At the beginning, all sixteen designers shared a common understanding of cultural landscapes. The Sanxitang Hall is absolutely modeled after a purely traditional Chinese temple structure; besides occupying a vast area, its scenery is also exceptionally beautiful. Being there naturally evokes a sense of detachment from the world, a tranquil and distant feeling—making it a perfect place to relax and clear one’s mind.

Although David Parker’s main field of study in ability education is virtual design, giving him an almost artistic temperament, at seventeen years old, he’s still not at the age to be overwhelmed with emotion.

Hurrying past these buildings, David Parker was, of course, extremely familiar with ‘Uncle’s’ private space. After passing a side courtyard, David Parker arrived.

David Parker looked up, and three large golden characters—‘饿狼窝’ (Hungry Wolf’s Den)—stood out prominently. The name Uncle gave his private hall was certainly unique.

“Stop! Trespassers will be executed without mercy!”

In front of the Hungry Wolf’s Den, two burly men stood with arms akimbo. It was they who spoke, stopping David Parker from barging into someone else’s home uninvited.

Although every private space requires a password to enter, some people still like to set up a ‘virtual character’ at the door as protection. Their actual ability doesn’t matter; it’s mainly for show.

Uncle’s ‘left and right guardians at the door’ were nothing special!? The main hall master of Sanxitang, ‘逆鳞龙王’ (Reverse Scale Dragon King), had the most extravagant setup: “A grand formation of three hundred and sixty-five virtual monks forming the ‘Arhat Demon-Subduing Array.’” Just looking at it was awe-inspiring and grand.

For things like this, a single password is all it takes to get through.

However, the password for Uncle’s left and right guardians was a three-part queen’s maniacal laugh: “Oh, hehe, huohuo.” David Parker found this extremely awkward and never used this method to pass.

David Parker was quite adept at handling this; he did the same when entering his own private space—just beat them up. After all, he had forgotten the control passwords for the Azure Dragon and White Tiger guarding his own door.

Bang!

David Parker saw no need to hold back against these undying guys. With super speed that allowed him to move in the blink of an eye—faster than a mosquito could flap its wings once—he launched simultaneous attacks on both guardians.

The reaction of ‘virtual characters’ simply couldn’t compare to real people. They generally wouldn’t attack proactively, and even when attacked, there was a delay before they responded. For such unsporting behavior, the guardians’ reaction delay was just enough for David Parker to take them out.

After knocking down the left guardian with a punch, and stepping on the right guardian’s chest, David Parker strode confidently into the Hungry Wolf’s Den. The entire fight lasted only a fifth of a second.

“Uncle’s left and right guardians are really too weak!?” David Parker muttered as he entered the second door, inputting the access code Uncle had just given him.

The ‘Forbidden Land’ isn’t as mysterious as its name suggests; it’s simply the name of Sanxitang’s database. Some of the research inside is the formal scientific output of members studying ‘biological sciences’ in Sanxitang, so there’s a certain degree of intellectual property involved.

For confidentiality, entry requires the consent of someone involved in the research. As luck would have it, Uncle’s real-world job seemed to be related to this field. In David Parker’s eyes, though, Uncle seemed to know a bit of everything, so it was impossible to tell what his actual specialty was.

The laws of the real world don’t apply in virtual space. So, opening a door that looks like a ten-square-meter cubbyhole and stepping into a beautiful valley stretching hundreds of kilometers isn’t anything strange. The password Uncle gave used spatial transfer to send David Parker directly to the Forbidden Land, instead of letting him enter Uncle’s private domain.

The Forbidden Land wasn’t a part of the virtual space that David Parker had helped design, and this was his first time here. So, seeing the style of the place, he was genuinely surprised.

“A Roman Colosseum.”

“Whoa! Someone actually thought of this? Is this place just for people to blow off steam?”

Although it wasn’t the real world, the virtual feedback sounds still reflected the activities taking place. Many people were fighting, and it looked intense.

Seeing the environment, David Parker could pretty much guess why it was designed this way.

Since Sanxitang is a collective group, it’s natural for members to communicate and discuss things together frequently.

David Parker had long known that there was a privately circulated ‘ancient martial arts virtual training system’ within Sanxitang. Reportedly, by using the intelligence core to act on the biological parasite, it could stimulate the user’s body and produce training effects equivalent to those in the real world.

The advantage of the ancient martial arts virtual training system is that it avoids physical injuries during training and solves the problem of training venues, without affecting others. After all, once humans merge with biological parasites, their physical abilities increase dramatically, and so does the damage they can do to their surroundings. Without a suitable place, it’s impossible to do intense training.

Designing a martial arts arena in virtual space is probably the best idea—and it’s certainly practical. It allows everyone to train freely here.