[You bravely faced the ’filth’ and confronted your inner fears. Your Will has been greatly tempered.]

[Will +1.]

Zheng Xiu had just thrown the saber when the message that appeared before his eyes made him pause for a moment.

He knew that looking directly at the filth would randomly decrease his [Will].

But bravely confronting his fear and facing the filth...

Zheng Xiu felt his perspective had been broadened yet again.

The half-human, half-insect Immortal Lady abruptly coiled her long, tentacle-like hair, wrapping up her ugly side.

DING!

With a crisp ring, the tip of the long saber, forged in an ordinary Iron Shop, shattered into several pieces, leaving less than half the blade intact.

However, the [Evil Child] Incarnation that Zheng Xiu now controlled possessed Innate Divine Power. With his Muscle Strength at "thirty-six," Zheng Xiu hadn’t yet used his full power and was unsure how to moderate his strength. He found out the very next second. Even though the tough hair had snapped the common iron saber, the residual force from his throw still caved in a deep crater.

The Immortal Lady, wrapped inside, let out a wretched scream. The shriek was so piercing it made Zheng Xiu’s eardrums ring. At the same time, a series of wet, popping sounds came from behind the black hair, as if something had burst.

THUD!

The throw of a sharp weapon had produced a muffled thud, like the strike of a heavy hammer.

The Immortal Lady, wrapped in a mass of writhing black hair, was hammered into the temple by the immense force.

RUMBLE.

The temple was old and in disrepair, after all. The Immortal Lady sent the Broken Saber flying as she crashed through a support pillar, kicking up a cloud of dust before disappearing inside.

’A smokescreen, but no real damage?’

Zheng Xiu always found such dust-filled scenes to be a bad omen. He leaped high into the air, catching the Broken Saber in a reverse grip in mid-flight.

The saber was broken, but it could still be used to slash.

Zheng Xiu was about to rush into the temple and, in one fell swoop, slice the Immortal Lady along the dotted line separating her human and insect halves, sparing his eyes the grotesque sight. But unexpectedly, while he was still in mid-air and about to land, the hollow-eyed townspeople suddenly began to change.

Long hair sprouted from tumors on the backs of their heads, sharp teeth burst from their flesh, and their eyes became completely covered by hair.

The townspeople reached for Zheng Xiu, swarming him all at once.

Zheng Xiu’s gaze turned cold. He spun in the air to build momentum, then brought his small foot down hard on one of their heads.

"SPLAT!"

Under the force of his Innate Divine Power, a head instantly burst apart.

But what poured from the shattered skull was not brain matter, but thick, black hair.

The hair writhed like worms inside the cranial cavity. Sickened by the sight, Zheng Xiu landed, leaped up again, and stomped down repeatedly, crushing one head after another.

Amidst the continuous, high-intensity slaughter, Zheng Xiu’s [Muscle Strength], [Step Technique], [Intuition], and [Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes] were constantly gaining experience.

Although the Experience Level gained each time was merely "extremely thin," Zheng Xiu understood the merchant’s principle of accumulation. He believed that these tiny increments of Experience Level would eventually add up, allowing him to break through the bottlenecks of being Human.

A trickling stream can become a vast ocean.

With enough irrigation, even barren land can eventually grow a beautiful, rare flower.

The townspeople’s limbs twisted as they bit and clawed at the boy.

Kill!

Zheng Xiu, one boy with one Broken Saber, began to kill the moment he landed.

By the time he killed the sixteenth person, Zheng Xiu’s eyes were completely red and bloodshot.

Kill! Kill!

With a flash of his saber, several people were cleaved in two, their flesh torn from their bones.

Kill! Kill! Kill!

With a punch and a slash, some had their chests caved in, others had their heads burst open, and still others had their torsos torn apart.

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!

The ground around Zheng Xiu was already littered with bizarre "corpses." With blood-red eyes, he scanned his surroundings. There was still one person left, one person still standing.

In the blink of an eye, over a hundred people lay on the ground. The half-saber in Zheng Xiu’s hand was already so notched and pitted it barely resembled a blade.

HSS!

With a spin, Zheng Xiu stepped forward. The shattered corpses on the ground trembled. His slanted Broken Saber sliced from right to left, leaving a straight, meteor-like streak of light in its wake.

As the saber slashed viciously across, Zheng Xiu suddenly saw a pair of bewildered and terrified eyes.

Biting his tongue, Zheng Xiu’s mind cleared slightly. He deliberately let his foot slip, using the momentum to fall backward.

The broken edge of the saber sliced off a few strands of hair.

The person standing before Zheng Xiu just now had been Zheng Erniang.

’When did she get here?’

Zheng Erniang didn’t recognize Zheng Xiu. She scrambled to one side, staring in terror at the boy who was completely covered in blood and grime.

Zheng Xiu froze, looking at the Broken Saber in his hand. ’What did I just do?’

A memory flashed through his mind. Zheng Xiu vaguely recalled that while he was fighting the grotesque townspeople, several [Will] checks had flashed before his eyes.

Looking over, he saw the Dice were still spinning, never having stopped.

’The Evil Child’s Will is a lot lower than Zheng Shan’s. That’s its weakness. Could it be that seeing the Immortal Lady’s true form defiled my senses and I just... went berserk?’

Zheng Xiu took a deep breath, silently chanting to himself to calm down and dispel the chaotic killing intent clouding his mind.

He was once again reminded of the importance of [Will] inside a Ghostly Realm.

The [Zheng Shan] Incarnation’s Will Attribute was extremely high. Aside from some slight discomfort when the Darkness was unleashed at the end, Zheng Xiu hadn’t had any other opportunity to experience what it felt like for his Will to plummet.

’Once you go berserk, it’s damn hard to control yourself.’

As Zheng Xiu quickly calmed himself, the red in his eyes receded. He glanced at the trembling Zheng Erniang in the distance. Even though he was sure this version of her was just a construct of the Ghostly Realm, he had still nearly cut her head off without a second thought. That feeling of being out of control was deeply unsettling to him.

’It’s all that creature’s fault for corrupting my senses!’

Master Zheng prepared to vent all this foul anger on the Immortal Lady.

He planned to snip the Immortal Lady in half along the dotted line down her middle.

’Human to human, insect to insect, returning things to their natural state.’

Zheng Xiu watched the panicked Zheng Erniang from afar but didn’t approach. He had no reason to go to her, and even less reason to reveal who he was.

Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the distance.

It was none other than Feng Bei, Yue Yan, and Dou Xie.

The three of them had rushed up the mountain path. Yue Yan held a thin needle between her moist lips, while Dou Xie carried a book of scriptures.

Yue Yan and Dou Xie stopped in their tracks. Staring at the boy who was covered in blood and holding a Broken Saber, Yue Yan looked astonished, while Dou Xie looked as if he’d seen a ghost.

In truth, they had just glimpsed the final moments of Zheng Xiu’s hundred-man slaughter from a distance.

Dou Xie was shaken to his core.

He had personally witnessed Zheng Xiu’s final slash toward Zheng Erniang, a strike as fast as lightning and carrying a vicious wind. Yet, at the last possible second, the boy had twisted his torso to forcibly cancel the motion.

Such core strength—an iron waist, really—was unimaginable in a boy of only ten.

’If I had a core like that...’ Dou Xie thought with envy. ’I wouldn’t have to suffer from an unbearably sore back after copying scriptures all night!’

Yue Yan had, of course, also seen that incredible core strength. But beyond her astonishment at his physical power, she gazed at the shattered corpses littering the ground, her brow furrowed in deep thought.

Just then, Feng Bei walked a few steps closer and asked Zheng Xiu, "Are you injured?"

Zheng Xiu silently shook his head. Before he could answer Feng Bei’s question, he turned and charged into the temple.

His speed was unbelievable, causing Yue Yan’s frown to deepen.

After the slaughter, the dust in front of the temple had settled, revealing that a corner of the old building had collapsed.

From the collapsed ruins, patches of mixed bluish-red "bloodstains" stretched inward, emitting a foul stench.

Although Feng Bei, Dou Xie, and Yue Yan rarely worked on cases together, this was clearly not the time for questions. With a silent understanding, they suppressed their doubts and followed Zheng Xiu into the temple.

"It’s the Dang Lang Immortaaal!"

Dou Xie pointed at the ugly idol enshrined in the center, his voice trembling in shock as he spoke with a slight lisp.

The temple’s furnishings were relatively normal, with one exception: a tall stone statue of the Dang Lang Immortal was enshrined in the center.

"It’s a praying mantis."

Zheng Xiu corrected Dou Xie’s mispronunciation. That was no Dang Lang Immortal; it was obviously just a giant praying mantis monster.

Ever since the Baili Village Ghostly Realm, Zheng Xiu seemed to have developed a certain immunity to these bizarre creatures. For instance, when he had just looked upon the Immortal Lady’s true form, he’d lost a bit of [Will] from the defilement and felt a wave of nausea.

But Zheng Xiu hadn’t frozen in shock. Instead, he had immediately used [Taunt] and thrown his saber. It seemed a Human’s tolerance for such things could exceed their own imagination. Zheng Xiu was gradually getting used to all this weirdness.

"Hm?"

He didn’t have the [Scouting] Ability, but Zheng Xiu wasn’t blind. He followed the trail of blood behind the Dang Lang Immortal statue.

Behind the Dang Lang Immortal, floor tiles had been pried open, revealing a hole that had been dug in advance, large enough for three people to enter shoulder-to-shoulder.

The text prompts might be late, but they’re never absent.

[You have discovered a mysterious hole.]

[The cave is suspicious. Its path is winding and its depths are unfathomable. You sense that something is amiss.]

[You must make a choice.]

[1. Enter boldly, regardless of life or death.]

[2. Say a prayer to the Immortal Lady for a safe passage.]

[3. Leave this place. The stars are not aligned for you tonight.]

Zheng Xiu was beginning to understand that the choices in this Ghostly Realm were mostly just for show, serving only as reminders. He glanced at the options and ignored them. They were just telling him it was dangerous inside. ’Who doesn’t know that?’ he thought.

’This damn GM is full of crap today,’ Zheng Xiu grumbled to himself.

Zheng Xiu pursed his lips.

Because the [Ghostly Realm - Immortal Maiden Temple] involved Zheng Erniang, Zheng Xiu’s journey this time was not as relaxed as usual. He felt a hint of impatience.

He was planning to do a true speedrun this time.

The hole behind the "Dang Lang Immortal" statue was obviously the Immortal Lady’s hiding place.

The anger in Zheng Xiu’s heart had yet to fade; it felt like a ball of fire was smoldering in his chest.

But he knew that part of this anger stemmed from the corruption of his [Will], which wasn’t necessarily a good thing. So, Zheng Xiu looked toward Feng Bei.

Though Zheng Xiu said nothing, Feng Bei seemed to see the worry in the boy’s eyes. She offered a reassuring smile and said, "Don’t worry."

Nearby, Yue Yan grew increasingly suspicious of the relationship between Feng Bei and this "old acquaintance." She even dared to wonder if Feng Bei might be Young Master Zheng’s mother. The affection was written all over her face, making it hard to believe this was the same Mystic Feng Bei from Ye Weiyang, a woman whose very name made others pale in fear.

She first looked at the blood-soaked Zheng Xiu clutching his Broken Saber, then at the gentle-faced Evil Star Feng Bei, who was acting completely unlike her usual self. Finally, she couldn’t resist asking, "Aren’t you going to explain what just happened?"

Zheng Xiu nodded. Since they were teaming up to clear this dungeon, he had intended to make use of Ye Weiyang’s strength anyway. Deliberately omitting his multiple resets, Zheng Xiu gave them a condensed but clear account of what happened after he entered the Ghostly Realm on his last attempt, right up to the slaughter in front of the Immortal Maiden Temple.

When Zheng Xiu was vividly describing the "Immortal Lady’s" true form, he had just gotten to the part where he said, "Honestly, the Human half of the Immortal Lady was actually quite good-looking," when...

Dou Xie’s face suddenly turned green. His cheeks puffed out, and he clutched his throat, trying to hold it in for a moment. In the end, he couldn’t stop himself and bent over, vomiting violently at the side.