Although he had refined another fierce ghost and was a step closer to the first time of the "Commencement of Refining Spirits," Tan Shuchang still inevitably felt some gloom.
"Who knew that in that eerie game instance, there would be another fierce ghost!"
Moreover, the one he captured, though it could also be considered a fierce ghost, was overall quite inferior to the other two female ghosts.
This should be the game providing players who become fierce ghosts after sacrifice with a boost, but this enhancement was limited due to the player's weak strength in life.
"In the future, when encountering fierce ghosts, I must observe before acting, and not just react impulsively..." thus, Tan Shuchang made such a decision.
There might be more than one fierce ghost in that eerie game's instance.
For Tan Shuchang, this was undoubtedly good news. Because entering once could yield double the cultivation resources.
Then, Tan Shuchang pondered another matter.
His current player level in the eerie game was Ding Six. After participating in the third eerie game instance, he naturally leveled up again.
Starting from nine with one being the highest, this was somewhat similar to the imperial court's official rank system.
Originally, Tan Shuchang had thought that leveling up was just that, but after this level-up, he discovered he could summon his player stat frame at any time.
He didn't even need to specifically summon it, just thinking about the eerie game in his mind would make the player stat frame appear.
It had flashed beneath his eyelids several times just now.
Player: Tan Shuchang.
Rank: Ding Six.
Malicious Resistance: Jia One.
Contamination Resistance: Jia One.
Destruction Resistance: Jia One.
Supernatural Resistance: Jia One.
And at the bottom of this stat frame, there was a somewhat sinister-looking mask, like a fox head grown onto a human face.
Tan Shuchang's gaze started to gather there, and then a voice appeared in his ear.
The voice he had heard when he first encountered the eerie game.
"Do you wish to enter the realm where humans and ghosts coexist? On the first entry, you will overlook as a third-party observer, but you may switch to your true form at any time. Thereafter, you will enter in your true form each time. Each entry will consume the entrant's own strength, and should the strength be insufficient, irreversible injuries will substitute."
"Note that the realm where humans and ghosts coexist has three layers, but even the outermost layer is infested with a large number of fierce ghosts! And there may even be powerful ghostly entities beyond fierce ghosts!"
"Note that in the realm where humans and ghosts coexist, the movements of fierce ghosts will not be restricted!"
Tan Shuchang was still contemplating in his mind, but upon hearing the last two lines, he did not hesitate at all and immediately chose to enter.
He just happened to be lacking one last fierce ghost.
Looking for fierce ghosts in the Jiawu Realm was not only difficult but also bothersome, and one could accidentally provoke the Land of Yin and Darkness. As far as Tan Shuchang knew, although there were myriad methods of cultivation among Demon Cultivators, the extremely powerful art of ghost refining created no waves in the Jiawu Realm.
While methods for capturing and subduing ghosts were widespread, the art of refining ghosts was exceedingly rare, and there were hardly any cultivators pursuing it, which was indeed worth pondering.
And those few Cultivators who possessed fierce ghosts were themselves not practitioners of the art of ghost refining.
The one Tan Shuchang had his mind on was from the Jiangu Sect, the fierce ghost by his side, an admirer who, after dying and becoming a ghost, unexpectedly retained most of his consciousness and thus stayed with the Jiangu Sect.
This is probably the story of a lovelorn dog and a goddess.
Another was from Wuting Cave Water Lanyard Mansion, the original owner of this underwater mansion who remained in the mansion after death, but could not retain the consciousness from his former life. His consciousness slowly nurtured over time with the infusion of spiritual energy.
The cultivator who later acquired this mansion revered him as the Second Master, and always honored him with incense and filial piety.
Another fierce ghost was the worshiped spirit of villagers from Dead Bone Mountain, devoid of self-awareness but also non-aggressive, forever in slumber, manifesting only when the villagers conducted their offerings.
The first two had not been taken by the yin spirits of the Land of Yin and Darkness because they were both under the protection of powerful forces, which was expected. The Land of Yin and Darkness, while mighty, never directly confronted the cultivators of the Jiawu Realm.
However, Tan Shuchang couldn't understand why the yin spirits from the Land of Yin and Darkness never attempted to seize the third ghost.
After all, that was a fierce ghost, not an ordinary specter; it would be unusual for them to disdain its weakness and not desire it. After all, the Land of Yin and Darkness is known for not sparing even the weakest of spirits.
At this moment, as his body suddenly twisted in an instant, Tan Shuchang had entered that place where humans and ghosts coexisted.
And this so-called third-person perspective was actually letting him temporarily "possess" a cluster of shadow. This "shadow" did not hinder his actions, and through it, Tan Shuchang could clearly see everything around him.
He was now in a busy yet silent marketplace.
The reason for describing it with such contradictory terms is that there were many people walking around the market, all dressed in black robes, wearing strange masks.
Yet, regardless of what they were doing, they never spoke a word.
Thus, the only sounds one could hear were those of items being placed at stalls, collisions, and the footsteps of people moving about.
So, Tan Shuchang tried to speak out.
After all, he was in third-person view mode, not physically present, so he could be bold.
But as soon as he spoke, he realized he could talk, but his voice didn't carry. It was either incapable of escaping or unable to reach this place, obviously because his true body wasn't there.
Having confirmed this, Tan Shuchang naturally felt even more at ease with this third-person perspective.
So he walked directly into a nearby shop.
This shop was one of the few in this market, and besides this one, Tan Shuchang could only see three others, all a distance away from him.
From the outside, the shop didn't reveal much, but upon entering, he saw a symbol standing front and center.
It was carved from stone, shaped like a skull crossed with a sword and knife.
Behind this symbol, there were several counters.
There were numerous figures bustling around these counters, especially behind them where the shadows were dense.
Tan Shuchang was about to enter when suddenly, a figure flickered before him, blocking his path, "This is a place where ghost techniques are sold. If you wish to enter, you must come in your true body."
The voice was dry and chilling, like that of a dried corpse speaking.
Tan Shuchang glanced at the figure. Though the figure wore a mask, it was clear that there was living flesh beneath it.
With that, Tan Shuchang turned around and left.
As he did so, the figures that had been hovering near the counter in the store suddenly froze.