cultivation game.

Section 050: The Forum Administrator's Invitation

"Clatter, clatter, clatter..." The horse's hooves clattered on the bluestone road.

Zhou Yunshen sat in the carriage and closed his eyes to rest.

Suddenly, cries of surprise rang out from outside the carriage, and the horses pulling the carriage stopped moving.

Zhou Yunshen quickly pulled open the carriage curtain and peeked out.

He saw the coachman looking up, so he followed his gaze and looked up as well.

His pupils contracted sharply.

Where his gaze fell, high in the sky, a thick, inky cloud was floating.

It's just a few dark clouds, nothing to be alarmed about.

The problem was that a huge human face with a ferocious expression emerged from the dark cloud, looking down at the city below with hatred.

"It's Du Huaimin! This Du Huaimin has resurfaced!" Zhou Yunshen looked up at the sky, his expression somewhat grave.

A significant reason he came to the prefectural city was that it was a large city with a much higher level of security than mountain villages; at the very least, safety was guaranteed there.

In this way, he can focus on his cultivation and develop his strength quietly.

As a result, not long after he arrived in the prefectural city, this terrifying vengeful ghost appeared.

"This vengeful ghost shouldn't be able to break through the city's protective array, right?"

"With so many Golden Core cultivators in the city, they should be able to deal with this vengeful ghost, right?"

As Zhou Yunshen was pondering these thoughts, the vengeful ghost Du Huaimin in the sky let out a shrill roar: "I, Du Huaimin, have returned! You cannot kill me! You all deserve to die, and you will all be buried with my Du family!"

With a roar, the dark clouds churned and rolled into a huge sphere, crashing into the city below like a black meteorite.

At this moment, Zhou Yunshen felt an overwhelming pressure surging down from the sky, making him feel like he was about to suffocate.

Illusory streams of flames unconsciously emanated from his body. Once these streams of flames solidified, they could incinerate everything around him into ashes.

The city's protective formation was triggered at this moment, condensing into a golden light curtain like a water film, enveloping the entire city.

The next moment, the black meteorite crashed hard into the golden light screen, causing it to fluctuate violently as if it were about to shatter at any moment.

At that moment, Zhou Yunshen's heart almost jumped out of his chest.

"You monster! Stop being so arrogant!" A voice came from afar, filled with anger.

"You monster! How dare you come here!" Another voice echoed from afar.

One after another, figures radiating light soared into the air, roaring as they flew towards this direction.

The vengeful ghost Du Huaimin let out a disdainful laugh, and his huge figure soared into the air, fleeing into the distance.

"Monster, where do you think you're going?!" the Golden Core cultivators shouted angrily, chasing after it relentlessly.

In the chase, they quickly disappeared from Zhou Yunshen's sight.

The golden light curtain above the city slowly subsided and then disappeared into the void.

When Zhou Yunshen returned to his small courtyard, Zhou Xiaoya limped up to him. Her face was pale, and she said with fear, "Second brother, that monster has appeared again."

Dashan, Uncle Liu, Aunt Liu, and the others also came forward, their faces filled with fear.

At this moment, Zhou Yunshen appeared very calm and composed. He walked up to Zhou Xiaoya, reached out and patted her head, and said, "It's alright. The city has a protective formation, so monsters can't enter. The powerful cultivators in the city aren't to be trifled with. Look, this monster has been driven away again, hasn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiaoya's expression softened.

Da Shan walked over and cautiously asked, "Young Master, how did your seclusion at the Chen residence go?"

Zhou Yunshen smiled at the mountain and said, "The seclusion went smoothly; I've already broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage."

Upon hearing this, Da Shan's face immediately lit up with joy.

Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu also showed expressions of joy.

Even today, the mountains have adapted to the identity of servants.

As servants, their lives and livelihoods are entirely dependent on their masters. The stronger the master, the better their lives will be.

During their time in the prefectural city, their knowledge and experience broadened dramatically, far surpassing what they had gained in the mountain village.

What Foundation Establishment means is unknown to the villagers, but certainly to those in the capital city.

Foundation Establishment cultivators can establish cultivation families and sects in county towns. Even in prefectural cities, they are second only to Golden Core ancestors and hold an extremely prestigious position.

And now, their master is such a big shot, how could they not be overjoyed?

"Congratulations, young master! Congratulations, young master! May your path to immortality be smooth, may you become an immortal or a saint, live forever, and be eternally... eternally immortal!" Uncle Liu walked quickly to Zhou Yunshen, his face full of smiles, and bowed respectfully.

Zhou Yunshen smiled at him and said, "Uncle Liu, where did you learn that congratulatory speech?"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Liu's face flushed slightly, and he stammered, "Young Master, I just asked around... I think what I said was alright?"

"No problem, of course no problem, Uncle Liu, thank you very much, I appreciate your kind words." Zhou Yunshen smiled and helped Uncle Liu up.

He could tell that Uncle Liu was quite shrewd and had a long-term vision.

Liu Shan, on the other hand, seemed rather dull.

"Second brother, I also wish you to become an immortal and live forever," Zhou Xiaoya said at this moment.

"Young Master, I also wish you to become an immortal, forever young and immortal." Liu Shan realized what was happening and quickly offered his congratulations.

"Okay, thank you very much." Zhou Yunshen thanked him with a smile, and then said, "I just broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage and need to stabilize my realm. I'll go inside and cultivate for a while."

After saying that, he reached out and patted Zhou Xiaoya's head, then turned and walked into the room.

Back in his room, Zhou Yunshen lay down on the bed and silently repeated in his mind, "Return to Earth."

A sense of disorientation washed over him, and when Zhou Yun Shen regained consciousness, he was already lying on the bed in his rented room.

After Zhou Yunshen got up, he picked up his gaming phone and let his character continue training.

Then he picked up the new phone.

He discovered that his new phone had several missed calls.

These missed calls all came from the same number.

Seeing that the number wasn't one of those long, scam numbers, Zhou Yunshen hesitated for a moment before calling back.

The call was quickly connected, and a pleasant female voice came from the phone: "Is this Mr. Zhou Yunshen?"

"Yes." Zhou Yunshen asked, "Who are you?"

A female voice said, "I am the administrator of the Xuan Yuan Invasion Forum. Mr. Zhou, you recently uploaded a screenshot of your game, in which your cultivation level has reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. Is this true?"

"Of course it's true," Zhou Yunshen said.

The female voice politely said, "Then please accept the group chat invitation I sent you in the game forum."

"Okay, wait a minute, let me see." Zhou Yunshen said, picking up his phone and opening the Xuan Yuan Invasion game forum.

Upon entering the game forum, a message popped up on the screen: The administrator invites you to join the "Hell Trials Strategy Group".

Agree, Disagree

Zhou Yun Shen's expression shifted slightly as he looked at the pop-up message. He thought to himself, "I've only just broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, and the government officials are already here. Are they in such a hurry to conquer this Hell Trial instance...?"