C7 Ghost Shadow Secret Art!

Nine-life Spider (Qi Refining BOSS):

Brown Scorpion:

Centipede Spirit: My lord, could you please show some restraint?

Centipede Spirit King (Qi Refining BOSS): Restraint be damned, oh no! I've lost it, my Secret Realm key is gone! It wailed loudly!

Wang Yipao's eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he read that.

A Secret Realm key!

Who's the lucky one who managed to snag such a treasure?

Nine-life Spider (Qi Refining BOSS): Secret Realm key? Is that the one I've been begging you for years to enter the Foundation Stage ruins?

Oh, crap!

Wang Yipao felt like he was going to cough up blood.

A Foundation Stage Secret Realm key!

Which player managed to pull that off? I'm going to obliterate them!

Nine-life Spider (Qi Refining BOSS): You reckless centipede, what have you been up to since emerging from seclusion? Now look at the mess. At our level, revival takes a good two to three days. And as for looting those foreigners, that chance is gone.

Centipede Spirit King (Qi Refining BOSS): How was I to know those foreigners had reached Qi Refining Stage too? And there were so many of them, the nerve! These outsiders have no shame!

Brown Scorpion: Lord Centipede Spirit King, do you know which cursed outsider looted your Secret Realm key?

Centipede Spirit King (Qi Refining BOSS): Who else but Immortal Sword Jiulong? That guy who killed me 132 times! He brought a horde of Qi Refining players and they mobbed me in no time. If it had been just one person, he wouldn't have stood a chance!

Clearly, the Centipede Spirit King harbored deep grudges against Immortal Sword Jiulong.

But Wang Yipao saw it differently.

Immortal Sword Jiulong, the director of the Immortal Sword Club and the team captain, Ouyang Jue!

Wang Yipao instantly recognized the adversary.

This was going to be tough. It wasn't just a question of whether he could beat him, but more critically, the opponent wasn't just supported by Immortal Sword—he was the master of it. With just one word from him, every Immortal Sword player in the Immortal Realm would be after Wang Yipao's head.

Now, he no longer had Divine Wind to rely on.

It just wouldn't drop!

"What a shame, such a great item snatched up by that pretty boy," Wang Yipao sighed.

Yet, the Centipede Spirit King really was a sorry case. Before even becoming a BOSS, it was slain by that Ouyang Jue so many times. Utterly heartless!

Ouyang Jue, you pretty boy, how could you bear to strike down such an adorable creature!

Shouldn't you have spared it for me!

Wang Yipao daydreamed for a moment, then checked the time. After switching accounts back and forth with no news of missions or BOSSes, he logged off to bide his time until nightfall.

And at last, night descended!

The entrance to the cave gradually opened.

Stepping inside, Wang Yipao was greeted by an atmosphere so eerie and terrifying that he felt a shiver run through his entire body.

Was he actually feeling cold?

The odd noises echoing intermittently made the cave resemble a ghost house.

Just then, as if on cue, some spine-chilling background music started playing. Seriously, this kind of music now?

The background music startled Wang Yipao.

Suddenly, ghostly figures materialized.

Red Demonic Spirits

Level: Mortal Eighth Grade

"The developers sure know how to set the mood!" Wang Yipao was genuinely frightened.

The abrupt appearance of the red demonic spirits, coupled with the eerie music, felt like a scene straight out of a horror film.

Drawing his demon light, Wang Yipao charged at the red demonic spirits, hacking away.

Before long, he had vanquished them all.

"Nothing dropped, seriously? The developers are so miserly!"

But Wang Yipao didn't dwell on it and pressed on.

After battling through several waves of monsters without a single drop, he was getting frustrated.

What's more, at the Qi Refining stage, it was all about cultivating techniques, with no experience points to gain.

In essence, Wang Yipao had been fighting for nothing but a few measly coins.

"I must be getting close to that ghost cultivator or whatever."

Wang Yipao moved forward with caution.

The chill in the Cang Bei Cave was intensifying.

This wasn't the chill of a cool day; it was a bone-deep, unyielding cold.

With a swift whoosh, the ghost cultivator materialized.

"Ha! To think someone would deliver themselves to my doorstep, and a mere novice at the Qi Refining Stage at that. A foolish youngling. Oh, but that sword you're holding seems quite extraordinary. Allow me, the Ghost King, to examine it in detail!"

The ghost cultivator immediately tried to seize Wang Yipao's weapon.

Wang Yipao wasn't about to let that happen.

He flicked open his storage ring and nonchalantly pulled out a bag of items.

Take this—black dog blood!

Caught unawares, the ghost cultivator was drenched in the black dog blood, shrieking in dismay.

"If only my sword, Jian Laiguang, hadn't been devoured by that lowlife Shadow Rain. I could have halved your health with a single blow, saving myself so much time." Wang Yipao lamented, yet his spirits soared as he watched the ghost cultivator's stats plummet.

The black dog blood's effectiveness was beyond his expectations.

It's no wonder Boss Zhang managed to slip away from this ghost cultivator.

Black dog blood must be the ghost cultivator's bane!

"Boy, you're going to pay with your life!"

The ghost cultivator's shrill cry accompanied his withered ghost claws lunging towards Wang Yipao.

Wang Yipao was not about to let him succeed.

With a flick of his wrist, the Demon Light in his hand slashed across the ghost cultivator's hand, not only parrying the attack but also inflicting a solid hit.

The Nine-Pointed Needle fearlessly targeted the ghost cultivator's vulnerable spot.

As the ghost cultivator's health dwindled, Wang Yipao's eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"He's going down!"

His long sword danced in his hands, relentlessly assaulting the ghost cultivator.

The Nine-Pointed Needle punctuated the onslaught, targeting the ghost cultivator's weak point.

Yet this ghost cultivator was no ordinary Qi Refining practitioner.

Even with his powers greatly diminished by the black dog blood, his Eighth Level Qi Refining strength was formidable.

And with his mastery of a unique cultivation technique, he was giving Wang Yipao a run for his money.

Regrettably, in this exchange of blows, Wang Yipao remained unscathed, while his adversary, the ghost cultivator, steadily lost health.

But this was merely the early stages of the online game.

Such bosses had yet to attain an intelligence level truly comparable to humans.

After thirty minutes, Wang Yipao's longsword came crashing down, wiping out the ghost cultivator's health in an instant.

Whoosh!

The ground was suddenly showered with a bounty of large silver coins and a book.

Among the loot was also a quest item—the ghost cultivator's attire.

A book?

"A cultivation technique!" Wang Yipao exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he picked up the book.

Ghost Shadow Technique - Cultivation Technique

Quality: Middle-grade Yellow Level

Cultivation Requirements: First Level of Qi Refining

Eligibility: Non-members of the Twelve Spirits and their affiliated factions

Description: The Ghost Shadow Technique is divided into five levels, each granting a 1% increase in Movement Speed. Upon mastering the fifth level to Perfection, the spell Ghost Shadow Pursuit is unlocked.

"I've hit the jackpot—looting a cultivation technique from a monster." Wang Yipao was well aware that advancing to the Foundation Stage required mastering two cultivation techniques. Take Shadow Rain, for instance; he must have secured his second technique by now, though he still needed to cultivate it to the requisite level and complete a mission for a level eight faction to progress.

Now, with this technique in hand, if Wang Yipao could acquire another from the Small Sword Sect, he could bypass the hassle of searching for a second technique. Advancing to the Foundation Stage would then be well within his grasp!