Chapter 131 - 125: Step 1 of Descending Into the Depths: Seclusion First

Chapter 131: Chapter 125: Step 1 of Descending Into the Depths: Seclusion First

Safe Zone, Training Room One.

After the auction ended, Shi An tossed his workload to Hair Ghost, Yang Lina, and the others.

He came to the training room alone for his daily Cultivation.

Daily training and Cultivation were the only things he absolutely could not neglect.

Admittedly, this Basic Combat Power wasn’t particularly important to him. In the Present Realm, he had the Nether Robe’s close-quarters protection, and in the Nightmare World, he could command a massive army of thousands. In times of need, he could also wield the Power of Faith and transform into the invincible Manager.

Even so, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. No matter how the Nightmare World changed, the power held in his own hands was always the most real.

Right now, his Basic Combat Power wasn’t important. But in the future, what if he himself became an existence at the Extraordinary Realm or an even higher Tier?

Shi An cultivated, continuously activating the Mask of Night Shadow and unleashing the various powers of this Excellence Curse Object.

Suddenly, Shadows spread, transforming into incredibly sharp blades that Slashed in all directions. The Shadow Incarnation appeared in tandem, pitch-black but brimming with surging Curse Power.

These were the two Lifebound Curse Arts Shi An had mastered earlier: Shadow Blade and Shadow Incarnation. Compared to before, his proficiency in these two Curse Arts had significantly improved, both having initially stepped into the Master Level.

This was because Lifebound Curse Arts derived from Excellence Curse Objects were inherently difficult to cultivate.

"I can control the Shadow Blade to spin in midair.

"As for the Shadow Incarnation, it can store more Curse Power, greatly improving its endurance."

Shi An even had an intuition that if he continued to level up this Curse Art, the Shadow Incarnation might gain the Ability to absorb Dark Shadows and convert them into Curse Power to sustain itself.

Furthermore, once he stepped into the Peak Realm or higher, he would be able to condense a second and third Shadow Incarnation simultaneously.

"The power of an Excellence Level Curse Object is truly terrifying."

Was that the end of it?

Not at all!

Normally, Dream Descenders could only comprehend one or two Curse Arts from their Lifebound Curse Object.

However, over these past few days, Shi An had comprehended several more Lifebound Curse Arts.

"Shadow Escape! By wrapping myself in Dark Shadows, I can directly hide within the Shadows. It’s just that using this move with my main body is still a bit strenuous at present, whereas it’s much easier for the Shadow Incarnation to use it to hide.

"Shadow Soldiers! These are an upgraded version of the previous, simple Shadow Soldiers. They now wear armor and wield sharp weapons and shields. Just two Shadow Soldiers can hold off a ghost, fighting it to a draw."

And Shi An could summon ten such Shadow Soldiers at the same time!

With this trick alone, Shi An felt he could cross blows with an expert of the Third Refinements Realm.

"There is also Shadow Binding! A move that utilizes Shadows to control the enemy—simple, powerful, and practical."

Shi An practiced continuously, activating one Curse Art after another.

Sometimes, when he practiced for too long and depleted his Curse Power, he would directly gulp down several Curse Power Potions—GLUG GLUG.

He also used them in conjunction with Purifying Water to avoid being eroded by the Curse Power Potions’ side effects.

Nowadays, Shi An was also employing the Krypton Gold training method, and he was spending more Krypton Gold than any wealthy individual in the Safe Zone.

During his practice, he could vaguely sense that he hadn’t fully tapped into the power of the Night Concealment Mask yet.

There were still Curse Arts to be comprehended.

But right then, a sudden flash of insight struck Shi An, and he entered a profoundly mysterious state.

It wasn’t about comprehending a new Curse Art.

The Night Shadow Mask appeared in front of him. Shi An grabbed it, Curse Power surging in his hand.

He decisively performed Refinement on the Curse Object!

BOOM!

The surging Curse Power truly flooded into his body, churning endlessly.

Even though a Dream Descender would no longer suffer erosion when using a Lifebound Curse Object after its Refinement, the sheer volume of excessive Curse Power wasn’t a side effect in itself. Shi An merely felt incredibly bloated, as if he were about to explode.

He had originally used the Curse Object by relying on the Power of Containment, which was equivalent to a "Refinement state." However, now that he had truly undergone Refinement, numerous insights flooded into his mind.

Shadow Binding should be used like this.

Shadow Soldiers could also be assembled like that.

"I feel like right now, I’m terrifyingly strong!"

...

Ten minutes later, Shi An was defeated in a sparring match with the Nether Robe.

But it wasn’t a big deal.

The Nether Robe was currently a peak-stage ghost, possessing stronger combat power than the Black Armor Leader back then.

His narrow defeat against the Nether Robe proved that his combat power was still formidable.

Once he grew a bit more familiar with the Curse Object and improved his proficiency in Curse Arts, he would be able to fight the Nether Robe evenly, or perhaps at a four-to-six or three-to-seven ratio.

"But I’ll stop practicing for now. Striking a balance between work and rest is more important."

Shi An returned to the Present Realm to work.

Nowadays, the Safe Zone was highly competitive. In the Present Realm, as long as an unexpected incident like the last one didn’t occur, he found it much easier to relax and slack off.

"But I heard our Newcomer Guidance Department is expanding?"

"Do you think we might have a chance to get promoted when that happens?"

Shi An recalled that he had only been on the job for two or three weeks; how was he already up for promotion?

He just wanted to slack off!

...

During the day, Shi An slacked off, occasionally guiding a few lost newbie Dream Descenders.

From time to time, he also observed the changes in the Safe Zone.

He was in reality, but with a mere thought, he could overlook the entire Safe Zone. This also included the scenery outside the Safe Zone, near the main gates.

In Shi An’s eyes, the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Safe Zone’s lobby were like projection screens, rapidly switching between different Nightmare scenes.

Ten.

Twenty.

Thirty.

The Safe Zone currently had forty to fifty members. Naturally, the Safe Zone was simultaneously connected to many Nightmare Areas.

In the Deep Mountain Region and the Black River Region—which were spatially closer to the Safe Zone—if an expert traveled across regions, they would occasionally catch glimpses of their own people.

The footprints of the Safe Zone’s Dream Descenders had also Spread into several Shallow Nightmare Major Regions further away.

Aside from those, there was also...

Shi An switched the scene.

Outside the lobby’s floor-to-ceiling windows, a dilapidated street scene appeared. Zooming out slightly, he could also see ruined skyscrapers in the distance and stairwells covered in withered, ashen vines.

In the distance, gray fog churned.

Occasionally, terrifying, gigantic silhouettes would flash past within the gray fog.

It was enough to make one’s heart palpitate and send chills down their spine.

"This is the Pale Wasteland Area."

Shi An murmured.

The last time Long Niu experienced a Fallen Dream, he had also descended into this area.

However, the entire Pale Wasteland was incredibly vast in area, far exceeding a single Major Region of the Shallow Nightmare.

Just how expansive the Pale Wasteland truly was, even the Countermeasures Bureau didn’t know.

The Safe Zone had only just begun to dabble Deep in the Nightmare, opening up merely one or two viewpoints. Shi An had practically no way to judge its scale.

He switched the scene.

This time, withered trees formed a forest outside the window. Some of the dead trees were a good thirty to forty meters tall, with decaying branches Spreading out—a spectacular yet terrifying sight.

"This is the Ghost Forest Area!"

Shi An switched the scene once more.

This time, what appeared outside the window seemed to be a normal street view. There were shops lining both sides of the road, and tall buildings were faintly visible in the distance. It was a modern metropolis that didn’t appear dilapidated in the slightest.

Except, all the colors in the entire city seemed to have been erased, leaving only shades of gray and white.

"This is the Gray Silence City Area!"

Heading deeper from the ruins Nightmare would lead to these three deep-layer areas.

But it seemed that all three areas were extremely vast. The majority of Dream Descenders, including those in the Extraordinary Realm, were located in these regions.

Within the Nightmare, terrifyingly gigantic silhouettes would occasionally drift past.

Even an Extraordinary Powerhouse had to tread carefully in such an environment.

Those at the Peak of Third Refinements Realm? Most of the time, they could only scavenge for valuable loot in relatively low-risk, obscure corners.

A Senior First Refinement Realm expert who had just stepped into the deep layers?

For them, familiarizing themselves with the environment and surviving were the absolute priorities.

With even the slightest carelessness, a powerful Refining Stage expert from the Present Realm could suddenly drop dead here, dying without even knowing why.

...

"However, the stages with the highest disappearance and mortality rates for Dream Descenders are the Borrowing Stage and Fusion Stage. In the early stages, Dream Descenders don’t possess the power to contend against ghosts. Their knowledge and insight are limited, and they lack experience, making it very easy for them to accidentally fall into traps.

"Being inherently weak, stepping into a trap naturally leads to sudden death.

"But we are different. Although I have descended into the deep layers, the situation isn’t as awful as it was in the earliest days, and I already possess a wealth of survival experience."

In the Pale Wasteland Area, a senior Refining Stage expert murmured in his heart.

It was his first time in the deep layers.

He had delayed for a long time, holding off on the Fusion of his second Lifebound Curse Object. It wasn’t until now, when he had no way back—or rather, when he had prepared adequately—that he finally descended into the deep layers.

Naturally, he felt fear in his heart.

But he also had confidence.

He was no longer a newbie.

Although the deep layers were dangerous, most of the time, the entities wandering within the Nightmare were still ordinary ghosts.

He could at least fight ordinary ghosts, unlike during his newbie days when he was powerless to resist even the slightest danger.

After observing his surroundings, this Refining Stage expert quickly ducked into a relatively smaller building and began to explore cautiously.

He mused, "I’ve heard there is a camp called the Safe Zone, and its entrance appears randomly throughout the Nightmare. As long as we Dream Descenders can get there, we’ll be completely safe. But..."

He didn’t care.

For a Dream Descender to survive, they had to rely primarily on themselves.

If you relied on a camp for shelter, could you really depend on that protection to survive every single time?

Ordinary Dream Descenders might pin all their hopes on this so-called Safe Zone, but he was already a powerful Refining Stage expert.

Several hours later, this Refining Stage expert was panting heavily, bearing a few minor injuries.

However, his confidence had only grown stronger.

"Surviving Deep in the Nightmare... Hmph, it isn’t that hard after all!"

...

At the same time, in the Pale Wasteland Area.

Somewhere merely two thousand meters away from this Refining Stage expert.

Xi Xue descended here.

"Deep in the Nightmare, the Pale Wasteland?"

Her first step was similarly to observe her surroundings cautiously and hide inside a relatively safe nearby building.

Immediately following with her second step, Xi Xue took out her Member Card and activated it.

The familiar guiding path of light appeared.

She broke into a smile.

Now this, she was familiar with!

Following the guiding path of light, Xi Xue advanced cautiously.

An hour later, she saw the familiar main gates of the Safe Zone.

Woohoo!

Safe and sound!

Xi Xue returned to this reassuringly safe area.

The very first thing she did was unseal the Dream-Dropping Treasure Pearl she carried with her. After that, she went to the front desk to book a training room.

Then, she rested, ate, and waited.

She had essentially ascended to a new map and was currently at her weakest. Naturally, she needed to go into seclusion for a while and aggressively boost her Level first!

Afterward, she could use her geographical advantage to slowly explore the surroundings.

Improving oneself through constant adventuring and risking one’s life time and time again?

The new-era members of the Safe Zone had no need for that anymore.