Land Where Humans and Ghosts Coexist

Although he had refined another fierce ghost and taken another step toward his first Fierce Ghost Lifting Lotus, Tan Shuchang could not help feeling somewhat frustrated.

Who would have thought there was another fierce ghost in that Weird Game instance?

Moreover, though the one he had caught could also be considered a fierce ghost, overall, it was far inferior to the other two female ghosts.

This was likely because, although those sacrificed to the venue had become fierce ghosts and received enhancements from the Weird Game, the enhancement was limited by how weak they had been in life.

"If I encounter fierce ghosts in the future, I must observe them before making a move. I cannot attack at the first opportunity..." Thus, Tan Shuchang made this decision.

There might be more than one fierce ghost in that Weird Game instance.

To Tan Shuchang, this was undoubtedly good news. One entry meant he could obtain double the cultivation resources.

Then Tan Shuchang began pondering another matter.

His current Weird Game player rank was Ding Six. Having participated in his third Weird Game instance, he had naturally ranked up once again after the game ended.

Starting from nine, one was the highest. In that regard, it resembled the imperial court's official ranking system.

Originally, Tan Shuchang had thought ranking up was merely ranking up. But after this advancement, he discovered that he could summon his player status panel whenever he wished.

He did not even need to summon it deliberately. As long as he thought of the Weird Game, the player status panel would appear.

It had flashed before his eyes several times just now.

Player: Tan Shuchang.

Rank: Ding Six.

Malice Resistance: Jia One.

Corruption Resistance: Jia One.

Destruction Resistance: Jia One.

Supernatural Resistance: Jia One.

At the very bottom of this status panel was a rather vicious-looking mask. It resembled a fox's head growing from a human face.

Tan Shuchang focused his gaze upon it, and then a voice sounded beside his ear.

It was the voice he had heard when he first encountered the Weird Game.

"Do you wish to enter the Land Where Humans and Ghosts Coexist? On your first entry, you will overlook it from a third-person perspective, though you may switch to entering in your true body at any time. Every entry thereafter will be in your true body. Each entry will consume the entrant's own power; if power is insufficient, irreversible injuries will be substituted."

"Note: This Land Where Humans and Ghosts Coexist has three levels. Yet even the outermost level conceals a great many fierce ghosts! There are even powerful ghostly entities above fierce ghosts!"

"Note: In the Land Where Humans and Ghosts Coexist, fierce ghosts will not have their movements restricted!"

Tan Shuchang had still been mulling it over, but upon hearing the last two sentences, he did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately chose to enter.

He happened to be short of one last fierce ghost.

Finding fierce ghosts in the Jia Five Realm was not only difficult, but also troublesome. One careless move might even provoke the Netherworld. As far as Tan Shuchang knew, although demonic cultivation had countless methods, the immensely powerful path of ghost refinement had not stirred even the slightest ripple in the Jia Five Realm.

Methods for capturing and suppressing ghosts were widespread everywhere, yet methods for refining ghosts were exceedingly scarce, with scarcely any cultivators practicing them. That was well worth pondering.

And the few immortal cultivators who possessed fierce ghosts were not practitioners of ghost refinement themselves.

One of the fierce ghosts Tan Shuchang had originally set his sights on belonged to the Jian Gorge Sect. The fierce ghost beside that person had been one of his admirers. After dying and becoming a ghost, she had unexpectedly retained most of her consciousness, and so she remained at the Jian Gorge Sect.

This was probably a story of a simp and his goddess.

Another was at Shuilan Residence in Five-Court Cave. It had been the former owner of that underwater cave dwelling. After dying, it had remained within the cave, but it had failed to retain its consciousness from life. Its later consciousness had gradually been nurtured beneath the washing of spiritual energy.

The immortal cultivator who later acquired the cave dwelling revered it as his Second Master and constantly offered incense and worshiped it with filial devotion.

There was also a fierce ghost that was the spirit worshiped and sacrificed to by the villagers of Dead Bone Mountain. It possessed no self-awareness, but neither was it aggressive. It had remained asleep all along, manifesting only according to the villagers' thoughts whenever they performed sacrifices.

The reason the first two had not been taken away by Netherworld underworld envoys was that powerful forces protected them both, which was only to be expected. Though the Netherworld was powerful, it never engaged in direct conflict with cultivators of the Jia Five Realm.

But Tan Shuchang could not understand why the Netherworld's underworld envoys had never gone to capture the third one.

That was, after all, a fierce ghost-level entity, not some ordinary wandering soul. There was no reason to disdain it for being weak and simply leave it alone. After all, the Netherworld had never spared even weak wandering souls.

At this moment, as his body abruptly twisted in an instant, Tan Shuchang had already entered that Land Where Humans and Ghosts Coexist.

This so-called third-person overlooking perspective was actually just allowing him to temporarily "possess" a mass of shadow. This "shadow" did not hinder his movements, and through it, Tan Shuchang could clearly see everything around him.

He was now in a bustling yet silent marketplace.

The reason he described it with such contradictory words was that many people walked through this market, each dressed in black robes and wearing a strange mask.

Yet no matter what these people did, they never opened their mouths to speak.

Thus, the only sounds that could be heard were objects being set down and knocking together at the stalls, as well as footsteps while people walked.

So Tan Shuchang tried speaking.

After all, he was currently in a third-person perspective state, not entering in his true body. He could let loose without worry.

But the moment he opened his mouth, he discovered that he could speak, yet his voice could not travel outward. Or rather, it could not reach this place. Clearly, this was because his true body had not entered.

After confirming this, Tan Shuchang naturally felt even more at ease with this third-person perspective state.

So he walked directly into a shop nearby.

This shop was one of the few shops in the marketplace. Apart from this one, Tan Shuchang could see only three others in total. All three were some distance away from him.

Nothing could be seen from outside the shop, but the moment he entered, he saw an emblem standing in the center.

It had been carved from stone, depicting a skull alongside a saber and a sword.

Behind the emblem stood several counters.

Quite a few figures drifted about near these counters. Behind the counters in particular, shadows layered upon shadows.

Tan Shuchang was about to go in when a figure flickered and arrived before him, blocking his way. "This is a place where ghost arts are sold. If you wish to enter, you must come in your true body."

The voice was dry and icy, like a desiccated corpse speaking.

Tan Shuchang glanced at the figure. Although the other party wore a mask, it was obvious that beneath it lay living flesh and blood.

So Tan Shuchang turned and left.

The moment he departed, the figures clustered and drifting around the counters inside the shop suddenly froze.