"Hahaha, I knew you'd be curious. It's strange, ever since I recovered from the severe injuries at the Dongri Grand Hotel, I've noticed my speed in enhancing spiritual power has accelerated!" He Zhan laughed.

But behind this smile, his eyes also reveal a hint of confusion and curiosity.

Because even He Zhan himself has sensed something amiss with the speed of improvement.

From the Dongri Grand Hotel incident to the Fierce Dragon Ghost Destruction City event, his spiritual power was barely enough to support the suppression of the Fierce Dragon Ghost throughout the exorcism.

Now, he can even touch the threshold of the City-Destroying Level, and the entire process took just a few months!

You have to know, before this, He Zhan had awakened for many years and could only suppress a Red Robe at most!

All these changes started with the inexplicable recovery after a near-death experience, or perhaps... from the young man in front of him observing with a furrowed brow.

At the time, only He Zhan knew the severity of the injuries caused by the explosion at the Dongri Grand Hotel.

He was well aware of the abilities of his team and the extent of healing possible at the Chengyang City branch's treatment chamber over the years.

From any angle, the inexplicable recovery should be due to Wu Liang, who had recently joined the official team and whose background remains unclear.

So, He Zhan was also waiting for Wu Liang to give him an explanation.

"Congratulations, Brother He! The situation is urgent now, let's drop the chit-chat and head to the scene. Get on this cab over here!" Wu Liang didn't ask He Zhan for details, nor did he offer any explanation.

He Zhan didn't ask much about the situation either.

After all, he knew this kid had many secrets; there's no need to relentlessly pursue someone who has done you a favor and ask what exactly it is.

And as he said, the situation was indeed urgent!

So He Zhan nodded and got into the back seat of the cab.

Meanwhile, Wu Liang sat in the passenger seat, contemplating the Ghost Compendium aura and the reasons behind the change in abilities.

"So it's like this... Is it the side effect of modifying reality? Wait, this thing shouldn't be considered a side effect, right?"

He suddenly realized that the mysterious recovery of He Zhan's severe injuries might have been triggered unconsciously by himself using the Ghost Compendium to modify reality.

Back then, he didn't understand how to control the true ability of the Ghost Compendium, so rather than healing He Zhan, it was more accurate to say it adjusted his body to its most perfect state!

This also made his mastery of the awakened ability and enhancement in spiritual power much easier!

"Thankfully, I've only unconsciously healed Brother He. If more people underwent changes, the cost might be too great for me to bear."

Wu Liang was relieved that He Zhan was the only one seriously injured at the time.

Otherwise, if he had modified the awakened talents of too many people, who knows what kind of impact it would have on the world?

Such modifications to awakened talents must not happen again.

For instance, during this large-scale supernatural event, Wu Liang didn't intend to utilize the ability to modify reality.

Thinking of this, he took out the Ghost Compendium from his mind and began flipping through it, hoping to find information related to the City-annihilating Ghost associated with the Lost Realm as the taxi approached the scene within a few minutes.

Swipe, swipe, swipe—

With the help of the search function, he flipped through the Ghost Compendium rapidly, reaching the end of the book in no time.

"There's something here... The impact range has already expanded to several cities, and yet this City-annihilating Ghost hasn't been detected?" Wu Liang was somewhat surprised.

The Ghost Compendium displays the information on the Fierce Ghost only if it has been detected by someone.

In other words, the thousands of people across these cities affected by the supernatural influence got infected without ever seeing the Fierce Ghost, knowing nothing about it.

This Fierce Ghost is far harder to exorcise than the Fierce Dragon Ghost back in Chengyang City.

After all, the unknown is the most terrifying.

"But it seems reasonable; currently, the transmission condition at least includes sound. Just hearing the crying sound can get you affected by the supernatural, meaning every individual influenced becomes a source of contagion, spreading tenfold, hundredfold, thousandfold."

"This kind of supernatural contagion doesn't even require the Fierce Ghost to appear in person; hearing its sound is already enough to fall victim."

Touching his chin, Wu Liang continued to analyze the Crying Ghost based on the existing intelligence.

Yet he always felt something was amiss.

Sound transmission... can it truly be so fast and completely unstoppable?

"He, before us, the officials must have dispatched awakened ones to handle or understand the situation, right?" Wu Liang turned his head towards He Zhan in the rear seat.

Upon hearing this, He Zhan nodded immediately: "Yes, about ten awakened ones teamed up to enter, most of them Red Robe Peak, infinitely close to the City-Destroying Level, joining forces to resist the City-annihilating Ghost shouldn't be a problem."

But he continued in a deep voice: "Sadly, after entering a city entirely affected by the supernatural, contact was lost. With their ability, not even a single message has been relayed. They must have been ambushed by the Fierce Ghost's true form."

After hearing He Zhan's words, an imperceptible gleam flashed in Wu Liang's eyes.

Others may not know, but he understood the situation.

The Crying Ghost hasn't been truly observed yet, which means those capable of confronting City-Destroying Level Fierce Ghosts may not have even approached the Crying Ghost's location.

Moreover, they surely knew the transmission condition relayed from a later-stage handler in Jinnan City—crying sounds.

As they entered a city under supernatural influence, each person certainly carried devices capable of isolating sound to maximally protect themselves from supernatural infection.

"Yeah, these are special soundproof earplugs enabled by an awakened one's ability. Remember to wear them before going in, and we'll communicate using writing pads."

He Zhan took out two pairs of dark green earplugs from his pocket, signaling Wu Liang to wear them.

He also handed him two ordinary-looking writing pads, about the size of a palm.

The instant Wu Liang saw these, his judgment became more certain.

With such thorough preparation, the awakened team did not even see the Fierce Ghost's true form, enough to explain an issue—

"He, how about you don't go this time, and let the taxi take you back to Chengyang City later."

"Hmm?" He Zhan looked puzzled.

But Wu Liang just sighed and said: "Simply isolating sound won't work. I suspect this Fierce Ghost's supernatural contagion has other methods, and like sound, they don't require contact."

"Airborne bacteria transmission, olfactory and visual transmission, specific action transmission—anything is possible."

"If that's truly the case, we'll have nowhere to hide in the city..."

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