Shen Siyuan woke up with a start from a dream, gasping for breath while feeling a numb ache in his arm.
"Where is this?"
Shen Siyuan hadn't yet recovered from the sky-filling Heavenly Tribulation.
His Physical Body was destroyed, his Soul was damaged, and his Divine Sense was impeded, leaving him in a daze.
"Old Shen, what's wrong with you? Still half-asleep?"
His colleague Li Kang, sitting next to him, saw him sitting there in a daze and poked him with the end of his pen.
Shen Siyuan finally snapped out of it and turned to look at him.
"Pockmarked Kang?"
"You're the pockmarked one! Call me Brother Kang."
Li Kang tossed the pen in his hand onto the desk, looking annoyed.
Shen Siyuan ignored him and glanced around. The familiar environment slowly brought his mind back to clarity.
"Had a nightmare?" Li Kang asked again.
Shen Siyuan nodded.
He had indeed just had a nightmare. He dreamed that a demon cultivator from The Great Wilderness had failed to Undergo Tribulation, was left with only a wisp of a remnant soul, crossed over to This Realm, and tried to Devour his Soul for Body Seizure and Rebirth.
But unexpectedly, he was instead counter-killed and devoured by Shen Siyuan.
But the dream was far too real, especially the memories he obtained after devouring the Demon Lord's remnant soul, which felt as if they had actually happened.
In his memories, this demon cultivator was known as the Nine Nether Demon Lord. In The Great Wilderness, he had stirred up countless storms of blood.
Under the Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation, he was besieged by the Righteous Faction and ultimately suffered the fate of Body Dies and Dao Disappears. Only a wisp of his remnant soul, protected by his Natal Magic Treasure, managed to escape.
Somehow, it had arrived in This Realm and entered Shen Siyuan's Sea of Consciousness.
At this thought, Shen Siyuan willed it, and a palm-sized Ten Thousand Souls Banner appeared in his hand.
'Holy crap, it really wasn't a dream.' Shen Siyuan was shocked.
He carefully examined the Ten Thousand Souls Banner in his hand. Unfortunately, the Soul Banner was tattered and broken, but even so, he could still see that it was extraordinary.
The banner's staff was the color of jade, crystal clear, and dotted with specks of light that flowed like stars. The flag itself was deep purple, its edges adorned with Divine Patterns that flickered in and out of sight, giving it a noble and extraordinary air.
On it were the two characters for 'Netherworld', which shimmered and shifted as if set aflame.
Even in its current dilapidated state, a single glance from an ordinary person would make them feel dizzy, as if their very soul would be pulled right into it.
With another thought, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner was drawn back into his body, as effortlessly as moving his own limbs.
'If this is real, does that mean I can cultivate?'
As a corporate drone of society, who didn't harbor a desire to be their own master? Who wouldn't want to shout, "I don't want to eat beef!"?
But when you were just an ant, with ambitions that soared to the clouds, how could you possibly ascend to the Nine Heavens?
But things were different now.
If he could cultivate, it would be like being given a pair of wings to soar straight to the Nine Heavens.
He hurriedly began to sift through the remnant memories of the Nine Nether Demon Lord in his mind, but his face soon fell with disappointment.
It turned out that This Realm was completely devoid of Spiritual Qi, and the air was terribly murky. The path of Internal Arts was completely blocked.
This was also why the Nine Nether Lord of the Underworld had given up on being a Ghost Cultivator and wanted to achieve Rebirth through Body Seizure, to walk the path of Tempering the Physical Body and Attaining Sainthood with the Physical Body.
Although the Nine Nether Lord of the Underworld was a demon cultivator, he had overthrown dynasties and started countless bloodbaths, so he certainly didn't lack methods for Tempering the Physical Body.
Moreover, there was a separate space inside the Ten Thousand Souls Banner that stored all the things he had plundered over the years, including no small number of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
But Shen Siyuan had no Cultivation Base at all, so there was no way for him to command the Ten Thousand Souls Banner or open the space within it.
Besides, the banner's surface was in tatters, so there was no telling how much of what was stored inside even remained.
To possess a mountain of treasure but have no way to enter it, to be able to do nothing but sigh at the vast ocean before him—it was truly a frustrating feeling.
"Old Shen, your Reimbursement Form."
Just then, Zhou Chuan, who sat opposite him, passed a stack of reimbursement forms over the cubicle partition, interrupting his thoughts.
Shen Siyuan took them casually, only then realizing they were his own reimbursement forms.
Although he was an ordinary employee at the Company, he had a certain reimbursement allowance each month, mainly for overtime subsidies and taxi fares.
However, he needed to get them signed by his department manager, then take them to the Finance Department for an accountant's signature before he could finally get the money.
And Zhou Chuan was the Manager of their Operations Department.
"Brother Chuan, I'll head to Finance then," Shen Siyuan said, getting up and glancing around.
Despite the powerful impact of the memories, Shen Siyuan didn't feel the slightest bit of discomfort.
Everything around him was still so familiar, as if what had just happened was truly nothing but a dream.
"Brother Shen, can you take my reimbursement form too?"
"Mine too."
"In that case, take mine along as well."
Even the Manager, Zhou Chuan, handed over his reimbursement form.
'You guys are something else.'
Shen Siyuan was speechless, but he still took them one by one.
Glorious Animation wasn't a large company, but it had three or four hundred employees, divided into two independently run departments: the Online Games Department and the Single-Player Games Department. Shen Siyuan was an employee of the Online Games Operations Department.
However, departments like the Finance Department and the Administration Department were unified, managing all employees of the entire company.
The Finance Department wasn't very large, with only seven or eight people.
Shen Siyuan knocked on the door, and the noisy chatter inside instantly fell silent.
Then, a pleasant female voice sounded from inside the house.
"Come in."
Shen Siyuan then pushed the door open and entered, immediately feeling a wave of coolness, along with the scent of cosmetics.
Shen Siyuan didn't linger on the Finance Department's decor, instead walking straight toward a young woman wearing glasses.
"Accountant Fu, I'm from the Online Games Operations Department.
Here are our reimbursement forms," Shen Siyuan said without any pleasantries, handing the documents over directly.
Accountant Fu was about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, slightly plump, and wore a pair of black-framed glasses.
She reached out, took the documents, and began to flip through them quickly.
Shen Siyuan didn't leave right away but waited quietly, because if some of the invoices weren't pasted correctly, they would be sent back to be redone.
Sure enough, Accountant Fu soon pulled out one reimbursement form from the stack and handed it back to Shen Siyuan.
"Take this one back and re-paste it."
"Alright."
Just as Shen Siyuan was about to take it, a small head popped out from the side.
Shen Siyuan looked down and was overjoyed to see a Little Girl gripping the edge of the desk, standing on her tiptoes, and peering curiously at the desktop.
He had never expected that Ghosts actually existed in This Realm, and moreover, the Little Girl's soul was pure and flawless—excellent material for repairing the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
'No, no, what am I thinking?' Shen Siyuan hurriedly suppressed the frightening thought. It seemed that devouring the Nine Nether Demon Lord's remnant soul had indeed affected him.
"Big Bwother, what are you guys doing?"
The Little Girl tilted her head up to look at Shen Siyuan.
Only then did Shen Siyuan get a clear look at her.
The Little Girl was about three or four years old, as delicate as a porcelain doll. Her large eyes were incredibly lively, and her chubby, plump appearance was very endearing.
Seeing that Shen Siyuan didn't answer her question, the Little Girl didn't seem surprised at all. After all this time, she had grown used to being ignored.
Shen Siyuan found her vaguely familiar; he must have seen her at the company before.
This wasn't strange.
On workdays, some children were brought to the company when there was no one to look after them, especially during the summer and winter vacations. As long as they didn't disturb anyone's work, nobody minded.
This Little Girl was probably the child of an employee in the Finance Department.
So Shen Siyuan lifted his head and scanned the room.
The entire Finance Department was staffed by women. Aside from the department manager, who was in her forties or fifties, there was a young madam in her thirties, while the rest were mostly young women like Accountant Fu.
Therefore, the Little Girl was most likely that young madam's daughter.
Since they were in the same company, Shen Siyuan naturally recognized her.
The young madam's name was Jiang Wenxin. She wasn't technically a Glorious Animation employee but rather an accountant dispatched by the investors, holding a very special position within the company.
Shen Siyuan only gave a quick glance and didn't linger in the Finance Department.
But before he left, he reached out his hand in a wide arc and rested it on the Little Girl's shoulder.
The Little Girl first looked up in astonishment, then her face filled with delighted surprise.
"Big Bwother, you can see me?"
Shen Siyuan simply gave her a slight smile and turned to walk out.
The Little Girl immediately chased after him on her short legs, waddling like a penguin, which was utterly adorable.