Chapter 036: The Third Sequence! A Strange Dream? This Isn’t Me!

The director was so optimistic that Ye Ping was left speechless.

After a long silence, he took out his jade flute once more and brought it to his lips to play. Invisible ripples collided and oscillated in every corner of Jing City, searching for the aura of the Nightmare Grudge Mother.

"Director, there is no trace of the Nightmare Grudge Mother in the city center..."

The director looked puzzled. "Could it be hiding outside the city?"

Ye Ping replied, "It's possible. Even hiding outside the city, it can still affect the entire metropolis. Shall we go and take a look outside?"

The director shook his head. "Get some rest tonight. We'll search slowly tomorrow. You are truly exhausted."

Ye Ping wiped the sweat from his forehead. "That works too."

The next day, everything at the Demigod Kindergarten proceeded as usual. Midway through, the director helped Ye Ping blend in, and then the two flew outside the city to begin their search for the Nightmare Grudge Mother.

They searched for several days.

There were no results!

Yuan Yan, the leader of the investigation team, spoke with a panicked tone, "Inspector Ye... this is becoming far too tricky!"

Ye Ping patted Yuan Yan on the shoulder. "Don't be afraid. Even on the Ghost Planet, this Nightmare Grudge Mother would be considered a rare, high-level monster. Its destructive power cannot be very strong; otherwise, it wouldn't have been skulking about in the shadows for so many years."

"I suspect its greatest strength is its ability to hide. In other respects, there is no need to fear it."

Ye Ping’s analysis hit the nail on the head. Yuan Yan suddenly felt less panicked. "As expected of Inspector Ye, you see through to the truth."

Ye Ping smiled indifferently. "Heh, if we can't find it, we can only wait for it to reveal itself before slaying it."

"The only concern is what its strength will be next time it appears. I heard from experts in other regions that last night, they saw streams of black mist flowing toward Jing City. The true form of the Nightmare Grudge Mother is likely growing stronger."

Yuan Yan gasped, "What?"

"No matter. Jing City now has seven practitioners at the Mountain Realm. I will invite two more mental-type experts from other cities. That should be sufficient to deal with it."

Ye Ping prepared for battle with all his might. If he hadn't been unable to relocate the entire city, he certainly would have chosen to do so. But when he considered that the Nightmare Grudge Mother could hide silently within Jing City, even if they moved the whole city, the vengeful spirit would surely follow. Thus, moving or staying made no difference.

Only by killing the Nightmare Grudge Mother could all problems be solved. Yet, exactly where the creature was hiding remained a complete mystery.

Ye Ping’s eyes grew cold. He truly loathed this kind of passive warfare—it was infuriating!

***

Time slipped away day by day.

On television and in newspapers, the media continued to follow the news of the Nightmare Grudge Mother. The reports were rampant, but the investigation team made no progress. They had dug three feet into the ground without finding a single trace, and even someone as strong as Ye Ping was left without a clue. It was as if the monster responsible for the city-wide nightmares had never appeared in the world at all, as if it were merely a phantasm.

The failure to resolve the threat of the Nightmare Grudge Mother left the sky over Jing City shrouded in a "hazy" atmosphere.

The citizens harbored dark shadows in their hearts. Xu Ran, too, felt a shadow of his own—he had a sinking feeling that his second "abduction" would be at the hands of this "Nightmare Grudge Mother."

"Heaven protect me!"

"Let my supernatural skills reach the third sequence before the kidnapping happens!"

The faint premonition of crisis made Xu Ran even more proactive in his self-discipline.

Morning darts, followed by feeding animals and nutritional extraction after breakfast, physical movement techniques in the morning, Terror Whisper and Fear Expulsion in the afternoon, swimming afterward, and Speed Healing and Gecko Wall-Climbing at night.

Terrifying people are always self-disciplined.

Even Hu Niu and the others were led to become disciplined themselves.

Just like that, one hundred days passed in a flash.

There was no news of the Nightmare Grudge Mother.

On the contrary, Xu Ran had a bountiful harvest—his various progress bars had skyrocketed! Aside from a few that were difficult to grind, everything else had gained 10,000 points, and his Vitality had increased by 1,632, reaching 15,744 points.

Every day was a step forward, and it felt truly wonderful.

Counting the time, there were only 90 days left until he turned six, the time to break the second shackle imposed on humanity by the laws of the universe!

There were only 230 days until multiple supernatural skills reached the third sequence!

Xu Ran held his breath, "I hope nothing unexpected happens in these two hundred and thirty days... if the Nightmare Grudge Mother is coming, let it wait until after those 230 days..."

Whether his prayers were answered, or the Nightmare Grudge Mother was simply hoarding strength and dared not expose itself, in any case, Jing City enjoyed a long period of peace.

Time flew by.

The trees in the yard changed from green to yellow, then shed their leaves, only to sprout new buds and grow lush and full again.

Under the tree, a young, elegant, and handsome boy threw flying knives with perfect accuracy. He would practice his Cloud-Ladder Leap, jumping lightly onto the trunk, or perform the Tracing-Shadow Step.

The figure struggling toward improvement overlapped and blurred with the rising and setting sun, the changing seasons, and the cycles of the trees, like a film scene flashing by in fast-forward.

Two hundred and thirty days passed in a blink!

It was the 2,324th day of his childhood, or six years and five months old.

At night.

The day's self-discipline ended.

The progress of his supernatural skills completed an unprecedented leap!!!

Cloud-Ladder Leap, Tracing-Shadow Step, Grass-Skipping Lightness Skill, Little Xu’s Flying Knife, Origami Spirit-Channeling, Cloud-Veiled Body, Piercing Flaw Detection, and Beast Language Mastery... all had crossed into the third sequence!

Cloud-Leap Jump (Entry) — Can jump into the clouds in one bound; when mastered, one can leap multiple times in mid-air.

Invisibility Technique (Entry) — Can render oneself invisible; remember not to rely on it to court death.

Three Thousand Lightning Movements (Entry) — Extremely fast speed, like lightning streaking across the sky, making it difficult to pursue.

Divine Weapon Throw (Entry) — Long-range weapon throwing to wound enemies.

Paper-Doll Spirit-Binding (Entry) — Deprive an enemy of their soul and bind it into a paper doll, enhancing all aspects of your paper creations.

Deceptive Substitute (Entry) — Combined with a paper doll, one can substitute a fatal attack onto the doll.

Dual-Pupil Treasure Technique (Entry) — Can see through an enemy’s combat habits and routes, predicting their flaws and catching them off guard.

Pressure Simulation (Entry) — Simulate the aura of creatures you have seen, even simulating their pressure.

Looking at the series of supernatural skills that had reached the third sequence, Xu Ran felt extremely satisfied.

Self-discipline is the best cosmetic for a man!

A woman might betray you, but self-discipline will never fail you!

From birth until now, at six years and five months old, his Vitality reached a staggering 19,424 points! To describe him as a super-genius would be a massive understatement; after all, the data for "Adam, Light of Humanity" at age six was a mere 3,500 points!

Not even one-fifth of Xu Ran’s...

If Adam was the light of humanity, Xu Ran was a god in his youth!

Of course, using Vitality alone to measure Xu Ran’s strength only showed the tip of the iceberg.

Xu Ran’s true strength lay in the combination of Invisibility + Feigned Death Trick to hide heartbeat and aura + Pressure Simulation + Paper-Doll Spirit-Binding + Divine Weapon Throw.

With all these supernatural skills stacked together, he could easily assassinate an expert with 30,000 Vitality points.

"Heh, now ninety-eight percent of the anxiety in my heart is gone."

Xu Ran felt refreshed and invigorated. He stretched and fell into a peaceful sleep.

The dream was gentle. Xu Ran, who usually never dreamed, actually began to dream—

His perspective floated in mid-air, looking down at the familiar martyrs' family apartment building.

The once-peaceful building was now shaken by the piercing sound of alarms. Residents were scrambling to escape with their children, the scene chaotic and noisy.

"Evacuate the residents! Evacuate the residents!"

"Black smoke! Purify the black smoke, don't let it spread anywhere else!"

"What are you standing there for? Run!"

A practitioner shouted sternly.

"Understood. Thank you, sir."

A boy nodded, pushing a wheelchair as he dashed out. Sitting in the wheelchair was a thin, frail girl. She gripped the chair tightly, her short, withered yellow hair flying in the wind.

In mid-air, Xu Ran frowned.

"The temperament and appearance of this boy are basically a mirror image of me, aren't they?"

"The frail girl in the wheelchair looks eighty percent like Hu Niu, except she is thin, pale, and seems to be suffering from pain... but even so, she is very optimistic, with a bright smile on her face."

For some reason, seeing the girl in the wheelchair made Xu Ran’s heart suddenly ache uncontrollably.

But upon reflection, Xu Ran felt something was wrong.

"When I was two years old, I moved out of the martyrs' apartments with Hu Niu. We came to the Demigod Kindergarten and spent four years in peace."

"Hu Niu couldn't possibly be sitting in a wheelchair, suffering from chronic illness!"

"And that boy, he must be fourteen years old. His Vitality must have exceeded the Mountain Realm; how could he be fleeing in such a sorry state? I, Xu Ran, could never be such a coward!"

Xu Ran stared coldly at the scene below.

"Zzzzt—"

The image looked like an old television, covered in dense white static. When the picture became clear again, the boy and girl had reached a refuge area.

The boy pushing the wheelchair had a massive wound on his shoulder, and a nurse was bandaging it.

"Does it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt!"

The girl in the wheelchair made a face that was heartbreaking: "It must hurt a lot."

"It really doesn't!"

The girl pouted: "Stubborn. Sigh... I wonder how Officer Li Songlin, who saved us, is doing..."

Even while suffering, her kind heart was still worried about others.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over the boy.

"It’s him! It’s this guy. The captain fought the Smoke Yaksha to the death to save him, was pierced through the chest, and sacrificed himself on the spot!"

A tall shadow, furious, lifted the boy half a meter off the ground. The anger was about to be vented, but then the shadow calmed down, eyes reddening as he put the boy back down.

"Damn it!"

He clenched his fists, walked away with heavy steps, and fled in a panic.

Only the boy remained, head bowed in silence.

The girl in the wheelchair pushed herself over and held the boy's face: "Brother..."

The boy remained stiff as a fossil for a long time: "I want to be a practitioner. Why can't I be a practitioner! If only I had a cultivation root!"

The boy pounded the floor, his face twisted.

"Zzzzt—"

The image flashed again like an old television, dense with white dots. The subsequent images were blurry and unrecognizable, shifting several times before becoming impossible to distinguish. But suddenly, a crimson-gold light ignited, mixed with dazzling blood, and he heard the girl’s gentle, quiet voice: "Brother..."

What happened?

Just as he was about to catch the critical information—

"Bang—"

For some reason, a crisp sound rang out. The scene shattered like broken glass, dissipating into fragments.

"Ah—"

Xu Ran woke up from his sleep with a jolt, sitting straight up, clutching his aching heart with both hands, gasping for air.

What was going on?

Fourteen-year-old me?

Hu Niu in a wheelchair?

Fleeing in a sorry state... no cultivation root, unable to practice?

What kind of ridiculous dream was this?

Xu Ran was confused: "It was clearly a dream, but every frame in it was so real, as if I had experienced it countless times!"

"And the key information at the end, I didn't hear it. What happened?"

"Why is my heart out of my control, aching like a knife..."

Xu Ran wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

He checked the time; it was 3:20 AM.

He got up and stood by the window, looking at the trees in the yard.

Xu Ran frowned deeply: "The only thing I can be sure of is that it was definitely not reality. Hu Niu and I both live in the Demigod Kindergarten, protected by four instructors and hundreds of guards; the safety factor is maxed out. What kind of trash is a Smoke Yaksha? It would be killed in seconds, wouldn't it?"

"Besides, I am only six years and five months old, and my Vitality is already 19,424 points. I have eight supernatural skills of the third sequence. I wouldn't end up like a coward!"

"On the other hand, even Hu Niu, at six years and three months old, has a Vitality of 3,700 points. She couldn't possibly be in a wheelchair. Her cultivation root has extraordinary potential; the director named her the Valkyrie. We all have a bright future!"

"The dream just now was complete nonsense. Heh."

Xu Ran shook his head with a light laugh and went back to bed.

The night passed without further incident.

***

The next day.

Xu Ran got up early. He folded some new paper creations, cultivated them with his own blood, and tucked them into his pocket, patting it with satisfaction.

A name surfaced in his mind.

"Li Songlin... should I go and see who he actually is? In the dream, he sacrificed himself fighting to the death to save me and Hu Niu..."

"I'll go take a look..."

Xu Ran suddenly turned invisible, hid all his aura, and released a substitute paper doll.

"Mom, I'm going to eat."

His mother naturally didn't notice: "Okay, be safe. I won't go with you."

He went out.

A guard followed behind Xu Ran. The guard also didn't notice that the object she was protecting was a "paper doll."

"Let's see if the director can see through it. If he can... then I still have to open... no, I still have to practice more."

The real Xu Ran, following behind the guard, nodded secretly to himself.

"Director, good morning."

Meeting the director on the road, the paper doll greeted him enthusiastically.

The director stood with his hands behind his back, watching the paper doll quietly, scrutinizing it carefully. He looked quite puzzled, walking around the paper doll with his hands clasped, his scrutinizing expression gradually turning into surprise and shock.

"Your comprehension can be used in such a way? Why am I finding it harder and harder to see through you, little Ran?"

Hearing the director expose the ruse in one sentence, Xu Ran thought, "..."

Well, he saw right through it! It seems that the entry-level Paper-Doll Spirit-Binding can fool those below the Mountain Realm, but it cannot deceive practitioners at or above the Mountain Realm. That is the limit of the entry-level [Paper-Doll Spirit-Binding]. He had to remember this limit; he couldn't go showing off in front of Mountain Realm experts.

Xu Ran nodded secretly.

The paper doll then spoke: "Guard, wait for me in the distance. I have a secret to share with the director."

The female guard raised an eyebrow and looked at the director. The director nodded, so the female guard turned and walked away, standing with her back to the two of them two hundred meters away.

Behind a large tree over a hundred meters away, Xu Ran was about to use his movement technique to dash to the director's side.

Who would have thought a steady hand would gently rest on his shoulder?

Xu Ran: "...My invisibility was discovered!"

He turned around and saw it was the middle-aged uncle, Ye Ping.

At this moment, Ye Ping was looking at the revealed Xu Ran with shock: "Kid, you... how can you still turn invisible? Is this a new ability from your cultivation root?"

Ye Ping was full of curiosity and carried Xu Ran over to the director.

When he saw the other Xu Ran, his expression became exceptionally strange: "What is this? Invisibility, and a substitute? Kid, what exactly is your cultivation root?!"

The director was also confused: "Is this a comprehension-type cultivation root?!"

Xu Ran shrugged helplessly: "It’s a new ability... I originally wanted to test the limits with the director, but I didn't expect to be discovered. Hmm... my current level of deception and invisibility only works on practitioners below the Mountain Realm."

Hearing this, the director and Ye Ping were astonished: "At such a young age, you can already deceive practitioners below the Mountain Realm?"

"Yes, the guard who is at the Mountain Realm didn't notice it earlier."

The director and Ye Ping looked at each other: "Is this a comprehension-type cultivation root? It seems a bit strange... It definitely isn't just comprehension; perhaps it's some kind of ability for invention and creation..."

The two analyzed it quite seriously.

Xu Ran shook his head with a faint smile, thinking, "You idiots, I have a cheat."

Of course, he wouldn't say that.

He expressed his other purpose: "Director, I want to go explore Jing City alone. Can you approve it?"

The director was curious: "You want to go out for training? How long for?"

"Five or six days. I'll be back soon."

The director looked serious: "No. You aren't even eight years old yet; what kind of training do you need? Just stay at the kindergarten and eat and sleep well!"

Xu Ran: "..."

"Fine, looks like I can't get out. Doesn't matter. Dreams and the like have nothing to do with reality!"

"Anyway, with my current abilities, as long as I keep staying disciplined, the things in that dream will absolutely never happen—not a single one of them!"

Xu Ran narrowed his eyes, a spark of confidence shining within them.

"I... will crush everything!"