After considering that Tu Tong and Lan Ling might not be able to withstand the test set by Phantom City’s gatekeeper, Virtuoso did not contact them and ask them to catch up to the group. Instead, they led Lin Huang and Saber9 through the gate immediately.
Lin Huang had thought that they would arrive in Phantom City as soon as they stepped through the gate. However, what met their eyes was a completely blank white space.
Amid Lin Huang’s doubts, Virtuoso spoke from beside the pair through voice transmission.
“Everyone must design themselves a character before entering Phantom City. You can imagine yourself to be of any race and appearance. When you get to Phantom City, your form will be whatever you’ve imagined it to be.
“Apart from race and appearance, you also must set your personality, hobbies… also, your skills, divine abilities, rules, sequence powers, and other information.
“Once that’s done and we’re in Phantom City, we have to act in character according to the persona we’ve created. If we’re out of character, we’ll be kicked out of Phantom City immediately.”
‘Like an RPG?’ Lin Huang thought to himself. It sounded similar to the many role-playing games that he had played in the past.
However, in this place, the individual would be the one role-playing, not the game character on computers or mobile phones.
“Can’t I bring all of my skills, divine abilities, and the rest into Phantom City?” Lin Huang raised the issue that mattered to him the most.
“Theoretically, it has to fit your character.” Virtuoso smiled while shaking their head. “After all, if your character is a snake monster, it doesn’t make sense if you set yourself as a sword cultivator or a saber cultivator.
“However, there are loopholes,” Virtuoso continued, “For instance, my character is a masked freak. For the skills and divine abilities on my skill sheet, I possess all sorts of strange and incredible techniques. My character background has a certain mysteriousness included in it, while there are no concrete settings on my skills and divine abilities. However, I included my own abilities. With a character sheet like this, most of my abilities can be used when we get to Phantom City.”
“Or you can do what I did.” Beside them, Saber9 picked up the topic. “I set myself as a weapons master, whereby I can use all weapons. My character sheet basically included all of my skills as a saber cultivator; I can use many non-saber cultivator techniques too.”
What the pair said gave Lin Huang significant inspiration. He soon began working on his character design.
“Character: Mysterious
Race: Suspected to be Protoss, Fallen Protoss, or human
Characteristics: Wears a black robe and a black mask
Combat Strength: Unknown
Cultivation Direction: Unknown
God Territory: Unknown
Skills: Unknown
Divine Abilities: Unknown
Rules: Unknown
Sequences: Unknown”
Virtuoso and Saber9 noticed that Lin Huang now had a black robe over him. His physique had become much more majestic, and his aura was now enigmatic and mysterious. Realizing that he had now grasped the essentials of designing his character, they said nothing more and began setting their own character sheets.
A moment later, Saber9 turned into a Buddha with many arms. His long hair, originally tied up in a bun, was no longer there. He had turned completely bald, and his head was full of the ordination scars of a Buddhist monk. (TN: After accepting Buddhist precepts, Buddhist monks use lighted incense sticks to burn parts of their bodies as an offering to Buddha and the bodhisattvas. These are known as ordination scars.) His green robe had transformed into a gray monk’s robe.
His appearance was still around 60 to 70% similar to what he looked like before, but his charisma was nothing as otherworldly and elegant as he had been previously. His face held a touch of faint melancholy as if he had been through all the vicissitudes of life.
Beside them, Virtuoso did not seem to have altered much. They had changed their garb for something more sumptuous, and the mask on their face was now golden. They were also carrying a black walking stick. They still gave off the feeling of a wealthy young master—however, their charisma was no longer as cold and aloof as before. Instead, they were more approachable and warm.
“Aren’t you…worried about being recognized like this?” Lin Huang could not help asking. His voice was much deeper and hoarser now.
The reason he asked because the famous geniuses in the God Territory would basically be on the hunting lists of each tribe. Virtuoso was a powerhouse who ranked among the top True Gods and was a target of many tribes outside the God Territory. Naturally, they were on the Abyss’ hunting list. Trouble would be inevitable if anyone were to recognize them.
“Don’t worry, in Phantom City, there’s all manner of appearances. Not many people will notice us. Moreover, even if anyone did, they wouldn’t connect it with me.” Virtuoso was calm; they did not seem worried at all.
As soon as they were done speaking about themselves, Virtuoso turned their head and looked at Saber9 next to him. “What’s up with you? Do you think you have too much hair or too few arms?”
“I want to see what it feels like to slay someone while wielding sabers in many hands, but I thought that turning into a multiple-armed Abyssal monster would be too ugly…” Saber9 explained in all seriousness, “So I thought of the Thousand Hand Bodhisattva in Buddhism.”
“Isn’t your bald head just as ugly?!” Virtuoso teased, not standing on ceremony.
“Do you believe I’ll try my sabers out on you?” Saber9 lifted his head and stared at Virtuoso.
Noticing that both of them showed sights of wanting to fight due to the disagreement, Lin Huang frowned lightly and stepped forward between them, blocking their way.
“We have urgent business at hand. Let’s finish up our character designs and enter Phantom City!”
Only now did Virtuoso and Saber9 notice that not only was Lin Huang enveloped entirely in a black robe, but even his aura was so mysterious that it was unfathomable.
Virtuoso looked at the darkness under the hood and probed it using their Divine Telekinesis, only to find that it was completely blocked. “You’re wearing a mask too?”
Although they did not see a mask nor sense the presence of one, Virtuoso guessed that it was there anyway.
“I am.” Lin Huang’s reply was simple.
He had actually ingeniously integrated Thousand Face into his character design, enhancing his character’s mysteriousness.
“Have you finished your character design and skills?” Virtuoso did not dwell on Lin Huang’s transformation, asking instead.
Lin Huang nodded, “From now on, my name will be Hermit.”
“I’ll be Thousand Hands then,” Saber9 informed them of his new name.
“Let me think about it…” Virtuoso, on the other hand, did not give out their name immediately. Instead, they thought for a moment, cupping their chin. They spoke again only after a while, “Call me Mask then.
“Or you could call me Xiao Mianmian as well,” Virtuoso said to Lin Huang and Saber9 with a smile, after coming up with their name. (TN: In Chinese, the word for ‘Mask’ is ‘mian ju’; Virtuoso is using a deliberately cute diminutive of their character’s name both here and below.)
Lin Huang and Saber9 turned around and walked away at once, not bothering to pay attention to Virtuoso.
“Don’t you like it? If you don’t, you can call me Xiao Juju instead…”
“Let’s go, Little Inkblot,” Lin Huang ignored the two nauseating endearments they had picked for themselves and gave them a nickname instead.
“I like it.” Saber9 gave Lin Huang a thumbs up.
“I can’t believe you betrayed me, you bald monster. We’ve known each other for so many years and you’re now ganging up with this brat to come up with a nickname for me?!”
“There are three things that I’d like to correct,” Saber9 said solemnly, “First, my head is shaved, not bald. Having one’s head shaved and being bald are two different things. Secondly, my Primordium has certainly known your Primordium for years, but this is only the second time both of us have met. We aren’t very close. Thirdly, it wasn’t me who came up with that nickname. I merely agreed with it…”