287: Chapter 286 Entering the Dream, Death Approaches Again!

In the short span of three days, Strange Creatures incidents across the country have increased day by day.

In the past, these could be covered up as various accidents or natural disasters, but as the proportion of ordinary people getting involved grows higher, such cover-ups have become unsustainable.

The existence of Strange Creaturess is now only veiled by a thin layer of gauze.

Even though most people haven't seen a Strange Creatures, the mysterious disappearances of relatives, friends, classmates, and colleagues, along with the normalization of armed patrols everywhere, have made many realize that after that strange scarlet lightning that erupted across the globe, this world is different.

Social media platforms are rife with tales of strange phenomena.

Crisis is present by everyone's side.

Curfews are strictly enforced, yet many can still hear eerie screams at midnight.

When the next day arrives, someone always discovers that a friend or relative has lost contact and vanished.

Although people can still work during the day, they must undergo relevant testing and obtain a QR code certificate to move relatively freely.

Panic is spreading on a large scale in a short time.

Shortages of food, lack of trust.

The public's negative emotions have been suppressed to the limit, causing increasingly severe bloody conflicts.

Social order is on the verge of collapse.

It is against this backdrop that one Transcendent after another is being created.

Although these people are not strong in the short term and still fear the threat of blades and bullets, their very existence indicates that in this specific environment, the power structure of society is undergoing an earth-shattering transformation.

A new era has quietly arrived.

Some are still oblivious, living under the management of the system, acting as the basic foundation, working a nine-to-five, silently contributing their insignificant part to maintain the fragile stability of social order.

Others, however, have long been walking at the forefront, changing rapidly day by day, surpassing the ordinary. The strength of their individual power has even reached a level far beyond what some groups can match.

In the official forum of the Night Watchers, the most eye-catching topic is the outbreak of S-rank Specter incidents.

[Dali Goumeng: "These past few days, Specter incidents have occurred frequently. Valid statistics domestically show that S-rank Specter incidents have reached six. It's truly terrifying!"]

["According to past situations, the casualties caused by such events could easily reach the scale of hundreds of millions, or even trigger a complete collapse of social order. If not handled in time and allowed to drag on, the entire country could become a Forbidden Land."]

["But now, the Domain of S-rank Specters can only be restricted to a specific small range. Heaven has mercy; the Heavens will not watch humanity perish just like that."]

[I Want to Heal the Whole World: "Mercy my foot! Didn't you see the announcement just released? Now some Specters have mutated and gained the power of the death rule. If you violate it, you die. They are far harder to kill than before!"]

[Dali Goumeng: "Where is your brain? Specters with death rules are only a tiny minority. Even for an S-rank Specter, it's just a higher probability, not necessarily possessing an instant-death rule! And as long as we can understand the rules, we can crack them. Not to mention killing an S-rank Specter, at least the survival rate is much higher than before."]

[Mortal World Past: "It needs to be analyzed from two aspects. In terms of the lethality of S-rank Specters, their range of influence is indeed much smaller than before, but because of the existence of the death rule, the difficulty of solving them has increased significantly. It often requires sacrificing human lives to pile up, paying a huge price."]

["Take the six consecutive S-rank incidents this time. Because of the death rule, it is said that even Captain-General Yang almost died inside. Yet, only three incidents were solved. How many colleagues' lives were piled up to successfully solve the other three?"]

[I Am Really Not Poor: "In the past, S-rank Specters could also use rules, and they were unequal rules. It required a team led by a corresponding Transcendent to solve them, not like now where you can just pile up high-combat power numbers to solve them."]

[I Want to Heal the Whole World: "Then if there are more S-rank Specter incidents, who should go to make up the numbers to solve them? After struggling to survive and becoming a Transcendent, who wants to die? Not eating beef is considered kindness from me."]

[Dali Goumeng: "Are you a coward? You're already a Transcendent, still afraid of this and that? Since we sit in this position and enjoy various benefits, we should take on the responsibilities. It's just death, what of it?"]

["Think of our Captain-General Yang. He just explored the large Dark Place in the central region, and after coming out, he immediately solved three S-rank incidents without stopping. It is said he has now returned to the central Dark Place to continue exploration. He is truly a role model for our generation. Such a person, even if he dies in battle, will live in our hearts forever!"]

[I Want to Heal the Whole World: "Alright, stop licking his boots. Captain-General Yang doesn't have time to browse the forum and read comments. Even if he saw it, if he found you cursing him to die, he would definitely kick your ass hard with his pointed leather shoes."]

[Foundation Establishment Expert Zhang Wudi: "Don't panic! Even if Captain-General Yang is not here, I can still carry the sun and moon on my shoulders, destroy Specters with a flick of my finger, and slay evil gods with a sword. Speaking of which, does anyone know who the mysterious expert in Haicheng is who solved the last large S-rank Specter incident? I went there once, but unfortunately, I gained nothing."]

[I Want to Heal the Whole World: "Run quickly, the poser is here again!"]

[Dali Goumeng: "Bad luck, why is this thing everywhere? Who knows which city this little Zhang is from with his middle-school syndrome? Someone take him away to watch cartoons. This is a place for adults to discuss topics."]

[Foundation Establishment Expert Zhang Wudi: "...Heh, I was going to give you two a chance to make up for it! Since that's the case, don't blame me. I have already calculated that you are both contestants participating in the Seed Project. I hope that when we meet soon, you won't be kneeling and begging for mercy."]

[Dali Goumeng: "I am your father, do you dare to accept my bow?"]

[I Want to Heal the Whole World: "I am your grandfather..."]

[Foundation Establishment Expert Zhang Wudi: "I declare that you are dead. Even if you kneel and beg for mercy, I will kill you both!"]

Chu Xuan saw this, quickly flipped the page, and checked some other posts.

In the forum, besides the six S-rank Specter incidents and the Seed Project, the most notable event these days is the upcoming offline national captain meeting.

And coincidentally, the Courtyard No. 9 where he is currently staying is one of the temporary accommodations allocated for captains from various places attending the meeting.

Chu Xuan suddenly understood why Su Qiaoqiao showed a surprised look when they first met and she learned he would be staying here.

After browsing the forum posts for a while, time unknowingly reached six o'clock.

At this point, most important events were roughly understood, and the rest were just ordinary discussions. Chu Xuan had no interest in reading more and slowly put down his phone.

"Time to enter the dream..."

"The last time I entered a dream was at 6:30. According to the pattern, with this half-hour interval, entering the dream should be at 7:00."

"And in the last dream, Future Tang Zheng was actually able to predict that I would be forced to wake up. This time, I can ask clearly."

Chu Xuan checked his current spirituality value. Besides the 200 points stored in the spirit bead, he still had 4585 points remaining.

He spent 810 points of spirituality value to raise his strength, agility, and spirit all to 117 points, just like his stamina attribute.

He still had 3775 points of spirituality value left, and it would take 900 points to upgrade to level 10.

But at this moment, the Slashes in Chu Xuan's body were completely gone. If he encountered a crisis, the fault tolerance would be much lower. After a moment of contemplation, Chu Xuan gave up for now and did not upgrade.

He still had to make some attempts.

Next, Chu Xuan spent 1200 points of spirituality value to accumulate 40 Slashes in his body, then stopped. There was still a vacancy of 10 Slashes, which he planned to accumulate through spirituality value in the dream.

He wanted to test whether the Slashes condensed through spirituality value could still exist after he woke up if used in the dream.

After all, although these Slashes were condensed through spirituality value, once formed, they were no longer considered spirituality value.

They were just a means of attack accumulated in the body.

According to previous experience, items used in dreams, except for spirituality value, generally returned to normal when waking up from a dream.

At this time, it was nearly 6:30, and the sky was dawning.

Chu Xuan habitually left the lights on, sat propped up by his blade, leaned against the headboard, and slowly closed his eyes.

Time passed quietly.

Five minutes.

Chu Xuan raised his eyelids.

"Didn't fall asleep?"

Chu Xuan frowned slightly, concentrating his mind.

Although he could not fall asleep immediately as before, he did not open his eyes again and kept his mind calm.

As time passed minute by minute, his consciousness gradually fell into a deep sleep.

"Never trust anyone..."

...

...

Complex voices mixed and poured into his ears.

Chu Xuan slowly opened his eyes and found that the time was indeed 7:00 sharp.

[Current spirituality value: 2375]

This time, the spirituality value was still deducted by 200 points; it did not increase the consumption because of the forced awakening last time.

He opened the chat software, clicked on the chat box of Future Tang Zheng, and the other party's last chat record came into view.

— [Tang Zheng: "Time is almost up. We are about to enter the Mysterious Land. Your Precognitive Dream Talent should no longer be able to maintain..."]

Chu Xuan quickly edited a text message and sent it over.

Chu Xuan: ["How are you? You weren't slapped to death by that giant hand in the War Dragon World, were you?"]

After waiting for a while, the other party did not reply immediately.

Chu Xuan pondered slightly and edited another message: ["How did you know that after entering the War Dragon World, my Precognitive Dream Talent would not be able to maintain?"]

Still no reply.

Chu Xuan's heart tightened slightly.

Could it be that he really died?

Lowering his eyes slightly, Chu Xuan ignored this. He felt that given the situation at the time, it was unlikely that Tang Zheng would die so easily.

He sent another message: ["Regarding the fact that the Charm attribute is a trap, can I reveal it right now?"]

Then, Chu Xuan added: ["After becoming a Purifier, I became a target for the Evil God's kill order. All Specters have strong hostility towards me. Some people, like members of the Resurrection Society who are in a symbiotic relationship with Specters, might even receive tasks from the Specter world to kill me, just like Azure Dragon did back then."]

Chu Xuan: ["In addition, I can detect the target's identity through the Eye of Insight and can separate humans and Specters through the Fire of Nirvana. I plan to publish the ability of Nirvana Stripping to earn spirituality value. Will doing this violate any taboos? Do you have any good suggestions?"]

Sent!

Chu Xuan put his phone aside. Instead of staring blankly and waiting for a reply, he spent 200 points of spirituality value to condense the remaining 10 Slashes, with each Slash consuming 20 points of spirituality value.

"According to experience, the spirituality value used in the dream is a real consumption. These 10 Slashes can be brought out of the dream."

"But specifically how it works still needs to be verified to know..."

Chu Xuan's eyes showed contemplation.

He looked at the time; five minutes had passed. He immediately opened the official forum and changed his account name "Chu Xuan".

Then, he posted a post.

[Great Love Master Xuan Zhenren: "Low-cost stripping of Specters from the body! Whether you are a member of the Resurrection Society who wants to turn over a new leaf, or a poor wretch who failed to be parasitized by a Specter due to an explosion of luck and is now in a symbiotic state, you are all saved!"]

["Great Love Master Xuan Zhenren can save your future, starting from just 10 points of spirituality value..."]

They say that free things are the most expensive.

Chu Xuan estimated that if he provided services for free, he would be questioned by others, fearing he had ulterior motives, so he set a starting price.

Soon, a few comments appeared under this post, but they were all expressing suspicion and distrust of him.

Chu Xuan was not in a hurry.

This was just an attempt in the dream. As for how to maximize profits, create hype, and let more people know, it still needed more grinding.

Just then, a message notification from Future Tang Zheng appeared.

He didn't die!

Chu Xuan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and immediately opened the unread message. But when he saw the specific message sent by the other party, his pupils could not help but shrink suddenly.

[Tang Zheng: "Chu Xuan, what happened there? In about a minute, you are about to die!"]

Chu Xuan's heart shook, and he stood up abruptly.

As he looked around, he didn't find anything unusual. He then quickly replied: ["Who killed me? What is the specific situation?"]

After sending the message, Chu Xuan took out the demon-subduing pestle, and the long blade suddenly transformed.

[Your spirituality value - 10]

The phone received another message from Future Tang Zheng.

[Tang Zheng: "The specific situation is unknown. In my newly appeared memory, when I returned to the real world from the War Dragon Continent, I heard the news of your disappearance."]

["It was probably at 7:07 on June 24th that the Courtyard No. 9 where you are located was destroyed by dozens of Slashes and turned into ruins."]

["But when people came to investigate, they gained nothing."]

["Whether it was the surveillance outside or investigating by backtracking the scene, there were no clues."]

["The last backtracking scene was that you seemed to be suddenly frightened, then drew your sword and released Slashes. When everything subsided, you disappeared."]

["I tried to deduce it, but the information was incomplete, and the relevant traces were erased. I couldn't see any valuable content. The only thing I can confirm is one point... you are already dead!"]