Chapter Eighty-Two: Murder for Treasure (Part One)

Humans fear ghosts, and ghosts fear humans as well. Zhou Jian wasn't a ghost, yet at this moment, he felt as if he were no different from one. Even though he hadn’t touched the corpse directly, merely having his own ghost carry it, Zhou Jian was enveloped by a chilling and terrifying aura. It seemed as if he could turn into something like the boy, Li Liang—a ghost—at any moment!

“Damn it, why are there so many people ahead!”

He pressed forward with all his effort and hardship, but before he had gone far, Zhou Jian saw the crowd in front. At the same time, those people noticed Zhou Jian as well.

Ma Junshan’s eyes lit up in astonishment. “Well done, Zhou Jian! You actually managed to get the thing out from there!”

Zhou Jian, being a third-tier Transcendent and wanted by the Oversight Committee, was naturally recognized by Ma Junshan. Not only that, the two had some history together.

“A mere underling from Jinling dares to call himself the Ghost King?”

Lian Rui sneered. He took a step forward; in the blink of an eye, he was more than ten meters closer, rapidly closing the distance to Zhou Jian.

“Chairman Lian, that's not right. Do you really intend to attack my friend right in front of me?”

Ma Junshan laughed boldly, locking onto Lian Rui’s aura and following closely.

With the departure of these two big shots, chaos erupted among the people below. First, the scattered Transcendents—some bold ones rushed forward, hoping to fish in troubled waters, to snatch some spoils while others blocked Zhou Jian. Seeing them act, the rest were unwilling to fall behind and began to run as well...

The Oversight Committee members realized: these people were getting unruly. Unable to stand by, they too charged forward to maintain order...

In a matter of moments, the once peaceful campus was thrown into utter disorder.

Zhou Jian first confronted Lian Rui. He had little respect for this new chairman from Cold Sea, grinning defiantly before hurling the corpse straight at Lian Rui!

The corpse was terrifying; even Lian Rui dared not take it head-on. His advancing body halted abruptly, only to see Zhou Jian turn and flee. Zhou Jian still held the corpse, but upon closer inspection, the “corpse” he had thrown transformed into a cloud of black smoke and vanished.

“So he’s already mastered the initial power of the corpse?”

Lian Rui muttered, his expression solemn. Meanwhile, Ma Junshan arrived.

“That was close. Thankfully, Qin Jing told me how to utilize the corpse’s powers. Tsk, even a mere wave of corpse aura can stop Lian Rui, a peak fourth-tier Transcendent. This thing is incredibly handy.”

Holding the corpse, Zhou Jian ran toward the sparsest area. With his newfound experience, he acted without hesitation. If he encountered weaker foes, he dispatched them instantly; against stronger opponents, he simply swung the corpse. The corpse aura, though it dissolved instantly before Lian Rui, was surely a third-tier attack. Countless charging Transcendents fell under its assault.

“Damn it, Zhou Jian, you’re actually here!”

When Lin En and his companions stepped out of the teaching building, they were greeted by chaos. Seeing Zhou Jian trying to break through the eastern wall of the campus, Lin En wasted no words and attacked immediately.

However, Lin En and his two allies hadn’t expected Zhou Jian to wield corpse aura. A wave of black energy struck, trapping all three at once!

The next moment, Zhou Jian leaped and escaped!

“Your life is mine!”

Boom!

Despite being entangled with Ma Junshan, Lian Rui had been watching Zhou Jian’s movements. Seizing the opportunity, he struck instantly. A fist-shaped shadow gleaming with golden light slammed into Zhou Jian, who spat blood as both he and his ghostly creature, along with the corpse, were sent flying!

“Go!”

Gritting his teeth, Zhou Jian shouted to the pot-bellied ghost creature, leaving himself behind. He unleashed a torrent of ghostly energy to hold off the others...

...

“Transcendent abilities available for refinement: Spectral Essence (Blue), Second-tier Specter’s Mental Strength, Fragments of Specter’s Memory.”

Qin Jing skillfully operated his phone, selecting the Spectral Essence, then consumed the azure blue spectral energy.

It was the sixth Spectral Essence Qin Jing had devoured. With the departure of the core source of pollution, the ghosts at the art school began to dissipate, yet specters lingered at the periphery. Conveniently, Qin Jing had plenty of recovery boxes on hand and made good use of them.

As the Spectral Essence entered his body, Qin Jing felt as if he’d overeaten. At that instant, his soul’s thickness seemed to reach its limit. From within his soul, a sensation emerged, enabling him to instantly discern “hostility” or “friendliness” in anyone he encountered! Qin Jing even sensed that no one could lie to him anymore; his intuition reached a new peak, allowing him to judge truth or falsehood by instinct alone.

He glanced around. He was behind the teaching building, far from the tumult of the playground—a place thick with specters. Yet as he absorbed them, many specters began to avoid him, and others faded with the disappearance of the pollution source.

“That’s enough. Time to leave.”

He wasn’t interested in joining the fray ahead. Qin Jing never aspired to fame in the world of Transcendents; while fame brought plenty of G-points, it also invited trouble. Things were fine as they were. If his prediction was right, after this incident, the Oversight Committee would come looking for him—a major client, as official procurement always yielded generous rewards. Besides, Zhou Jian was a potential client as well, though his case was more complicated. Qin Jing never expected Zhou Jian to complete the “mission” and return the “corpse” voluntarily. The real purpose of assigning Zhou Jian the task was to draw attention away.

“Who’s there?”

Having just consumed a Spectral Essence, Alchemy No. 1 sounded a warning. Qin Jing turned to look at the corner of the teaching building.

Recalling his newly acquired ability, Qin Jing focused all his intuition into his eyes. In the next instant, a red humanoid figure appeared in his vision.

Red signified hostility.

Qin Jing’s vigilance soared. As the “Six Strategies” technique circulated, his spiritual energy burst forth, ready to strike at any moment!

But at the same time, the figure, realizing he’d been exposed, gave Qin Jing no chance to react. The red spot moved, shooting like an arrow, enveloped in a deep yellow light, rushing toward Qin Jing.

Within the light was a young man, eyes fixed on Qin Jing, his face equally alert: “This person just converted those specters into something humans can consume. That thing stirs a deep craving within me—it’s definitely something extraordinary. Kill him and take his treasure!”