Regardless of life or death, fortune or misfortune, the sun rises as usual.

Ren Suo couldn't help but yawn—he had all but squandered the sleep he had accumulated over the past few days by staying up all night.

However, compared to the first level, his progress in the second level was quite good. The Rebel's Determination Value was already full, and he had roughly figured out the strategy.

The enemy now consisted of four or more Pallbearers. Upon entering the Multidimensional Plane Exchange Meeting, they appeared to act discreetly, likely due to fear of the powerful individuals there, and they wouldn't take the initiative to attack unless they saw the Phantom Girl or were attacked themselves.

Plus, they didn't all enter at once but in batches, with an interval of approximately two minutes, which gave the Rebel the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

With enhancements from its items, the Rebel might not win a direct confrontation, but if it struck first with a surprise attack, it wasn't without a chance of victory.

—However, imagination is a mature lady, but reality is a little girl.

The Pallbearers' combat skills far exceeded Ren Suo's expectations. Even if he had the Rebel sneak up from behind and then use "Mage's Death-Defying Feather" + "Wax and Wane" to pierce and burst forth instantly, he couldn't kill the Pallbearer and might even get counter-killed.

As for "Ice Age," "Flame Monarch," and "Storm Control," which appeared to be even more powerful Bond Abilities, they couldn't be used.

The effects of these abilities were too noticeable. Once actuated, the Pallbearer could almost 100% dodge them, and the nearby powerful individuals and bystanders would quickly disperse, leaving the Rebel and the Pallbearer to fight—the outcome, of course, was the Rebel getting beaten half to death by the Pallbearer and then dragged away.

After trying several approaches, the only successful one was the combination of "Mage's Death-Defying Feather" + "Wax and Wane" + "As Close As The Ends of The Earth": rush up, launch an attack on the Pallbearer, and then quickly Flicker away.

Though the Pallbearer didn't die, being hit out of the blue and falling into "Minor Injury" and "Major Blood Loss" statuses scared the Pallbearer enough to quickly leave.

But the problem was that the cooldown for "As Close As The Ends of The Earth" was too long. Even if the Rebel could knock back the first Pallbearer, there were still three more Pallbearers to deal with.

Naturally, Ren Suo turned his attention to the other ordinary bystanders.

However, the options for the bystanders mostly consisted of staying away from the Rebel or getting closer, making them difficult to utilize.

Of course, Ren Suo also tried controlling the Pallbearers. If they could be controlled, making them stay away from the Rebel would work.

Nevertheless, like the villains from the first level, the Pallbearers couldn't be controlled by Ren Suo.

After all, compared to NPCs like the righteous and the bystanders, villain characters always have firm goals, unwavering resolve in the face of difficulties, and minds that aren't swayed by external factors—it's normal that they couldn't be controlled.

The strategy hints didn't explain how to deal with the Pallbearers but gave a new quest hint:

"Strategy hint: Have the Phantom Girl stay in the Multidimensional Plane Exchange Meeting venue for 30 minutes."

The quest objective only mentioned having the Rebel protect the Phantom Girl while she merged with the Supreme Treasure, but it didn't specify when the Phantom Girl would finish merging.

Ren Suo had hoped that after the Phantom Girl finished merging she would help with a counter-kill, but now it seemed he couldn't count on that—delaying for 30 minutes meant that by then, either the Rebel would strip the Pallbearer of its pants, or the Pallbearer would peel the Rebel's skullcap off.

Putting down the controller, Ren Suo went to the shower, allowing the hot water to pour over his face and slowly calming his thoughts.

Use "Rippling Spring Sounds"? Ren Suo couldn't help but have this idea.

No, no, no, if it really came to the point where he had to use "Rippling Spring Sounds," the strategy hint would probably update.

Furthermore, the strategy hint only asked for the Phantom Girl to stay for 30 minutes; it didn't say that after 30 minutes the level would be passed. If more issues arose later, would he have to use "Rippling Spring Sounds" again?

It wasn't that Ren Suo was stingy with the summonable time, but there were too many people at the Multidimensional Plane Exchange Meeting. He felt that if he summoned game characters there, their Star-level would certainly rise. If he later encountered a situation where he couldn't summon strong characters, it would be tragic.

If there were no strategy hints for this game, perhaps Ren Suo would have the heart to use it. But now that the strategy hints hadn't instructed him to use "Rippling Spring Sounds," it suggested that there should be another way.

...

At noon, stuck for ideas, Ren Suo decided to go to the dining hall on the third floor a bit earlier for lunch.

To his delight, there were spicy crabs and lo mein with crab gravy available today, and the dessert menu featured a new treat: coconut milk mango sago. Ren Suo simply skipped the main meal altogether, filling himself with dessert, crabs, and lo mein.

After eating his fill, Ren Suo crossed the blockade line on the back hill to try out his game abilities, props, and Bond Abilities. Since he was stuck in the game and couldn't find a solution, he went to the back hill to combine his abilities and props, hoping for a flash of inspiration for an ingenious attack method.

"Good Dream Technique" was actually quite strong; if the Pallbearers were a bit dim-witted, he could perhaps use this Spell to put them to sleep.

"Lock" could actually be useful; if the Rebel's strength was comparable to that of the Pallbearer, it could firmly suppress a Pallbearer.

"Ice Age" and "Flame Monarch" used together might allow for a direct confrontation with the Pallbearers under the effects of both ice and fire.

Fortunately, since the back hill was currently blockaded, nobody minded Ren Suo destroying the plants and grass there. Though the school's "Spell Destruction Hall" was supposed to be built quickly, the construction hadn't yet finished even after the start of the semester; it seemed the construction process would only accelerate once students began learning Spells.

However, after trying out various combinations of wind, fire, ice, moon, and earth abilities, Ren Suo's ears perked up—he heard someone approaching, so he stopped what he was doing and hid to see who it was.

Then he saw Lin Xianyu pouting as she walked up. She showed no surprise at the nearby rocks and vegetation left in a mess. Instead, she clenched her fists, her arms gathering a grey whirlwind, coiling around her arms like tubes.

"HA! HA! HA!"

Whether Lin Xianyu had learned boxing or not, her straight punches seemed quite decent—at least when punching the air.

However, as an Awakener, when she threw a plain Right Straight Punch and released the wind of Spiritual Energy gathered on her arm, it instantly transformed into a long-range, solid projectile, blowing a hole tens of centimeters deep into a rock one meter away!

After several consecutive punches, she actually shattered the rock!

Ren Suo suddenly had an epiphany—no wonder there were broken stones everywhere on the mountain, and larger rocks were rare; it turned out to be you, the queen of destruction!

At that moment, Lin Xianyu's weakness in controlling Spiritual Energy was exposed again as her arms were slashed with over a dozen cuts by the storm. Though they seemed not to be severe, they were much better compared to her past injuries that had been bone-deep.

Ren Suo sighed and walked out, startling Lin Xianyu. She feared it was a bad guy, but upon seeing it was Ren Suo, she relaxed and said, "Big Brother Ren, you're here playing too."

Playing... Ren Suo rolled his eyes and stretched out his hand, and Lin Xianyu instinctively extended her arm.

Inside Heavenly Lotus Academy, if Lin Xianyu claimed to be the second person Ren Suo had healed the most, no one would dare claim first. Every time she injured her arm, she would come to Ren Suo, and the wounds often appeared so grave that Ren Suo felt too embarrassed to tell her to just go to the school clinic for treatment.

As Ren Suo was healing her, he noticed Lin Xianyu was in a bad mood, and her eyes even appeared reddened, so he inquired, "What happened? Why are you here vandalizing public property on the back hill?"

"What 'vandalizing public property,' Big Brother Ren, aren't you doing the same…" Lin Xianyu pursed her lips and explained, "I just felt really uncomfortable, so I came here to throw a couple of punches and vent."

"Where's your class leader?"

"The class leader has a meeting at noon."

Ren Suo was somewhat surprised. "Wait, Gu Yueyan is still a class leader even in college? Is she born under the 'class leader' star sign or what… But, besides your class leader, who else could upset you?"

Lin Xianyu cocked her head, sizing up Ren Suo. Feeling she could confide in him, she finally admitted, "Roommates..."

Issues with college dorm roommates, Ren Suo immediately understood. Although there were few girls in his monk major, he had heard that girls' dormitories enjoyed stirring things up behind the scenes, where the surface calm belied roiling waves beneath, unlike boys' dormitories, where they'd just yell 'Fuck off!' at each other, and after a few fights, a counselor would step in to reassign dorms—quick and decisive.

"We have a four-person dorm. The class leader, two other girls, and I share a room. They seemed quite nice usually, but today at lunch, they gossiped about our class leader, saying bad things about her," Lin Xianyu said glumly.

"What bad things?"

"They said the class leader was showing off when she led the new students on a campus tour, that her being busy every day and studying every night was just an act, and that she was being a 'green tea bitch' by chatting with handsome class leaders from other classes every day recently..." Lin Xianyu said, then lifted her head to look at Ren Suo. "Our class leader only communicates with other class leaders because she has so many things to do at the start of the semester!"

"I know, I'm not unfamiliar with her. With her personality, she'd find even an extra word with guys a waste of time," Ren Suo chuckled. "So what did you do then? You didn't get physical, did you?"

"I flipped their meal trays and just walked out," Lin Xianyu continued, her expression growing more downcast.

"Well done," Ren Suo commended. "It's good to have roommates you can get along with, but it's normal if you don't. Tell your class leader about this later, and in the future, speak less with them. If they still target you, let me know… I mean, tell Teacher Dong. You might even get to change dorms directly."

Seeing that Lin Xianyu was still not quite happy, Ren Suo smiled. "There's no need to be so down. Did you have a good relationship with them?"

"Not really."

"Then why are you sad? It's not like you've lost a friend."

"Because the spicy crab really smelled amazing, the lo mein tasted so good, and I love the mango sago with coconut milk…" Lin Xianyu said with a pitiful expression.

"After I walked out, the more I thought about it, the angrier and more frustrated I became! Why did I just run out like that? I should have eaten my fill before leaving! Today's lunch was super delicious; I haven't eaten such tasty food in so long."

"BOO HOO... Now that I've thrown a few punches, I feel even hungrier..."

Ren Suo massaged his forehead, thinking that Gu Yueyan managing to lead Lin Xianyu to skip a grade was a testament to her outstanding leadership skills as a class leader.

"Come on, I'll treat you to another meal," he said.

"Really?!" Lin Xianyu's depressed face instantly cleared up. "I want two servings of spicy crab!"

"Can you even eat that much?"

"Of course, I need to eat more after exercise! And the healing just now must have burned a lot of energy; I need to replenish it!"

Ren Suo chuckled softly, but at that moment, something suddenly occurred to him.

***

"Please remember, for every joy that Destiny offers, an equivalent pain has already been prepared behind it."

When Ren Suo equipped the Rebel with two abilities and a prop, the Rebel seemed to realize something and uttered this phrase.

Ren Suo sighed gently, unable to resist murmuring a verse, "In this world, where could one find a way to be true to everything, without betraying the Buddha or the mortal realm?"

"To clear this stage, you'll have to suffer a bit. Endure it; the first time will be a little painful. Afterward, you should get used to the pain."