Bama Village

The old man glanced at the students helplessly and said, "I am the village chief of Bama Village. You may call me Village Chief Ouyang. Otherworldly students, is today once again the day of your annual assessment?"

The students were all surprised.

But most of them still answered honestly.

"Yes, Village Chief Ouyang. Today is the freshman assessment for Glory University."

Village Chief Ouyang nodded.

"Then, otherworldly students, please come test yourselves before this Ghost-Testing Stone."

As he spoke, Village Chief Ouyang took out a square black stone.

"Otherworldly ones, place your hands on this Ghost-Testing Stone. If it does not flash with a blood-red light, you may enter the village and rest."

The students beside Xin Yang's older brother began entering the village according to the village chief's instructions.

It was the older brother's turn.

The older brother placed his hand on the Ghost-Testing Stone.

His eyes remained fixed on it.

Suddenly, a faint red glow appeared on the Ghost-Testing Stone.

Just as that red glow seemed about to grow brighter,

the older brother immediately retreated back into the body.

He let the younger brother take control of the body.

At the same time, he blocked off his senses and fell asleep.

Xin Yang emerged for no apparent reason.

He looked at everything before him.

After Xin Yang emerged, the faint blood-red glow that had just begun to appear on the Ghost-Testing Stone vanished as well.

The village chief did not notice the anomaly from earlier.

"Go on in!"

Xin Yang then followed the villagers leading the way ahead.

They arrived at a place resembling an ancestral hall.

"Otherworldly ones, this is where you will rest."

"All of you, remember this: after midnight, do not go out into the wilderness."

"If you wish to eat, you may go to the porridge shop in the west of the village. There will be free plain congee."

After saying that, the villager headed back toward the village entrance to guide the next batch of students.

"Classmates, isn't this like entering an NPC village in a game?"

"What game? Didn't the soldiers warn us when we entered the trial? Every trial leads to a real world."

"Then what should we do?"

"What else can we do? Sleep first, unless you want to go out into the wilderness at night to kill ghosts for the assessment."

Xin Yang listened for a while.

Then he left the ancestral hall.

He began wandering around the village.

After an hour, Xin Yang had roughly learned about Bama Village.

Bama Village was a small village with more than five hundred households and over two thousand residents. The village chief was Village Chief Ouyang.

The people of Bama Village had farmed for generations. As for why their families had remained here generation after generation, they could not explain it themselves.

Many villagers had never even traveled farther than the nearby town.

There was a Night Patrol Team in the village. Its duty was to protect the villagers and guard against ghosts in the darkness.

As for Xin Yang's questions about what kind of world this was, none of the villagers could give him a clear answer.

However, the villagers said they often saw otherworldly people like them.

They could not explain the relationship between otherworldly people and themselves, either.

Some of the villagers Xin Yang questioned only knew that these otherworldly people might be protecting this world.

Of course, the most important thing Xin Yang learned was that these villagers did not have companion ghosts.

Yes.

They simply did not have companion ghosts.

Compared to "otherworldly people" like Xin Yang, these villagers were utterly ordinary people.

After learning this from the villagers,

he remained unable to process it for a long time.

He screamed inwardly...

What kind of world is this?

Bama Village

Village Entrance

A member of the Night Patrol Team blocked Xin Yang's path and warned him fiercely:

"Otherworldly one, return to the ancestral hall immediately."

"You simply cannot survive in the wilderness at night."

Xin Yang had been arguing with this Night Patrol Team member for nearly half an hour.

The reason was simple.

Xin Yang wanted to go into the wilderness and have a talk about "life" with some ghosts.

But that Night Patrol Team member stubbornly refused to let Xin Yang leave the village.

Seeing how dutiful the Night Patrol Team member was, Xin Yang did not feel right using force.

Xin Yang came to an area where the Night Patrol Team was more thinly spread out, then leaped over the barrier and left Bama Village.

Inside Bama Village's training room.

A burly man with a full beard heard the sound of someone climbing over the fence outside and could not help shaking his head.

"Good luck to you."

Then, the muscles throughout his body began moving subtly, as though a current of energy were flowing within him.

"Hah!"

The man roared and threw a punch. The bones throughout his body began cracking like thunder.

Naturally, Xin Yang had no idea that his escape from the village had already been discovered.

Still, both he and his older brother were aiming for first place in this freshman assessment.

Even though his older brother was asleep now, Xin Yang did not want to waste time. He knew there might be even more formidable geniuses working hard to kill ghosts at this very moment.

Once again, he entered the mountains.

Xin Yang released both the Dreamsource Ghost and Little Black Ball.

There were no other humans here.

So Xin Yang began acting without restraint.

After Little Black Ball came out, it started circling Xin Yang.

It seemed to be expressing its inner joy and excitement.

The Dreamsource Ghost still looked like a goofy, foolish giant panda.

It toddled along behind Xin Yang on its four little legs.

Xin Yang walked toward the depths of the forest for roughly half an hour.

Several Snakewood Ghosts, shaped like snakes and covered from head to tail in old Tree Bark, each nearly three meters long, slithered out from behind a large tree.

Xin Yang sensed something amiss and slowed his pace, doing his best to curl up his body.

Xin Yang carefully observed his surroundings.

Two Snakewood Ghosts crawled near the tree where he was hiding. As if they had sensed something, they slowly lowered their heads.

Then, without hesitation, they coiled their bodies. Their vine-like forms twisted as they lashed viciously toward Xin Yang in the shadows by the tree roots.

"Fuck!" Xin Yang could not hold back any longer. Cursing, he performed a lazy donkey roll and narrowly dodged the two violent strikes.

Then Xin Yang activated the ghost skill Dream Origin. He raised both hands and activated the ghost skill Skinning, fiercely swiping at the waists of the two Snakewood Ghosts. Splintered wood immediately fell away as sap sprayed everywhere.

The two Snakewood Ghosts were enraged.

The vines on their bodies trembled wildly as they twisted around and swung their bodies at him in another savage sweep. Yet Xin Yang still dodged nimbly.

They only sent the thick layer of rotting leaves on the ground flying into the air. Xin Yang immediately retaliated and activated Dream Origin again.

With all his strength, he first threw one Snakewood Ghost toward the Dreamsource Ghost, signaling for it to help attack that ghost.

After receiving the order, Xin Yang's Dreamsource Ghost shed its previous lazy attitude.

Waving its bear paws, it slapped toward the Snakewood Ghost.

In an instant, the bear and snake began a fierce battle.

Fighting without regard for its life, the Snakewood Ghost neither dodged nor evaded the bear paws. It even sprayed out thick Poison Mist, as if it wanted nothing more than to poison the Dreamsource Ghost to death.

Wood splinters filled the sky on Xin Yang's side. Xin Yang moved with agility, circling the Snakewood Ghost as he alternated between the Dream Origin ghost skill and the Skinning ghost skill.

Brothers, please keep reading. Thank you, everyone.