The bean-sized flame rapidly surged, consuming the entire matchstick, and the wish was fulfilled.

This was exactly what Zhang Yuanqing had expected. Without involving the core mechanics of The Way of the Extraordinary, the matchbox could indeed influence it.

The rules of The Way of the Extraordinary dictated entering a dungeon once a month, with at least half a month between each entry. He was about to enter The Way of the Extraordinary soon, and the power of the wish merely advanced the dungeon's arrival by a day or two.

As the match burned out, amid the faint smoke, Zhang Yuanqing heard the system notification of The Way of the Extraordinary:

[Ding, The Way of the Extraordinary map is opening. The current instance you are entering is "Decisive Battle of Chang'an," Number: 69]

[Difficulty Level: B]

[Type: Solo (Death)]

[Main Quest: Kill ten Yin creatures.]

[The Way of the Extraordinary Instance 69 Introduction: The son of the Ghost King Sect Leader was killed by the Bad Commander several months ago. Sect Leader Ao Cang was unwilling to accept this, so during the Ghost Festival on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when the gates of the underworld were wide open, he led a hundred ghosts on a night parade, ravaging Chang'an, intending to kill the Bad Commander.]

[Note: Items not from The Way of the Extraordinary cannot be brought in.]

The system notification ended, and as expected, there was no countdown.

Zhang Yuanqing looked at the three enemies secretly on guard and said coldly, "See you later!" Then he vanished from the sight of the Pure Yang Sect Leader and the other two.

Almost in the next second, the Sixth Elder of the Southern Faction raised his head and let out a sharp scream, unleashing a mental attack.

The Third Protector summoned the blazing sun, its dazzling golden light illuminating the cabin – the sun countered the lunar yin, able to reveal the figure of a Night Wanderer.

However, the cabin was empty. Yuanshi Tianzun had truly disappeared.

No teleportation, not Night Wandering, he vanished.

"Where is he? Where is he?" The Pure Yang Sect Leader shrieked, "Damn it, damn it!" As a partial madman, his emotional control was always poor. He never expected that the cooked duck would fly away like this.

The Third Protector put away the blazing sun, paused for a second, and said uncertainly, "What did he say just now?"

The Sixth Elder, in a low voice, repeated Yuanshi Tianzun's words, "I wish for my solo instance in The Way of the Extraordinary to descend immediately."

The Pure Yang Sect Leader's shriek stopped abruptly, his large, eye-shadowed, false-eyelashed eyes wide, "He, he entered The Way of the Extraordinary?"

The Sixth Elder said, "Unbelievable, but that's indeed the case. How else could he bypass the prohibition of items? If he had a Ruler-level teleportation item, he wouldn't have waited until now."

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" The Pure Yang Sect Leader shouted again.

The next second, he put away all his expressions and sneered with a sinister face, "When he comes out of the dungeon, he'll still be on the plane, just prolonging his life."

A The Way of the Extraordinary walker enters the dungeon from a certain place, and that's where he'll come out.

The Third Protector, with a pale face, said, "But he has teleportation items and can escape the dungeon."

"He won't," the Sixth Elder said in a cold voice. The eyes under the hood contained extreme, crazed emotions, but his mind was incredibly calm. "He has Ruler-level consumables and so many top-tier items. The dungeon he entered must be Ruler-level. Wait and see, he will still come out. Of course, he might just die in the dungeon."

The Pure Yang Sect Leader frowned, his pretty face sinking.

He was hunting Yuanshi Tianzun not just for revenge, but for the power of the Human Immortal level.

If Yuanshi Tianzun died in the dungeon, wouldn't it be all for naught?

The Third Protector said, "Ruler-level dungeons take a long time."

"If Yuanshi Tianzun doesn't return to Songhai in a day, the elders of the Songhai branch will definitely react. We don't have time to delay. My suggestion is to fly the plane back to the headquarters of the Holy Church."

"Fly back to the Southern Faction headquarters!" the Sixth Elder said coldly.

The two Rulers glared at each other.

"You better not fight internally here. If the plane is destroyed, Yuanshi Tianzun's return point will be ten thousand meters in the air. When he wants to escape, no one can stop him," the Pure Yang Sect Leader said.

After a pause, he continued, "If the Songhai branch reacts and notifies the Five Elements Alliance headquarters, given that Marshal's attention to Yuanshi Tianzun, he will definitely come in person. Your Southern Faction only has one demigod, while the Northwest is the headquarters of the Holy Church, with Shura, the Terror King, and several Rulers of the Dark Night Rose. If that White Tiger Marshal dares to come, he's dead."

The Sixth Elder was silent for a few seconds and then snorted, "Pawn me that Ruler-level item of yours."

The Pure Yang Sect Leader smiled sweetly, "No problem!"

He opened the door of the service room, waved his hand, summoned the miniature tabletop game, and handed it to the Sixth Elder.

The picture went from blurry to clear, and Zhang Yuanqing found himself on a bluestone-paved street.

On both sides of the street were rows of close-packed buildings with black tiles and flying eaves outlining the quaint ancient architectural style.

The moon was hanging over the willows. The buildings were brightly lit, and there were sounds of silk and bamboo music, women's laughter, and men's clear poetry recitations.

Clearly, he had entered the dungeon and arrived in ancient times.

"Li Jun, what are you dawdling about!"

Someone pushed him from behind. Zhang Yuanqing turned around and saw two young men standing behind him.

The one who pushed him was a young man with triangular eyes, wearing a turban and a round-necked, short-sleeved robe that barely reached his knees.

A copper badge hung from his waist, vaguely showing the three characters "Bad Commander."

The other young man was burly, with a face full of横肉, similarly dressed, with the same badge hanging from his waist.

Both of them had fierce eyebrows and eyes, with cruel expressions. It was obvious that they were not good people.

The triangular-eyed young man held a short knife in his hand, while the burly young man held a bamboo tube. The short knife hung on his waist.

In addition, their bosoms were bulging, as if they were stuffed with many things.

Li Jun, Li Jun... A memory flashed through Zhang Yuanqing's mind. His current identity was Li Jun, a Bad Commander of the Great Tang Dynasty, skilled in stealth and exorcism, and had mastered the skill of plucking feathers from a passing goose.

A few years ago, he stumbled during a burglary and was arrested by the government.

The government cherished his talent and, considering that he had not committed any heinous crimes, made him a Bad Commander.

The two young men behind him were also Bad Commanders. The triangular-eyed one was called Fu Xin'ou, and the one with a face full of横肉 was called Xi Bai. Both were martial arts experts and had bad records.

"Are you talking to me!" Fu Xin'ou, who pushed him, frowned. "The gates of hell are wide open on the Ghost Festival. The entire Chang'an is filled with yin energy. We are ordered to guard Pingkang Ward. We are guarding officials and nobles. If something goes wrong, you and I will lose our heads."

Zhang Yuanqing replied coldly, "I know, no need to say more."

So the three continued to patrol Pingkang Ward.

Pingkang Ward was 1022 meters east to west and 500 meters north to south, with a total area of about 500,000 square meters. It was not enough to patrol such a large area with only three people.

In addition to the three Bad Commanders, there were also armored soldiers patrolling the ward.

During the patrol, Xi Zhe occasionally raised the bamboo tube and slowly scanned around, including the eaves of the houses.

This was his magic weapon. Through the bamboo tube, he could see Yin spirits and evil beings and capture Yin energy.

Zhang Yuanqing looked around, pretending to patrol seriously, but cursed in his heart.

The Way of the Extraordinary Instance 69, "Decisive Battle of Chang'an," was a Tang Dynasty dungeon.

The Tang Dynasty corresponded to the Ruler level. He had entered an Level 8 Ruler-level dungeon.

"If it's a Ruler-level dungeon, the teleportation talisman can't be used." He felt anxious.

Zhang Yuanqing's initial idea was to wish on a match to enter the dungeon, then light a second match and wish for a teleportation talisman, using the teleportation talisman to escape the instance and return to reality.

In this way, he would at most fall back to Level 5.

He still had one or two gang dungeons that he hadn't completed. If he entered a B-level dungeon again next month, he could easily recover his losses and return to Level 6.

As long as he could get rid of this ambush, everything would be worth it.

"Holding a Five Elements Spiritual Power Experience Card, with the Eight Mirrors lying in the inventory, and Little Red Riding Hood full of Saint and Ruler-level materials, plus my top-tier items, it doesn't seem strange to be matched to a Ruler-level dungeon."

He gritted his teeth and cautiously looked around, feeling that endless murderous intent was lurking in the dark night.

The main quest was to kill ten Yin creatures. According to the strength of the dungeon, they were probably all Ruler-level. Even if Night Wanderers were born to counter wraiths, it was still an impossible mission to kill ten Yin creatures in a row.

Unless he lured ten Yin creatures at once and then activated the Experience Card to clear the monsters, it would be impossible to complete the quest. He would definitely die.

But in that case, even if I completed the quest and returned to reality from the dungeon, without the Experience Card, I wouldn't even have the ability to struggle to death.

This is terrible. The real-world crisis hasn't been resolved, and I've entered a Ruler-level dungeon, Zhang Yuanqing smiled wryly.

While patrolling, he thought about ways to survive.

The first thing to do in this situation was to survive in the instance, and then find a way to resolve the real-world dead end.

Since it was a Ruler-level dungeon, was it possible to obtain Ruler-level power in the dungeon?

"Spiritual servants are definitely not an option. My strength cannot control Ruler-level wraiths; I would only be devoured and die. Yin corpses are also the same. Obtain items directly from the dungeon? Ruler-level items are rare, and a B-level dungeon cannot possibly have them."

Zhang Yuanqing thought hard for a long time, and his eyes suddenly lit up. He thought of the Third Dao Mountain Goddess.

"I almost forgot my beloved goddess. I do have a way to summon her in the dungeon, but the Goddess said in the Cliff Mountain Sea last time that she wouldn't help me in the dungeon. Women, they're always soft-hearted. Just coax her."

Zhang Yuanqing was thinking when he suddenly heard Xi Zhe, who was holding up the bamboo tube and looking around, say sharply, "Look!"

At the same time, Zhang Yuanqing sensed a terrifying Yin energy coming. Startled, he looked in the direction of the voice.

In the hazy night, a woman in white was standing by a flower bed a dozen meters away behind them. Her long hair was hanging down, her head seemed to be drooping on her neck, eerie and strange.

The first Yin creature had appeared.