After waiting two hours, Yang Zicang successfully completed his registration. He patted the specks of dust clinging to his dark traveling coat. His gaze swept over a small notice board beside the solid-man-height wooden counter, on which was written, “Exchange Seasonal Order for Local Silver Coins. ” He asked, “How is this exchange rate calculated? It’s not written here. “

“Do you have a job? ” The ordinary-looking but pleasant-faced young woman behind the counter said with a smile.

“Job? “

“If you have a job, or any other position with a title, I can calculate based on your annual salary, and then you’ll be able to receive your pay in advance. As it happens, tomorrow is April 1st, so I can tally up all the Silver Coins we’ll need to exchange for you here at once. “

“Ah… then, doesn’t that mean I can exchange an unlimited amount? ” Yang Zicang raised an eyebrow.

“Not quite, Mr. Buchen, ” Phil ready shook her head with a smile, tapping the tip of her finger against the Fog Citizen ID he had placed on the counter. “You brought it with you over the span of forty thousand years. So, at most, you only have a general exchange quota of forty thousand years. “

She paused, a touch of playfulness creeping into her smile.

“Of course~ here in this Era Continent, you could say you’re able to exchange ‘unlimitedly.’ Forty thousand years is a colossal number, but this world won’t last that long, and there’s no way you can actually find forty thousand jobs, can you? “

Seeing Yang Zicang still looked a bit puzzled, she raised two fingers.

“You can understand this second restriction, right? Your job, as well as the strength of your employer, must match the possibilities of the Era Continent. For instance, a job like pulling a rickshaw simply cannot exist for forty thousand years. Nor will your employer keep you on forever. According to our rules, we calculate at most one year’s salary per position. So, please exchange carefully. “

“Are you telling me that after I find a job and exchange a year’s salary here with your time sequence, I still have to actually work a full year for that employer? ” Yang Zicang pressed further.

“Of course you can! That way, you’d have two salaries! ” Philry’s eyes curved into crescents. “But you don’t have to work the full year either. As long as you’ve worked seven days, you can come and exchange for a whole year’s salary. So, sir, I suggest you first find a good job and then come back to exchange. Or, do you happen to have any existing position on hand? “

Yang Zicang pondered for a moment and said, “Though I’m not sure if it counts, I do have a position. “

“Please, tell me about it. I can evaluate your salary. “

“I am the leader of a twenty-three-person travel group and also their ‘Hotel Unified Check-In Management Committee Chairman.’ “

“Ah, that indeed counts as a position. Let me check it out for you. “

Philry set down the Fog Citizen ID, turned around, and from the multi-shelved wooden cabinet beside her, she quickly flipped through several files based on the catalog.

“Found it… As the leader of a travel group, the price difference is quite large… “

She looked up and took another look at the young man in dark travel attire with a turtleneck sweater standing outside the counter.

“Those whose wages are measured by daily or monthly salary are low-level travel groups. Larger groups calculate earnings based on trips and routes. Twenty-three people aren’t a small scale either. So, is this a fixed travel group? What is your travel route? “

“Yes, we have fixed members. As for the travel route… ” Yang Zicang thought briefly, “We set off from the Mist Sea, heading towards the Mysterious Hotel, and should next be crossing the continent. “

Philry behind the counter lit up with keen interest: “A mysterious hotel? Can you go into detail? Or, do you happen to possess any Radiance: Glory Light born from this? I’d love to see it! “

Glory Light…

Seeing Yang Zicang’s expression still somewhat puzzled, she raised two fingers. “As for this second restriction, you can understand it, right? Your job and your employer’s strength must match the possibilities of Civilization-Calendar Epoch 6. For example, a rickshaw puller’s job cannot possibly exist for forty thousand years. Your employer won’t hire you forever either. According to our rules, a single job is calculated at most for one year’s salary, so please exchange cautiously. ” “Do you mean that if I find a job and exchange one year’s salary here using temporal sequencing, I still have to work for the employer for a full year? ” Yang Zicang pressed further.

Looking at her full-blown enthusiasm ignited by gossip-fire, since the counter was currently empty, Yang Zicang took off the “Qiqi Brand Double-Sided Skull Gold and Emerald ” pendant from his neck. With a faint flicker of his mind, a pinpoint-sized gleam of light lit up on one of the skull’s eyes, carved from emerald crystal. “You can see the content inside through this, right? ” he said, mostly testing the waters.

“Oh, you’re worried that someone else might see and then know your experiences, right? ” Phil Rei nodded understandingly. “Don’t worry, even if they have the tools to examine this, they’ll need your explicit permission. “

With this confirmation, Yang Zicang confidently placed the pendant into the girl’s open palms.

Phil Rei promptly pulled out an exquisite pocket watch. With a soft “click, ” she opened the lid embedded with a convex crystal, aiming it at the faint emerald glow.

Instantly, a stream of mental information flashed through Yang Zicang’s mind:

｛Phil Rei, an employee of the Mutu Rent Zone in White Violet City, wishes to access my biographical entries related to “the inn. “｝

｛The entries about “the inn ” that I can allow access to include: The Man Who Escaped from the Nonexistent Inn.｝

｛I have granted this reader access to the aforementioned entry.｝

These strands of mental thoughts dashed swiftly through Yang Zicang’s heart-mind.

The girl behind the counter quickly magnified the faint glow through the crystal magnifying lens attached to the pocket watch’s lid. The spark of light stretched and twisted into a living, shimmering cross of radiance. The information coiled within it slowly unfolded before her eyes.

—…I was dragged into this inn that possesses a ‘Divinity’… it seems the ‘Divinity’ lies within that final Presidential Suite.

—…First, I must find a way out, or forget the ‘Divinity’—even my ‘life’ will no longer belong to me…

Strange script flowed like water through the glow, flickering into existence only to vanish again.

—In the end, we succeeded, thank heavens…

That account of the mysterious inn accordingly flowed into Feirui’s perception. She seemed to vividly “see ” that dangerous escape, though the specific people and details had become hazy, like a stage play.

｛-Radiance: The One Who Escaped the Non-Existent Inn — Yang Buchen. Reading complete.｝

“Wow, it’s actually the ‘Feilü Inn’! It’s been ages since those Travelers’ Guild members came by. “

The girl snapped the lid of her pocket watch shut with a satisfied click. Smiling, she handed the golden locket necklace back to Yang Zicang.

“Not bad, handsome. ” Her tone had grown noticeably friendlier.

“Where’d you get that thing in your hand? ” Yang Zicang played along, acting more familiar as he took the pendant back with a hand clad in a half-finger glove bought on Old Street and put it back on, his eyes burning with intensity as he stared at the pocket watch.

This treasure capable of reading Gravitational Arc Light, even with authorization required, was undoubtedly of immeasurable value.

“This? ” Philoria said, clutching the watch in her palm and shaking it proudly. “Why, it’s my reward for a job well done, of course. “

“You selling it? “

“Oh my, we just met for the first time, ” the girl said, feigning a pout with a few playful humphs, yet her face was utterly unable to hide a hint of smug delight. Then, after thinking for a moment, she added, “But… seeing how well you performed, if you’ve really got something good, I wouldn’t be entirely against a trade. “

Yang Zicang pondered the possibilities. There was no way he could give up the “Gravity Arc, ” the “Ground-Haze Bedchamber ” was Molly’s dwelling, and the Flying Carpet… that was even more out of the question.

None of those could be traded. Then he recalled the rewards he had obtained from the Demon Hero Hall…

“Awakening of Impressions, ” which couldn’t be given to anyone either. Even if he obtained a second, or even a third, pocket-watch-shaped “Awakening of Impressions, ” he couldn’t use it to exchange for something like this.

As for the “Radiance of Reason, ” it seemed tradable. But its basic effect was “Gaining the authority over the Resounding Telekinetic Field. “

Seeing the young man’s conflicted expression flicker repeatedly across his face behind the counter, Philoria let out a chuckle.

“Alright, alright. If you don’t have anything good, that’s fine. If you come across any Lux in the future, promise to save a share for me. Then I’ll do my best to get you a Radiance-Vision Apparatus. How about that? “

But suddenly, the man before the counter looked up. “No, miss. Have you ever heard of an ‘Ether Beacon’? “

Phyreel was taken aback for a moment.

A visible flicker of inner conflict crossed her face, but she quickly forced a light tap on her forehead, feigning regret.

“Too busy chatting, I almost forgot to calculate your salary! Let me see… cross-continent travel, and during wartime—high risk… Classified as a single trip… deducting transit fees for the countries visited and necessary insurance… ” Her fingers danced along the abacus beside her, snappingcrack-cracka few times. “Oh! For your journey, when calculated against a captain’s annual salary, it roughly converts… totwo hundred and twenty silver coins. “

Yang Zicang’s brow twitched uncontrollably.

That number immediately crushed any urge he had to press the girl about why she hadn’t answered him!

“Did you miscalculate? “