An Opportunity

Cobalt-blue text flashed across Xia Lun's vision.

[Slaughter! You killed 15 Nuo-Mask Plague believers and gained 160 Memory Points!]

[Specialty progress!]

[Specialty "Mass Murderer" (locked) (27/100): Bodies litter the ground, and blood flows in streams! You have killed so many people that you find it easier to frighten others into submission when intimidating them. Once you gain this specialty, you can also harm spirit-type ghosts through physical attacks. Over time, this specialty can slightly increase your mental strength.]

In just a few minutes, Xia Lun's progress toward the Mass Murderer specialty had shot up by more than fifteen percent. He had gained more in one burst than he had throughout the entire previous scenario.

Only then did he realize that this seemingly absurd specialty was actually easy to obtain.

If he kept killing at this rate, a few more waves of Mind Fasting Sect cultists would be enough.

At that thought, Xia Lun shook his head and turned toward Xuan Yan.

Firelight flickered through the rising mist of blood. Xuan Yan stared at him, dumbfounded, his eyes wide as though he were looking not at a person, but at some kind of monster.

Noticing Xia Lun's gaze, Xuan Yan lowered his eyes awkwardly and swallowed. Then he cupped his hands. "Thank you for coming to my aid. I'm Xuan Yan. May I, uh... may I ask your name?"

His words were jumbled and poorly chosen, but Xia Lun understood what he meant.

"My real name is Xia Lun," he replied with a smile. "No need to be so formal, Daoist. I cultivate the Dao too. I belong to the Way of Sitting and Forgetting, and my Daoist name is Master Danyang."

Xuan Yan tilted his head blankly. Then he blinked, his gaze darting guiltily to the left.

"A