Glory does not lack tales of gods and ghosts. In the ancient times when demons ran rampant, ancient dragons reigned, exotic races invaded, and sea monsters wreaked havoc, even though the Holy Sword Glory protected humanity, ordinary humans were too weak. Thus, the sinister tales of monsters and ghosts continued to grow, and there were even the existence of evil cults and sects, such as the Dragon Worship Sect, White Lotus Sect, Hawk Horn Group, Deep Sea Church, and Grand Saint Cult.

Whether it's the secret tales of monsters or the birth of evil cults, the root is humanity's fear of the exotic races. Unable to contend with them, fear caused humans to portray these races as almost undefeatable enemies. The evil cults and sects either sought to gather power through fear or directly became traitors, aiding the exotic races to gain benefits.

In the beginning, the term "Immortal on Earth" was not a compliment. The ancient exotic races were astoundingly strategic. Long before the Holy Sword Glory emerged, they had already selected some humans to bestow benefits upon, with martial techniques being one of them.

These traitors relied on the martial techniques given by the exotic races to achieve success, then established schools to spread teachings, demonstrate miracles, and gather people, acting as the vanguard for the exotic races to subjugate their own kind.

However, these people were naturally not content with the identity of 'traitor', and even disdained the title of 'emperor', instead adopting a greater, more ambitious name...

Immortal!

The earliest martial techniques were called Immortal Trace!

Yet under the dominance of the Holy Sword Glory and the relentless efforts of generations of famous ministers and valiant generals, the exotic races were hunted to near extinction, tales of monsters evolved into fairy tales, evil cults vanished, and the term Immortal on Earth became a refined term. Immortal Trace became techniques people learned at will. Apart from ancestral worship and sun worship, Glory didn't even produce a formal native religion—perhaps because basking in the sun was so satisfying to the people of Glory that they didn't need to seek an illusory faith for solace.

Although tales of monsters have become common novel material, the tales of the Underworld and Celestial Court are flourishing. Firstly, due to ancestor worship, everyone believes the deceased can ascend to the Celestial Court as immortals; second, due to the fear of death, it's believed the dead can enter the Underworld to be reincarnated.

Additionally, the people of Glory naturally fear the dark, which causes tales of gods and ghosts to spread even more widely—when unable to sleep, everyone feels there's a ghost under the bed or in the darkness.

Those like the Brotherhood and Curse Hunters, though they kill without hesitation, are even more superstitious about these tales because they've seen so much death. Even if unwilling, they subconsciously ponder what happens after death. The idea of becoming a ghost terrifies them, but the thought of no ghosts is even scarier—they refuse to believe they would just vanish without a trace after death.

So when a cry of 'Ghost!' pierces the night sky, the effect is beyond what Le Yin could have imagined. Most of the attackers scrambled into the classroom, seemingly planning to leap out the windows; some turned to flee down the stairs; a few even collapsed on the spot, too scared to run.

This attacker group, whose lowest cultivation level was Integration and Mastery, was driven to collapse by papier-mâché ghosts, with none daring to challenge the apparitions.

Le Yin couldn't help being caught off guard. Having seen too many ghost films in his past life, he had forgotten the fear of encountering horror for the first time—the juxtaposition of seemingly weak women and children appearing as ghosts magnified the fear infinitely.

If the ghost that appeared had been a tall, majestic general, the attackers might not have been frightened and could have mustered the courage to fight, as they are used to battling strong opponents.

But women and children are different. Being so weak, the attackers could not comprehend 'why they dare to attack me'. Fear, at its core, is humanity's response to crisis, and when faced with an incomprehensible crisis, their minds are instinctively yelling, "Run, you fool!"

Le Yin also pretended to be scared sitting on the ground, thinking, could it really be that simple to deal with these people?

At this moment, a clear bell suddenly rang throughout the Nightmare Teaching Building, not piercing to the ears but like a demonic sound penetrating the listener's eardrums. Everyone froze, except for Le Yin.

"Number One, set the fire," the Grand Steward said calmly.

The iron-faced man, without hesitation, took out a fire starter from his pocket, lit it, and threw it outside the building, setting the floating 'female ghost' ablaze, illuminating the teaching building.

Nearing the flames, the Grand Steward held a small bell in hand, looked around, and said, "It's all fake, gather back, guards check the numbers."

Le Yin stared at the bell in the Grand Steward's hand.

He had seen this item before!

Soul-Stabilizing Stone Bell!

A treasure of the Ting Family!

Le Yin had researched it before, but the Soul-Stabilizing Stone Bell didn't aid in combat, wasn't a Divine Weapon, and required the Ting Family's secret methods to use, so he dismissed it. But wasn't this a unique tool of the Ting Family? How did it fall into the hands of the National Relief Association?

He didn't believe that stingy Ting Family would bundle sell their secret technique with their tool.

"Soul-Stabilizing Stone Bell?" Le Yin wasn't the only one who recognized it; a Brotherhood member squinted and said, "Are you from the Ting Family?"

Le Yin blinked. Rumor had it Ting Family sold arms to the frontier warlords; it seemed the Storm Army was a valued client of theirs.

"It's not the Holy Sword Glory, even if you're not a Ting, you can use the Soul-Stabilizing Stone Bell," the Grand Steward laughed. "This is a small gift from the Ting Family, they're all very nice people."

'Ting Family are nice people' could join 'upright and honest Zhengwei' as Le Yin's favorite jokes of the year.

Someone voiced faint dissatisfaction, "If you have a tool to calm the mind, why not…"

"I thought they would seize this chance to attack us." The Grand Steward explained, "Once I noticed them approaching, I would light the fire to wake you, dragging the fight into our rhythm. Unexpectedly, it was just a scare; it seems they also realize this terrain isn't suitable for a battle with us."

No, I just didn't expect you'd be so frightened.

Le Yin blended nonchalantly into the group; after confirming no one was missing, the Grand Steward quickly had them leave the Nightmare Teaching Building. No further incidents happened until they left.

But when they reached the next intersection, they encountered that sign they had come to dread—

"Left: Forest path (side quest ): There might be an ambush, why not deal with the ambushers first?"

"Right: Platinum Tower (main quest): There might be an ambush beside, why not deal with the ambushers first?"

So annoying! I don't need your advice!

Many fell into impotent rage, unwilling to know such unsolicited information, and the appearance of a sign could only mean one thing—a trap indeed lay ahead.

However, this time no one dared to blow up the road signs, and everyone quietly waited for the Grand Steward's order. Regardless of the Grand Steward's wise command, these people's arrogance had already been suppressed significantly.

Initially, they might have wanted to 'find Kin Le Yin, skin him, pull his tendons, and blow up his limbs', but now they're just left with the fatigue of 'can we get off work soon'— even though those female ghosts didn't consume their health bar, they greatly depleted their mana bar, causing half of their spirit to flee in fright.

"Number Five and Number Six, extinguish the streetlights." The Grand Steward suddenly pointed at two streetlights on the avenue.

Two iron-faced guards immediately drew their short guns and accurately shot out the streetlights.

"You two lead the way, keep shooting the streetlights until they are all out. After extinguishing the lights, everyone move quickly and don't stop until we reach the doors of the Platinum Tower. Do not stop even if attacked midway, unless I throw out a flare. Attacks in the dark pose no threat to you! Number One, prepare the Luminous Firepowder, ready to break the Platinum Tower!"

Everyone was initially stunned, but quickly realized the brilliance of this decision. After going through a series of traps, it was clear that the light did not aid them; instead, because the enemy was in the open while they were in darkness, they were exposed to the enemy's view.

Now they just had to ensure they were on the correct path, and it didn't matter if it was completely dark— it was the same for everyone. They couldn't retaliate, but the ambushers wouldn't dare easily make a move either.

Le Yu's eyes flickered, lightly touching his neck, but just then, the Grand Steward shot him a glance, making his heart flutter.

When the main road's lights were all out, they once again fell into a darkness where they couldn't see anything with their hands, with only the Platinum Tower shining brightly like the finish line.

"Remember, keep running and don't stop. Once inside the Platinum Tower, they'll have no power to retaliate... Three, two, one, go!"

Everyone simultaneously activated the Lingxu Step and dashed toward the Platinum Tower, the fastest footsteps running over ten meters ahead. Though the faint moonlight couldn't form a light explosion, it was enough to assist their Lingxu Step smoothly!

"Fire tong sound!"

"Left side!"

Upon hearing the 'ssss' of the fuse being lit, everyone became alert to the fire on the left. The Grand Steward calmly said, "Watch your feet, avoid the Luminous Firepowder!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Just then, familiar gunshots rang out again!

But they didn't come from the left or the right, rather—from the front and back!

The real ambush was actually lying in wait in the bushes behind the road signs!

The attackers were thoroughly distracted by the road signs, and since no one dared to attack them, naturally, they couldn't pay attention to the Yanjing agents hidden in the bushes!

No matter if the attackers took the main road or the forest path, they'd be caught off guard by the gunshots from behind and then faced with explosive charges lifting the ground; attackers wouldn't die but they'd be halfway crippled!

However, the gunfire from the front wasn't part of Le Yu's plan; it seems Qian Chan Chen Chen was taking initiative by the door.

According to the plan, when attackers are forced by the explosive road and gunfire from behind and are desperately charging toward the Platinum Tower like wolves seeing beauty, Qian Chan Chen Chen will conduct intensive shooting at the attackers at the door, further reducing their numbers.

But now, in complete darkness, Qian Chan Chen Chen couldn't precisely control the distribution of attackers, choosing to take a bold risk and directly shoot at the attackers from the door!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The exploding Luminous Firepowder released a fire dragon soaring skyward, but in the face of anticipated attackers, it caused little casualty, merely reducing their maneuvering space. Despite the concentrated gunfire and encirclement, Le Yu had yet to hear the sound of anyone falling.

In this dire situation, the elite warriors from the Outer District finally showcased their battle-hardened resilience— they managed to stay calm to avoid the explosions and gunfire, even if unavoidable, they tried to let the bullets hit non-vital parts, ensuring wounds didn't affect their movements.

"Number Two!"

A flare was suddenly tossed toward the Platinum Tower, along with a woven road of light.

The iron-faced man named 'Number Two' stepped on this light path, gliding over the ground as if teleporting, covering twenty meters in just a moment. When the flare illuminated the horrified face of the Yanjing agent, his iron glove was already about to grip the opponent's throat!

"Scram!"

The iron-faced man's abdomen received a heavy blow, his long boots skidding backward on the ground for a full three meters before stopping. His eyes flashed red, staring at the child wielding double blades charging at him!

Boom!

The iron-faced man slammed down with a claw, the violent, sharp light burst could destroy gold and jade, yet it only cracked the ground because the Yanjing child easily slid through his legs, the gleaming blades slicing through his heel and knee. Coldly, he said: "Kneel."

Snap!

Tendons snapped, the knee joint injured— no matter how tough, the iron-faced man had to obey human biomechanics and obediently kneel on the ground!

"Double Blade Raccoon Slave? Curse Hunter!"

The Grand Steward uttered a name and pointed out another, but it was enough.

Amidst a chilling scream, suddenly someone stepped in the darkness, igniting blue flames like a ghost, rushing toward Qian Chan Chen Chen. In the remaining light of the flare, a weapon swung at the Raccoon Slave— shockingly, it was a steel scepter!

"Qian Chan Chen Chen!"

The only ones who use this peculiar weapon are Curse Hunters!

"It's you pus-filled little rats again!" Xian Chan Chenchen let out a sharp, piercing laugh, raising his left-hand knife to block the staff, but in the next second, the staff split and transformed into a saw chain, its sharp steel teeth rotating around the blade toward his arm, seeming as if it were about to grind Raccoon Slave's left hand into bloodied pulp!

"I'll have this hand first!" the Staff Hunter said through gritted teeth.

"You want it? I'll give it to you!"

Xian Chan Chenchen abandoned his left-hand knife, slipping like an eel under the Staff Hunter's crotch. He was so short and small that even though the Staff Hunter reacted quickly, his left hand smashing down in a burst of light, he still couldn't touch Raccoon Slave in the slightest!

"I can give you another!"

Taking the opportunity, he severed the tendon in the right foot, stood up, and thrust the right-hand knife into the coccyx. Xian Chan Chenchen's movements were as smooth as flowing clouds and water, and with just two strikes, he completely crippled a Curse Hunter!

"Don't stop firing!" Raccoon Slave shouted, retreating backward, but he suddenly felt a chill in his left foot, and then his whole world spun around!

Raccoon Slave turned his head to see an iron glove gripping his ankle—it was the Iron Mask Man!

He had secretly crawled over to grab Raccoon Slave's foot, then stood up, directly lifting Xian Chan Chenchen!

"You—impossible—"

Xian Chan Chenchen's pupils suddenly contracted, as he exerted force with his feet while reaching out toward the Iron Mask Man, gathering a ray of light at his fingertip!

Formless Battle Technique: Divine Spear!

However, in the Iron Mask Man's right hand was the burning stick he had just thrown!

He crushed the burning stick, sending all light back into nothingness, and all of Xian Chan Chenchen's counterattacks were stifled in their infancy!

Without light, there's no battle technique; Xian Chan Chenchen was no different from mere ingredients!

"Inspector!"

"Kill him quickly!"

"Rush over there!"

"Light up quickly!"

The cries of Yan Jing and the shouts of the assailants, mixed with the sounds of gunfire and explosions, suddenly filled the night air with the smell of gunpowder and iron rust, even turning the cool breeze into a murky, bloody wind. No one knew what was happening, and even Le Yu was seriously avoiding gunfire.

"Number One, go support Number Two."

The second burning stick was thrown toward the Platinum Tower's main gate, and everyone's gaze instinctively followed it, with even Le Yu being no exception—they had already formed a picture in their minds of Xian Chan Chenchen being smashed into pulp.

However, the burning stick stopped in mid-air.

It was caught by a hand.

This hand did not belong to Iron Mask Number Two, because Number Two's head was already missing.

The one holding the burning stick was a man with gray-white hair, dressed in a robe. Hiding behind Number Two's headless body, he said, "Thanks for the help, Inspector."

"Then we are even."

Iron Mask Number One, who was charging toward the burning stick, suddenly fell heavily to the ground. By the residual light of the burning stick, everyone saw that Xian Chan Chenchen had somehow produced two more daggers, severed Number One's tendon, and quickly rushed over intending to cut Number One's neck, seemingly having learned from experience.

But Number One immediately turned around to counterattack, his hand chopping with intense brightness, even if Raccoon Slave blocked in time, he was still sent flying far away, crashing into the wall of the Platinum Tower!

"Oh?"

The Grand Steward let out a soft sound of surprise.

...

...

Cha Huan stood atop a mansion.

The streets behind him were already filled with streams of light—many people held lanterns to watch the excitement, following Cha Huan's footsteps, crowding the surrounding streets as if it were some grand festival.

However, Cha Huan paid no attention to those gazes, but instead looked at the silent mansion below, suddenly using the Harmony Battle Technique to project his voice to the four corners: "Do you all know why that hair dye organization, which doesn't even dare to take a name, dares not accept jobs related to the Imperial Academy?"

The crowd straightened their spirits — you woke us up in the middle of the night, finally going to tell us a story?

"If afraid of the headmaster, then simply don't do tasks inside the Imperial Academy. In fact, during Headmaster Dou's tenure, there were instances of Imperial Academy students being assassinated outside the campus, which shows they were quite rampant before."

"It wasn't until I encountered an assassination twenty-odd years ago that the organization directly abandoned any business related to the Imperial Academy."

"That wasn't the first assassination of my life, but it was the only time I was successfully ambushed. Before and after that, no one ever managed to ambush me again."

"The assassin's name was Sheng Shengsheng."

"He was about the same age as I am now."

"He was smart enough to pass on the Veil of Strife to his heir beforehand. I couldn't use it and didn't like it, so I made a few requests and had them help me kill a few people I couldn't be bothered to deal with personally. Consider the matter settled."

"So..."

Cha Huan looked at the courtyard, mocking and taunting: "What are you nine still hiding from? Do you really think your meager stealth skills can measure up to the leader of Hidden Sword?"

With the sound of the wind, several figures appeared on the rooftop.

"Oh, I recognize you three, perverted Food as Immortal from the horizon, walking corpse Corpse Hunter, and the pitiful and laughable Three Gun Disciple Yan Fenqiu," Cha Huan looked towards the black-clothed, masked individuals on the other side: "But you five want to kill me and remain anonymous, isn't that underestimating me a bit too much?"

"No need to bother."

"Even facing death you dare to be noisy."

"Brother Cha's demeanor is admirable."

The black-clothed men spoke up, and Cha Huan blinked: "I guessed who you are... there's really nothing to guess, the choices are just a few, this mask you're wearing seems pointless, self-deceptive perhaps?"

"People could certainly be naked, so why wear that fig leaf? Many times, the so-called meaning is just to 'cover up'," a black-clothed man said in a hoarse voice: "Cha Huan, this battle has no righteousness, just a struggle of interests. We also know what it means to be despicable and shameless, unlike you who dares to accept the public's scrutiny, but at this point, there really isn't a choice."

"Sir, your words are powerful and sincere, truly a true villain and a hypocrite." Cha Huan sighed: "I don't like talking to people like you, so let's get straight to the point—I have flying boots, can you stop me?"

"Although not specifically for flying boots, it can suffice."

A ghostly blue barrier suddenly stood between heaven and earth, reaching the clouds above and the underworld below, causing the surrounding people to cry out in surprise, even Cha Huan couldn't help but slightly change his expression: "This is..."

"City Barrier," said one of the black-clothed men: "Both Taizong and Lie Sect once sought to create a Divine Weapon capable of protecting the whole city, but abandoned the idea due to excessive consumption. Their concept, however, has been passed down among craftsmen, and in recent years has finally been made using Divine Armament specifications. Although it can only last a while, though it can't withstand multiple strikes from the Martial Pillar, though the range is just a few dozen meters, though it can only be used once... it's excellent for encircling and killing strong opponents."

"Cha Huan, you cannot escape."

As they spoke, the aura of the eight surged, their battle intent swelled like a tsunami toward Cha Huan. Cha Huan remained silent, as his body emitted cracking sounds!

"Haha, I didn't expect that you, Principal, would also face a day of being trapped in an alley and beaten up!"

The eight turned pale—this voice wasn't from their people!

A peculiar youth walked into the courtyard's central area. His appearance was extremely strange, wearing a fully covering helmet that enveloped his head, eyes, nose, and ears, as if he had no face. He was bare-chested, wearing black shorts and boots, but had shoulder and arm guards.

What attracted the most attention was the scepter he held in his right hand. At the top of the scepter was a large, hexadecagonal blue gemstone, floating three small pentagram shields outside of it. Lightning-like energy continuously surged between the gemstone and the small shields, and even with the naked eye, one could feel the overwhelming wave pulse.

"Why are you here?" Cha Huan was somewhat surprised.

"Since everyone else is not in Yanjing, and we're a small organization, only I could come." The youth flicked his left hand, and everyone then realized that he was holding two severed heads.

"Grass-cutter Envoy, Door Breaker, Armor Breaker!" Food as Immortal looked shocked!

They had been wondering why Grass-cutter Envoy hadn't shown up, thinking he had fled, only to find out he was dead!

What was most terrifying was that if they guessed correctly, the Grass-cutter Envoy was ambushed while lying in wait nearby and was killed by this youth!

Although these two Grass-cutter Envoys were not at the Peak of Perfection realm, even a Martial Pillar couldn't silence and capture them unless...

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the scepter in the youth's hand, and they couldn't help but show greedy expressions. Corpse Hunter hoarsely asked: "Could that be..."

"Yes, it is," the Faceless youth smiled: "I'm glad to meet you face-to-face, and soon it will also meet you face-to-face."

The black-clothed man asked, "So, who are you?"

"Those familiar with me like to call me Faceless. But I'm not familiar with you, so you can call me by my alias."

"White Night Walker, the Counter Traveler."

...

...

"With the Dark Blast, plus this white hair." The Grand Steward loudly asked, "Hidden Sword Assassin?"

"No."

The door of the Platinum Tower suddenly opened a crack, and some of the Flame Command agents and Insignificant Dust streamed in, while others scattered to escape and suppress. In response to the inquiry, the gray-haired man shook his head, pushed aside the headless corpse of No. 2, extinguished the burning rod, and slipped away into the darkness.

"I'm an ordinary teacher from the Imperial Academy, Wei Weiwei."

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