Chapter 13: The Ghost Domain of Xincheng

The van Chang Ping had lent them was small, making it a bit of a tight squeeze for the eight of them.

The road was bumpy, preventing anyone from doing much else.
Coupled with the need to stay alert to their surroundings, their attention remained highly concentrated.

Suddenly, they noticed the flow of Mutation Particles in the air accelerate sharply.

The source was Ding Ren.

He—had successfully meditated!

Zhang Qingyuan was stunned, and Fang Jianbo and the others were not faring much better.

Meditation was one of the topics Xi Yu had just discussed with them; it was a method to enhance soul power.
However, Xi Yu had also mentioned that meditation was a very metaphysical occurrence—it was a power of the will, turning the impossible into the possible.

Because it was so metaphysical, it was rare for a single person out of millions to truly succeed in meditating.

But now, Ding Ren had done it.

Even Xi Yu was quite surprised, wondering how Ding Ren had managed it.

He immediately stopped his explanation to avoid disturbing Ding Ren’s cultivation, and Zhang Qingyuan’s team grew even more serious in their guarding.

Xi Yu, having nothing to do, checked his glove space.

He discovered that the mutation traits within the unranked Tusk Donkeys in his space had been completely dissolved.

This made Xi Yu feel a surge of excitement.

He had left a vast amount of dragon aura in the glove space specifically for this purpose.

The white dragon’s aura possessed mutation traits of its own, yet it was capable of dissolving the mutation traits within other beasts and ghosts.

Once beast meat was stripped of its mutation traits, it could be eaten directly; as for ghosts, they served other purposes.

The most important thing, however, was the dragon aura itself.
Once it neutralized and dissolved external mutation traits, the remaining pure aura was far more precious than ordinary essence.
It could simultaneously enhance both physical mutation and soul transformation; Xi Yu called it “Dragon Source.”

But at the moment, Xi Yu only had eyes for the Tusk Donkeys.

He hadn’t eaten meat in a long time; now that they were heading to Xincheng City, he could finally have a proper meal.
He didn’t plan to tell Zhang Qingyuan and the others yet, wanting to give them a surprise later.

He withdrew his consciousness from the space.

Ding Ren remained immersed in his cultivation.
Zhang Qingyuan and the others were on pins and needles the whole way, terrified that some accident might disturb him.

Xi Yu watched Ding Ren, feeling that the speed at which he absorbed Mutation Particles was truly astounding.
If he remembered correctly, Ding Ren had become a B-class expert two years later in his previous life.
But now, he felt there was a possibility Ding Ren could break through in less than two months; meditation had become an accelerator for his progress.

This filled Xi Yu with anticipation; he truly was beginning to change the original course of the Middle Continent’s history.

After more than two hours of driving, a convoy appeared ahead.

Ding Ren was forced to stop his meditation.

– Is Captain Ding Ren on this vehicle?

The convoy stopped in front of them, and a dozen people got out one after another.
The man in the lead looked to be in his thirties and was quite tall, though his eyes were completely bloodshot.

Seeing Ding Ren step out of the van, he hurried over and said with pleasant surprise, “Hello, Captain Ding. I am Guan Zhang, the city defense military guard of Xincheng. I didn’t expect the Middle Continent to send you first; this is wonderful.”

– Captain Ding, I won’t stand on ceremony with you; the situation in Xincheng is urgent. I’ll give you a brief overview of the situation while we chat in the car.

After showing Ding Ren and the others their identification, Guan Zhang moved to pull Ding Ren toward his own vehicle.
He had received a call from Chang Ping in Shilu County an hour ago; after hearing that Ding Ren had slain the Head-Swapping Ghost, he couldn’t wait a moment longer and came personally to meet them.

“Wait a moment,” Ding Ren said, pulling his hand away from Guan Zhang. “Get in our van.”

Looking at Ding Ren, who was significantly taller than him, Guan Zhang didn’t overthink it and nodded quickly.

Fang Jianbo and the others got out of the van and boarded the other vehicles.
Ping Feng continued to drive, and aside from him, only Zhang Qingyuan and Xi Yu remained in the van.

Guan Zhang was a bit surprised to see a beautiful youth in the van, but he quickly ignored it and spoke of the crisis Xincheng was currently facing.

Ding Ren already knew the general situation, but now Guan Zhang was providing more detailed information.

About ten days ago, a large number of ghosts had suddenly appeared in a valley west of Xincheng City.
These ghosts were extremely aggressive and constantly expanded into the surrounding areas.

Xincheng happened to be on the front lines, directly facing this wave of ghosts.

Although Xincheng had very few high-tech weapons left, dealing with ordinary ghosts wasn’t a problem; the real issue lay with the remaining five terrifying C-class ghosts.

Currently, the B-class experts of the Middle Continent couldn’t arrive in time, so Ding Ren’s appearance had become the hope of everyone in Xincheng.

Hearing that he had slain the Head-Swapping Ghost had invigorated them even further.

Now, Guan Zhang hoped Ding Ren would have a way to deal with the remaining four ghosts; otherwise, if the Middle Continent’s B-class didn’t arrive soon, Xincheng might be forced to be abandoned.

Among the five ghosts, besides an “Shadowless Rat” that came and went like a phantom and hadn’t caused damage to Xincheng yet, the greatest threats came from the other four.

The first was called the “Lamp-Skull Tree.”

This was a giant tree-shaped ghost, five meters tall, with various glowing heads hanging beneath its lush canopy.
The most terrifying part was that it seemed to possess an immortal body; no matter how many times it was destroyed, it would definitely reappear the next day, becoming even more horrific.

The ghost tide was led by this entity.

The second was the “Ghost Crying House.”

This appeared to be an ordinary earthen house, but a mind-altering cry would emanate from within.
Anyone below C-class who heard the crying would walk into the house as if they had lost their soul, never to come out again.
However, if a C-class expert appeared before it, it would vanish without a trace.

Fortunately, the Ghost Crying House hadn’t appeared many times and didn’t pose a significant threat for now.

The third was the “Star-Dream Jellyfish.”

This was a super-giant ghost, mountain-sized and jellyfish-like in shape.
Its body was constantly expanding, seemingly using everything as nourishment.
Once someone was enveloped by it, if they weren’t rescued, they would fall into a dream world and never wake up again.

But its main body was in the center of the ghost valley, making it incredibly difficult to kill.

The fourth was the “Giant Stone Spider,” which appeared to have a parasitic relationship with the Star-Dream Jellyfish, living within its body.
Xincheng had initially tried to see if they could deal with it from within the jellyfish, but they encountered the spider; with a single strike, it heavily injured a C-class expert.

Previously, the most terrifying ghost had been the Head-Swapping Ghost, which had claimed the lives of two C-class experts, but it had now been slain by Ding Ren’s team.

These names were all coined by Guan Zhang and his team.

Compared to the other ghosts, Guan Zhang was most worried about the Star-Dream Jellyfish.
Its expansion speed was very fast; at its current rate, it would cover Xincheng in less than ten days.

This was why Guan Zhang was so frantic.

Zhang Qingyuan’s scalp felt numb as he listened, especially concerning the Star-Dream Jellyfish—could they really solve this?
He even began to doubt if even a B-class expert could do it.

He couldn’t help but look at Xi Yu; if anyone could certainly do it, it would only be him.
Although he had always tried to avoid having Xi Yu step in, this time he truly had to pin his hopes on him.

Xi Yu didn’t notice his gaze, as he was immersed in his own thoughts.

He had already suspected it when hearing Ding Ren speak earlier, and now it was confirmed: the valley Guan Zhang mentioned was likely a “Ghost Domain.”
This was one of the three types of forbidden zones for humans on Kun Star as classified in the future, also known as a Death Kingdom or Dark Kingdom.

Ghost Domains generally came into existence in two ways: one was natural birth, and the other was built by a ghost at least at the Sequence 2 “Forbidden King” level.

If it were the second type, he would suggest that Xincheng evacuate immediately.

A Sequence 2 Forbidden King-level ghost was equivalent to an SS-class in human classification; the entire Middle Continent combined couldn’t contend with it.

Forbidden King-level Ghost Domains had indeed appeared in the future, but none had appeared in Zhongchuan Province.

A naturally born Ghost Domain, however, still had a chance of being destroyed as long as it hadn’t fully formed.
He just didn’t know the current stage of the Ghost Domain near Xincheng.

The Star-Dream Jellyfish Guan Zhang spoke of was actually an external manifestation of a Ghost Domain, though every domain manifested differently.
Regardless of the type, once its area expanded enough to encompass a city, destroying it became virtually impossible.

Ding Ren also glanced at Xi Yu at this moment. The Star-Dream Jellyfish indeed exceeded his limits; now he wanted to see if Xi Yu could offer any advice.

Guan Zhang’s heart tightened suddenly.

He had certainly seen Zhang Qingyuan’s look, but he hadn’t cared.
However, when Ding Ren also looked at Xi Yu, he knew something was off.

There was definitely something peculiar about this youth.

Yet, seeing how frail he looked, as if he could be swatted into a pulp with one hand, Guan Zhang wondered what was special about him.

Or perhaps?