42: Chapter 42 Preparation for the C-Rank Trial

Chen Mo stayed in the Basement for an entire night.

The workbench was covered in Materials—six Time Fragments, a bottle of Splitter blood, five units of stabilizing matrix, and several auxiliary Materials exchanged from Old Zhou. He stared at these items, repeatedly calculating the steps for the refinement.

b-grade stabilizer.

This was the thing he needed most right now.

Not because he needed to use it now, but because he would need it next.

The C-Grade Trial.

To advance from E-grade to C-grade, three conditions had to be met: sufficient fragment energy, passing the deep trial of the Memory Corridor, and... enduring the side effects brought by the promotion.

He had seen those side effects before.

When Old Li was promoted, he almost lost control.

Without a stabilizer, he might have ended up like that too.

Chen Mo took a deep breath and began the refinement.

Step one: mix the blood and the stabilizing matrix.

The purple liquid swirled in the container, and those golden specks of light began to grow active. He stared at them, the Pupil of the Sequence operating at full capacity to ensure every detail was under control.

Step two: add the Time Fragments.

One piece, two pieces, three pieces.

The fragments melted into the liquid, turning into transparent threads that intertwined with those golden specks. The color of the liquid began to change—from purple to deep blue, and from deep blue to black.

Step three: wait.

Ten minutes.

Just like last time.

But this time, there were no accidents.

Ten minutes later, the liquid solidified.

It turned into a small, transparent crystal with six golden threads floating inside.

[b-grade stabilizer · Refinement Successful]

[Purity: 97%]

Chen Mo picked up the crystal and held it up to the light.

Perfect.

He put the crystal away and stood up.

Lin Wei was still nearby, asleep against the wall. She had been with him these past few days and had barely rested.

Chen Mo did not wake her.

He pushed open the door and walked into the yard.

The day had already dawned.

The sunlight hit his body, feeling warm and cozy.

He took a deep breath and opened the System interface.

[Current Fragments: 245]

[Sequence Evolution Progress: E-grade · 98%]

[C-grade Promotion Requirements: Fragment energy sufficient, Memory Corridor deep trial incomplete]

[Memory Corridor Deep Trial: Must kill 1 C-grade Ghost Shadow within 24 hours]

C-grade Ghost Shadow.

He had seen a few—the Night Prowler, the Splitter, and Zhang Lie the Transformed One. Every single one had almost taken his life.

But now, he had to actively seek one out.

And he had to kill it alone.

Chen Mo sat on the ground and began to think.

Among the C-grade Ghost Shadows, which one was most suitable for him right now?

The Night Prowler was too strong; its darkness domination ability was almost invincible at night. The Splitter had too many tentacles, making it easy to get surrounded. Transformed Ones like Zhang Lie were even harder to deal with because they would self-destruct.

He needed to find one with a flaw in its ability, one he could defeat by exploiting the rules.

On the map Old Zhou gave him, several C-grade Ghost Shadow locations were marked.

One of them caught his attention.

【Time-Lag Ghost】

【Location: Deep within the Reversal Tunnel】

【Ability: Localized Time Deceleration】

【Weakness: time core exposed; can be briefly stalled after an attack】

【Suggestion: Enter as a team, or prepare time-anchoring items】

Time deceleration.

This ability was very troublesome.

His Prediction was seven seconds, but if time was slowed down, those seven seconds might become 0.7 seconds.

If Prediction failed, his invisibility would also be affected.

But he had one thing—the time core.

That S-grade material he got from Old Li had remained unused.

【time core · S-grade】

【Effect: Can be used to refine time-type items, or used directly to gain a brief time anchor】

【Direct Use Effect: Immune to time deceleration for 10 seconds】

【Material disappears after use】

Chen Mo looked at that line of text.

Immune to time deceleration for ten seconds.

That was enough.

He stood up and walked back into the Basement.

Lin Wei was still sleeping.

He gave her a gentle nudge.

Lin Wei opened her eyes and looked at him groggily.

“Ready to head out?”

Chen Mo nodded.

Lin Wei stood up and rubbed her eyes.

“Where to?”

“Reversal Tunnel,” Chen Mo said. “To kill something.”

Lin Wei was stunned for a moment.

“Now?”

“Now.”

The two of them packed their gear and walked out of the Basement.

The pickup truck was still in the yard, fully fueled.

Chen Mo sat in the driver's seat and started the engine.

Lin Wei got into the passenger seat.

The pickup truck drove out of the yard and onto the highway.

In the rearview mirror, the Farmhouse grew further and further away.

Ahead lay the direction of the Reversal Tunnel.

Three hours later, they arrived at that familiar intersection.

The slope that extended downwards, and the road sign that said "Danger."

Chen Mo parked the car and pushed open the door.

“Wait outside,” he said to Lin Wei.

Lin Wei looked at him.

“By yourself?”

“By myself.”

Lin Wei was silent for a few seconds.

Then she nodded.

“Come back alive.”

Chen Mo didn't answer.

He just turned and walked toward the slope.

The darkness swallowed him.

The tunnel was still just as dark.

But this time, Chen Mo could feel something different.

There were more time rifts, densely distributed throughout the passage. Some rifts were moving slowly, some were stationary, and some... were breathing.

Like they were alive.

He gripped the time core and slowly walked forward.

After walking for about ten minutes, light appeared ahead.

It wasn't the light of an exit, but a... weird kind of light.

Pale blue, like moonlight, yet also like phosphorus fire.

Chen Mo quickened his pace.

At the end of the passage was a massive cavern.

It was about the same size as the previous cavern, but there were no rocks in the middle. Only one thing was suspended in mid-air—

A mass of light.

A humanoid light.

It had no physical form, only an outline. That outline was slowly changing, sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes a child, sometimes an old person.

【Target: C-grade Ghost Shadow 'Time-Lag Ghost'】

【Status: Dormant】

【Ability: Localized Time Deceleration】

【Weakness: time core】

【Threat Assessment: High】

Chen Mo stared at it.

Then he activated the time core.

Instantly, everything around him changed.

The time rifts no longer moved, the floating specks of light froze in mid-air, and even the 'Time-Lag Ghost' stopped changing.

Ten seconds.

He only had ten seconds.

Chen Mo charged forward.

The cleaver hacked into the mass of light.

The blade sank in.

The mass of light trembled violently, and then—

It woke up.

The surrounding space-time instantly resumed its flow.

But Chen Mo was still within his ten seconds.

He was unaffected.

Second strike.

Third strike.

Fourth strike.

The mass of light began to twist and contract, finally condensing into a human form.

A middle-aged man.

Wearing an old-fashioned suit and glasses, his expression was very calm.

He looked at Chen Mo, a strange look in his eyes.

It wasn't anger, it wasn't hatred, it was... confusion.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Chen Mo didn't speak.

He just gripped his knife and watched him.

“Why do you want to kill me?” the man asked again.

Chen Mo was silent for a second.

“Because you want to kill me.”

The man was stunned.

Then he smiled.

It was a very bitter smile.

“You're right,” he said. “I do want to kill you. But I can't control myself.”

He lowered his head and looked at his hands.

Those hands were becoming transparent.

“I've been trapped here for a long time,” he said. “So long that I've forgotten who I am.”

He raised his head and looked at Chen Mo.

“Can you do me a favor?”

Chen Mo looked at him.

“What favor?”

“Tell me, is there still time outside?”

Chen Mo was silent for a few seconds.

“Yes.”

The man smiled.

The smile was very peaceful.

“That's good then.”

His body began to disintegrate, turning into countless golden fragments.

Those fragments scattered in the air, finally condensing into one thing—

A transparent crystal with a silver thread floating inside.

[Obtained: time core fragment ×1]

[C-grade material, can be used to refine time-type items]

Chen Mo put the crystal away.

Then he turned and walked out of the cavern.

The time rifts in the tunnel had already disappeared.

Leaving only endless darkness.

And that faint point of light in the distance.

He walked toward that point of light.

It was the exit.

The moment he stepped out of the tunnel, sunlight hit his body.

Lin Wei ran over and looked at him.

“Are you okay?”

Chen Mo shook his head.

He pulled out the crystal and showed it to her.

“I got it.”

Lin Wei looked at the crystal, then back at him.

Then she smiled.

“Let's go.”

The two of them got into the pickup truck and started the engine.

The pickup truck drove onto the highway, heading back in the direction they came from.

In the rearview mirror, that slope grew further and further away.

Finally, it disappeared beneath the gray horizon.