The enormous Ghost Mirror stood silently in the center of the golden room.
On its dark red frame, the distorted faces seemed to writhe slowly.
The gray-green sheen reflected in the mirror seemed to lower the temperature of the entire room by several degrees.
"Bro, is this thing really a perk?"
Zhang Wei hunched his shoulders and kept well away from the mirror.
"Why do I feel like one look into this thing could suck your soul right out?"
Ye Zhen planted one hand on his hip, raised his chin, and cleared his throat.
"That just shows how little you know."
"This is called the Ghost Mirror. It's the forum's first great gift to every newcomer. If Boss Lin hadn't been doing your big brother here a favor, he wouldn't have made it available!"
"Simply put, it can bring you back to life!"
Ning Rongrong's eyes widened, disbelief written all over her face.
"That's right." Ye Zhen waved the Wangzai Milk in his hand.
"As long as you stand before the mirror and let it reflect your image, it will make a complete copy of you as you are now and store it."
"If a ghost kills you out there, whether you dissolve into corpse fluid or get gnawed down to bare bones, you can walk back out of this mirror as long as it's still here."
Resurrection?
That word exploded in Ning Rongrong's mind.
Even the gods of legend on the Douluo Continent had to pay an unimaginable price to resurrect a living being!
Yet in this world, it was nothing more than a newcomer perk?!
The Douluo Continent.
In the main hall of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi's hand suddenly trembled around the teacup he had been holding.
Scalding tea spilled onto the precious red sandalwood table, but he did not even notice.
"Re... resurrection?"
Sword Douluo Chen Xin shot to his feet, undisguised shock in his eyes.
"How is that possible?! Even a god can't bring someone back from the dead so easily!"
Bone Douluo Gu Rong breathed heavily.
"Fengzhi, if Rongrong can bring that mirror back to the Douluo Continent, our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will endure forever!"
Spirit City, the Papal Hall.
Bibi Dong's fingertips tightened around her scepter.
"Resurrection?"
She had spent years painstakingly undergoing the Rakshasa God's trials, and death lay at the heart of her deepest obsession.
With a mirror like that, even failure would leave her a chance to make a comeback!
In the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Xue Ye clenched both fists, trembling all over.
"A mere newcomer perk can bring the dead back to life. Then how terrifying must the divine artifacts in the Advanced Welfare Zone be?"
In the Star Luo Empire, Dai Tian's face flushed. "Mubai, as your father, I'll make sure you get an opportunity like this too!"
The patriarch of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan slammed his palm onto his armrest.
"Any item brought back from that plane would be enough to sweep across the entire Douluo Continent!"
Shrek Academy.
Tang San stared fixedly at the Sky Screen, pushing his Purple Demon Eye to its limit, as though trying to see every detail of the mirror through the image.
Yu Xiaogang was even more excited, his face bright red. He staggered to his feet and clasped his hands behind his back.
"What did I tell you!"
Yu Xiaogang looked around and declared loudly.
"That world has an unbelievable number of divine artifacts. Even a simple newcomer perk has the power of resurrection!"
"It's clearly a plane on par with the Divine Realm!!"
"Little San, we have to find a way to get our people from Shrek into that world too!"
Tang San nodded firmly.
Even if we die, we can come back to life!
Across the entire Douluo Continent, only one thought remained in everyone's mind: divine artifact!
As for whatever dangers Ye Zhen mentioned afterward, no one listened closely at all.
In the face of such an enormous temptation, what did those vague dangers matter?
On the screen.
Ye Zhen took another long swig of Wangzai Milk.
"Of course, nothing in this world comes free."
"As good as the Ghost Mirror is, each newcomer can only save once. After saving, you'll have to wait until the next reset to use it again."
"Most importantly, if you really die, the you who walks back out of the mirror will lose every power you previously possessed and become an ordinary person."
Ning Rongrong shuddered slightly at those words.
Lose all my cultivation? Become an ordinary person?
For someone who cultivated soul power, that was no small price.
But then she remembered Mad Rhino being eaten alive and Meng Shenji dissolving into corpse fluid.
In a world where even breathing could trigger a killing condition, staying alive mattered more than anything!
As long as she lived, the possibilities were endless!
"I'll do it." Ning Rongrong bit her lower lip and stepped forward without hesitation.
Her lavish princess dress stood in stark contrast to the dark red mirror frame.
Ning Rongrong stood before the mirror, took a deep breath, and let it capture her full reflection.
Ripples instantly spread across the mirror's surface.
The copying process was slow and meticulous.
Just as Ning Rongrong thought the save was nearly complete, something suddenly changed!
The writhing deep within the mirror abruptly intensified, and an icy, deathly pale hand reached out of its surface without warning!
Its fingernails were pitch-black, and its fingers were twice as long as a normal person's.
Then the face of Ning Rongrong's reflection began to twist, splitting into an unnaturally wide smile that stretched all the way to her ears.
The reflected Ning Rongrong abruptly flung her arms open, trying to drag the real Ning Rongrong inside!
"Aah!!!"
Ning Rongrong let out a piercing scream, her entire body rigid with terror.
That face, identical to her own yet twisted into something ghostly, instantly filled her with the fear of death!
At the last possible moment.
Ye Zhen was already in front of Ning Rongrong. He slammed a fist into the pale hand, forcibly knocking it back inside.
The distorted face in the mirror instantly returned to normal, and the saved data settled within the Ghost Mirror.
Ning Rongrong ran to one side, her chest heaving. The sensation of being dragged into the mirror by herself still left her shaken.
Just then, Zhang Wei brushed the dust off his trouser legs and strode nonchalantly toward the Ghost Mirror.
"Do you really need to be that scared of this thing?"
Zhang Wei approached the mirror with his head high and chest out, swaggering even more than Ye Zhen himself.
The writhing in the mirror returned, and the deathly pale hand was just about to emerge.
Zhang Wei shouted at the mirror, "Behave yourselves! My big brother's right here, and you still dare act up?!"
The ghost in the mirror actually seemed to freeze for a moment.
Then the pale hand reached out again, grabbing at Zhang Wei.
A red ghost domain flashed.
The pale hand was forced back by a powerful surge of paranormal power.
This time, however, it was not Ye Zhen who had acted.
Yang Jian had returned to the hall at some point, his icy Ghost Eye fixed on the Ghost Mirror.
Ye Zhen had been about to make a few more arrogant remarks, but upon seeing Yang Jian return, he immediately flicked his black robe and snorted.
Ning Rongrong stared blankly at the scene, overwhelmed with shock.
The save was complete, and Zhang Wei's carefree pose was imprinted within the Ghost Mirror.
Ning Rongrong's gaze drifted involuntarily toward the other side of the room.
There, she could dimly make out another tightly shut Golden Door bearing the words "Advanced Welfare Zone."
"Hero Ye," Ning Rongrong asked cautiously.
"What is that Advanced Welfare Zone over there? How can we use it?"
Before you continue