1408: Haram Center

Recently, a strange tale has gradually spread throughout the entire Yunshan Forbidden Area.

A mysterious powerful individual, appearing and disappearing unpredictably within the Forbidden Ground, is frantically hunting Nightmare Ghosts, seemingly tireless, causing the number of Nightmare Ghosts in the outer regions of the Forbidden Ground to drastically decrease.

This has led to a predicament for cultivators who came to the Forbidden Ground to earn Origin Stones by hunting Nightmare Ghosts: there are no Nightmare Ghosts left to kill.

Often, more than ten cultivators would chase after a single Nightmare Ghost, and even conflicts have broken out over ownership rights.

According to some veterans who frequent the Forbidden Ground, that mysterious powerful individual has killed at least tens of thousands of Nightmare Ghosts during this period.

Otherwise, the outer regions of the Forbidden Ground wouldn't be so empty, even cleaner than after Liuyun Sect's triennial cleanup operation.

However, although this mysterious powerful individual has cut off many cultivators' source of income, his reputation among the numerous cultivators entering the Forbidden Ground is quite good; many are even grateful to him.

This is because this powerful individual, whenever encountering cultivators in danger, would selflessly offer assistance, and has even eliminated many rogue cultivators lurking in the Forbidden Ground.

...

Boom!

In the inner region of the Yunshan Forbidden Area, a figure suddenly leaped out of the ground, striking a Realm Four Nightmare Ghost with a heavy punch.

With a bang!

This Realm Four Nightmare Ghost was as if struck by a mountain, and under the immense force, its entire body instantly exploded into fragments.

It was only then that the soil splashed up from the earth had not yet fallen.

At this moment.

The mysterious powerful individual, recently rumored among cultivators, after a successful strike, once again hid underground, only reappearing after confirming that no commotion had been caused in the surroundings.

"The quality of Nightmare Ghosts here in the inner region of the Forbidden Ground is indeed higher than those outside!"

Wang Chen glanced around, a satisfied expression on his face.

It had already been his tenth day entering the Yunshan Forbidden Area; the Nightmare Ghosts in the outer regions of the Forbidden Ground had been basically cleared out by him, and the few remaining stragglers were not worth the effort to specifically search for.

So, a day ago, he quietly came to this inner region.

However, he was not as reckless as before; even though his strength had increased significantly since he entered, he still chose a more cautious approach.

Hiding underground, upon discovering a Nightmare Ghost, he would suddenly burst forth, kill it, and then turn around and move to another location.

In the single day since he arrived in the inner region, more than twenty Realm Four Nightmare Ghosts had died by his hand, and he had also unceremoniously taken care of two lone Five Realm Nightmare Ghosts.

Currently, his Rank had reached Rank 279, and his strength had almost tripled compared to when he entered the Forbidden Ground.

[Name: Wang Chen.]

[Profession: Giant Beast Master.]

[Rank: Rank 279.]

[Talents: Affection of Myriad Beasts (SSS), Beast Pet Fusion (God).]

[Skills: Beast Taming Art (Divine-Grade, copies Beast Pet talent skills: Earth Vein Saint Body, Divine Phoenix Eyes, Dark Night Guardian, Earth Escape Golden Light, Mark of Enslavement.), Bloodline Identification Technique (God).]

[Strength (Real): 9755 points.]

[Wisdom (Real): 9891 points.]

[Physique (Real): 9755 points.]

[Agility (Real): 9755 points.]

[Unallocated Attribute Points: 0 points.]

[Unallocated Skill Points: 180 points.]

...

Moreover, he was now only 75% away from reaching his goal of ascending to Rank 280.

Another ten Realm Four Peak Stage Nightmare Ghosts, or two or three Five Realms Initial Stage ones, would be enough to fill the remaining progress.

"After I pass the first Heavenly Tribulation, once I activate my secret technique, I will basically be able to move unhindered within the Forbidden Ground; as long as I don't touch the source of pollution sealed in the center of the Forbidden Ground, among the other Nightmare Ghosts, there might not even be enough on one hand that can be my opponents."

Wang Chen turned his head and glanced a few times towards the center of the Forbidden Ground, a hint of anticipation on his face.

During this day, besides hunting Nightmare Ghosts, he had also basically figured out the situation in this inner region.

He hadn't gone to the center, so that's for now, but the overall strength of the Nightmare Ghosts in the entire inner region was extremely formidable; Realm Three and Realm Four were everywhere, with almost no lower-strength existences, and even the total number of Five Realm Nightmare Ghosts was nearly thirty.

However, he still didn't have much confidence to provoke a large group of Nightmare Ghosts at the moment, as once the battle time dragged on too long, it would immediately attract Nightmare Ghosts from other areas, and being ganged up on at that point would be unfavorable.

And among the Nightmare Ghosts he discovered, there were four whose strength reached Five Realm Peak, which he couldn't defeat with his current strength.

These four Five Realm Peak Nightmare Ghosts were extremely well hidden, seemingly worried that showing themselves would attract the attention of the Liuyun Sect; normally, they mixed with ordinary Five Realm Nightmare Ghosts and Realm Four Nightmare Ghosts.

Wang Chen currently avoiding large groups of Nightmare Ghosts was not without the factor of not wanting to encounter these four Five Realm Peak Nightmare Ghosts.

And besides these four, Wang Chen guessed that there must be other hidden Five Realm Peak Nightmare Ghosts, as these fellows are not weak in wisdom, unlike ordinary monsters.

...

Center of Yunshan Forbidden Area.

The rolling black mist was so dense it was almost tangible, coiling like threads around the branches of twisted trees and covering corroded, strangely shaped rocks.

With such concentrated power of the evil Qi of heaven and earth, an ordinary cultivator entering it would instantly lose control of their mind, their body would be corroded, and they would turn into mindless monsters.

However, for the Nightmare Ghosts born from resentment and evil thoughts, coming to such an environment was like a fish in water, a treasured land they dreamed of.

At this moment.

The rolling black mist surged and undulated, like tides ebbing and flowing, or perhaps echoing the breathing of some existence.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!

Just then, a sound of rushing wind suddenly arose, and several figures rushed into the black mist.

At the same time, in the center of the black mist, a Nightmare Ghost with two bifurcated horns on its head, a human-like appearance, and its body covered by solidified battle armor made of the world's resentment and evil Qi, suddenly opened its eyes.

"I've already said, don't come here without my command; if you disrupt the Lord's plan, you will all die!"

As the horned Nightmare Ghost spoke, its crimson eyes held cruel coldness.

Before its words finished, two other human-like Nightmare Ghosts, whose aura was a few notches weaker, instantly appeared on the empty ground in front of him.

"Please forgive us, Lord!"

Upon appearing, these two Nightmare Ghosts immediately knelt on one knee, one of them urgently saying:

"It was truly an urgent matter; otherwise, we would never have disturbed you here, Lord."

The horned Nightmare Ghost's eyes flashed red upon hearing this, and he asked with an eerie voice:

"What happened?"

"Lord, recently the number of deaths among our subordinates has been increasing, with nearly 80% of those below Realm Four being lost."

"It's likely that those despicable humans of the Liuyun Sect have discovered something amiss, and are preparing to act ahead of schedule!"