Shen Siyuan jolted awake from his sleep, gasping for air while feeling a numb soreness in his arms.
"Where am I?"
Shen Siyuan hadn't fully recovered from the onslaught of the Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation, his physical body annihilated and his soul damaged, leaving his Divine Sense sluggish and his mind somewhat dazed.
"Old Shen, what's wrong with you? Got confused in your sleep?"
His colleague, Li Kang, saw him sitting there dumbfounded and poked him with the tip of a pen.
Only then did Shen Siyuan come back to his senses and turned to look at him.
"Kang Mazi?"
"You damn call me Kang Mazi, call me Brother Kang."
Li Kang threw the pen on the desk with a disgruntled face.
Shen Siyuan ignored him and looked around, the familiar surroundings gradually clearing his mind.
"Having a nightmare?" Li Kang asked again.
Shen Siyuan nodded.
He indeed had a nightmare about a demonic cultivator from the Great Wilderness who, failing his tribulation, was left with only a residual soul. He traveled to this world, intending to devour Shen Siyuan's soul and reincarnate through him, but instead, Shen Siyuan killed him and devoured his soul.
But this dream felt too real, especially the memories he acquired after devouring the demon's soul—it seemed as though it had truly happened.
The memories of this demonic cultivator, known as the Jiuyou Demon Lord, who stirred endless carnage in the Great Wilderness, faced a coordinated attack from the Righteous Sect under the Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation, eventually perishing and leaving only a residual soul, which escaped, guarded by his Lifebound Treasure, to this world and entered Shen Siyuan's Sea of Consciousness.
Thinking of this, Shen Siyuan's mind stirred, and a palm-sized Ten Thousand Soul Banner appeared in his hand.
"Holy shit, it's really not a dream," Shen Siyuan was also startled.
He scrutinized the Ten Thousand Soul Banner in his hand, which was, unfortunately, damaged but still showed its extraordinary nature.
Its pole was jade-colored, crystal clear, adorned with speckles of starlight as if stars were moving. The banner's deep purple surface bore divine patterns that appeared and disappeared, luxurious and extraordinary. The words "Netherworld" were on it, flickering and changing as if scorched by fire.
Even in its damaged state, a mere glance by an ordinary person could make them feel dizzy and as if their soul would be directly pulled into it.
With a thought, the Ten Thousand Soul Banner was retracted back into his body as naturally as an arm moving without hindrance.
If this was real, could he possibly cultivate?
As a cog in the societal machine, who doesn't harbor a desire to take charge, and who doesn't want to revolt against constraints?
But how can one dream of soaring high into the skies when they are as insignificant as ants?
Now, however, things were different. If he could cultivate, it was as if he had been granted wings that could soar into the heavens.
So, he hastily reviewed some residual memories of the Jiuyou Demon Lord in his mind, but soon, his face showed disappointment.
It turned out that this world was devoid of Spiritual Energy; the air was foul, blocking the path of internal cultivation entirely. That's why the Jiu You Netherworld Lord abandoned the path of a ghost cultivator, sought to seize a new body for rebirth, and take the route of physical cultivation—achieving sainthood through the physical body.
Though a demonic cultivator, the Jiuyou Demon Lord had overthrown empires and stirred countless bloodbaths and, naturally, had his ways of physical cultivation.
Moreover, there was a space inside the Ten Thousand Soul Banner storing treasures he looted over the years, which included no small number of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
However, Shen Siyuan had no cultivation base and couldn't use the Ten Thousand Soul Banner or access the space within. With the banner badly damaged, it was unknown how much of its contents remained.
To have access to a treasure trove but not the method to unlock it was frustrating indeed.
"Old Shen, here's your reimbursement form."
Just then, Zhou Chuan, sitting across, passed a stack of reimbursement forms through the partition, interrupting his thoughts.
Shen Siyuan took them absently, only then realizing they were his own forms.
Although just an ordinary employee, he had a certain amount of reimbursable monthly expenses for overtime and taxi fares.
But these needed the department manager's and then the finance department's signatures before the money could be received.
And Zhou Chuan was their operations department manager.
"Brother Chuan, I'll go to finance," said Shen Siyuan as he stood up, glancing around.
Under the impact of powerful memories, Shen Siyuan didn't feel the slightest discomfort. Everything around was still so familiar, as if what just happened was indeed only his dream.
"Brother Shen, take my reimbursement forms too."
"And mine."
"Since that's the case, I'll take mine as well."
Even Manager Zhou Chuan handed over his reimbursement form.
"You guys really are something."
Shen Siyuan was speechless, but still took them one by one.
Guanghui Animation wasn't very large, but it had three to four hundred employees, divided into mobile gaming and standalone game departments, with Shen Siyuan belonging to the mobile gaming department.
However, departments like finance and administration were unified, managing all employees across the company.
The finance department wasn't very big, with only about seven or eight people.
Shen Siyuan knocked on the door, and the noisy chatter inside immediately quieted down.
Then a pleasant female voice responded.
"Come in."
Only then did Shen Siyuan push the door and enter, immediately feeling a cool breeze and a whiff of powder fragrance.
Shen Siyuan did not look around the finance department much and walked straight to a bespectacled young lady.
"Mr. Fu, I'm from the mobile gaming department, here are our expense reports." Shen Siyuan didn't beat around the bush and handed over the documents directly.
Mr. Fu, who appeared to be in her mid-twenties, had a slightly plump figure and wore black-rimmed glasses.
She reached out to take the documents and quickly flipped through them.
Shen Siyuan didn't leave immediately but stood quietly waiting, as sometimes invoices that weren't pasted properly would be sent back for reattachment.
As expected, Mr. Fu quickly extracted an expense report and handed it back to Shen Siyuan.
"Take this back and restick it."
"Okay."
Just as Shen Siyuan was about to take it, a small head popped up beside him.
Shen Siyuan looked down and was delighted, only to see a little girl clambering at the edge of the desk, standing on her tiptoes and curiously peering onto the desk.
Never would he have imagined that this world still housed ghosts, and the little girl's soul was pure and flawless, making her a great material for mending the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.
No, no, what am I thinking about? Shen Siyuan quickly suppressed these terrifying thoughts; indeed, consuming the residual soul of the Jiuyou Demon Lord had influenced him.
"Pot Pot, what are you guys doing?"
The little girl looked up at Shen Siyuan.
Only then did Shen Siyuan get a clear look at her.
She was about three or four years old, delicately pretty like a porcelain doll, with sparkling big eyes and a plump, endearing appearance.
Seeing that Shen Siyuan didn't answer her question, she seemed not surprised at all, likely used to being ignored over time.
Shen Siyuan found her vaguely familiar; he must have seen her around the company before.
This wasn't peculiar. On workdays, when some children had nowhere else to go, they were brought to the company, especially during school breaks when there were significantly more kids, but as long as they didn't disrupt work, no one really minded.
So, this little girl must be a child of one of the finance department staff.
Shen Siyuan then looked around and saw that all were female employees in the finance department. Aside from the finance manager, who was about forty to fifty years old, there was also a thirty-something flirtatious young woman, and the rest were young ladies like Mr. Fu.
So, this little girl might well be the daughter of that young woman.
Being all from the same company, Shen Siyuan naturally knew her.
The young woman's name was Jiang Wenxin, who wasn't actually a Guanghui Animation employee but a finance delegate from the investors, holding a very special position within the company.
Shen Siyuan only glanced around and didn't stay long inside the finance department.
However, before leaving, he reached out and put his hand on the little girl's shoulder.
The little girl initially looked up in surprise, then her face filled with joy.
"Pot Pot, can you see me?"
Shen Siyuan just gave her a slight smile and turned to walk away.
The little girl immediately followed him with her short legs, running like a little penguin, comically adorable.