Another death!
The once lively gaming atmosphere instantly turned somber.
The sanity levels of the remaining players began to plummet.
"Old Zhou's death won't be in vain!"
Zhong Yi steeled himself, rallying his spirits before leading the way toward the basement.
The basement was a ghost room—a fact Zhou Yue had paid for with his life.
Little did they know, as seasoned players of the illusion realm, they would soon realize just how cheap this piece of information was.
Armed with shabby-looking magical tools, the trio began their investigation.
"The Frost Needle is moving… Whoa!! The temperature here is dropping like crazy!!!"
Zhou Qiaoling stared wide-eyed at the rapidly spinning needle in her hand.
The Frost Needle bore densely packed markings, along with a few conspicuous words:
To the left was [Heat], below was [Cold], and to the right was [Bone-Chilling].
The range between [Heat] and [Cold] indicated normal temperatures.
Beyond [Cold] lay the abnormal low-temperature zone—a likely sign of a ghost room.
And past [Bone-Chilling]…
Was a stark black character: [Death].
Right now, the needle trembled violently, nearly overlapping with [Death].
This meant not only was the temperature freezing, but the aura of death was overwhelmingly thick—a clear sign of a formidable demon!
"Stay calm, stay calm!"
Zhong Yi clapped his hands, breaking the eerie tension.
"[Bone-Chilling] is a ghost’s trait… We still need two more. Come on, as long as we find them, Old Zhou’s sacrifice won’t be wasted!"
Mu Yawen and Zhou Qiaoling nodded, picking up their tools to continue the search.
Every ghost had three detectable traits, identifiable through magical instruments.
The core gameplay of Phantom Town revolved around using these tools to analyze traces left by spirits and determine their nature.
Zhong Yi placed a single Exorcism Coin on the ground—a one-time shield against a ghost’s attack.
His eyes remained fixed on the [Soul-Severing Thread] tied near the staircase.
This special thread would glow whenever a human or ghost passed through it.
But after a long wait, nothing happened.
He glanced at the salt scattered in four directions—no footprints appeared either.
Sighing, he turned to the others.
"Any luck on your end?"
"I’ve been spinning the Yin-Yang Compass forever, but it’s stuck at Level 2… No Level 5 Yin energy…"
"The Spirit Projector isn’t picking anything up either…"
"The Death Pen isn’t moving at all!"
"And I have no idea how to use this [Manifestation Array]…"
Mu Yawen and Zhou Qiaoling shook their heads—their search for evidence wasn’t going well.
"How could this be…?"
Zhong Yi stroked his chin, deep in thought.
Whether due to Lu Ze’s overly novel designs or the tools’ low-tier nature, Zhong Yi couldn’t figure them out.
His gaze drifted to the brightly lit lanterns in the basement, and he muttered,
"Do you think… it’s because of the light?"
The moment he spoke, the lanterns’ flames flickered out.
"Whoa, Zhong Yi, don’t just—"
"Wait! The Spirit Projector is showing something!! There’s a tiny flame floating around!!!"
Mu Yawen exclaimed excitedly.
Zhong Yi quickly snatched the device from her hands.
In the darkness, the projector’s faint green glow revealed flickering embers drifting in the air.
"Great! That’s our second piece of evidence—[Will-o’-the-Wisp]!"
Zhong Yi’s eyes lit up with excitement.
This was the closest they’d gotten to the truth!
"Let’s go! We need to grab the Exorcism Incense and the other tools!"
Without hesitation, Zhong Yi took charge.
Two more tools—[Spirit Jade Slip] and [Phosphor Stone]—remained in the carriage for identifying ghost traits.
The trio picked up their lone Exorcism Coin and hurried out of the basement.
"Two clues so far: [Will-o’-the-Wisp] and [Bone-Chilling]…"
In the dimly lit corridor, Zhong Yi flipped through the spectral archives, analyzing their findings.
"Only four possibilities left…"
"Wraith, Vengeful Ghost, Restless Spirit, or Drowned Ghost."
"Since the Death Pen didn’t react and the [Manifestation Array] showed nothing, we can rule out two."
"That leaves Wraith and Drowned Ghost!"
"It’s a fifty-fifty shot—we’re golden, haha!"
Zhong Yi grew more pleased with himself by the second.
"Oh! I think I brought the [Spirit Jade Slip]!"
Zhou Qiaoling suddenly remembered, pulling out a black-and-white jade slip.
"Really? Then we can identify the ghost right away!"
Zhong Yi’s eyes sparkled.
Though he enjoyed the mental challenge of the illusion realm, he couldn’t wait to leave this oppressive haunted house.
"Let me see how this works…"
Zhou Qiaoling held the slip to her lips and cleared her throat.
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
"......"
"Are you human or ghost?"
"......"
"Are you mute?"
"......"
"Are you deaf?"
"......"
"Do you play illusion realms?"
"......"
No response came after several attempts.
Zhou Qiaoling tilted her head at Zhong Yi. "Brother Zhong, I think this ghost can’t talk?"
Zhong Yi and Mu Yawen shivered, silently admiring how bold high sanity made people.
"Maybe, like the will-o’-the-wisp, it only works in the dark…"
Before Zhong Yi could finish, the corridor’s candles snuffed out.
"Hey, Mu Yawen, quick thinking—beating me to blowing out the candles?"
"Huh? I’m right next to you…?"
A deathly silence followed.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
