—
The moment Kent leapt down from the rooftop, ready to save the civilians and face the monstrous entity in the harbour, everything shifted. "Nima also came down with him. She wanted to go to a different location."
The air twisted. A deep, unnatural pull seized him and Nima, yanking them backwards as if the universe itself had hooked them with an invisible thread.
For a fraction of a second, Kent saw the world dissolve into nothing. The roaring sea, the crumbling harbour, the chaos—all of it vanished, replaced by a cold, suffocating darkness.
"And then, they fell."
Kent crashed onto a hard, cracked surface, his body rolling with the impact. His instincts flared…this wasn’t normal teleportation. The energy in the air was wrong.
A choked gasp beside him made him turn. Nima had landed a few feet away, sprawled out but already pushing herself up. Her pink Barbie suitcase lay nearby, somehow still intact.
Kent groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "That felt worse than getting drop-kicked by the skeleton dragon from the graveyard Ruin."
"Where are we?" Nima’s voice faltered as she looked around.
Kent followed her gaze. They were no longer in Azure Bay City.
They stood in a ruined place—an eerie, endless landscape of blackened stone and ghostly mist. Towering stone structures, half-collapsed and crumbling, stretched toward a sky filled with swirling grey fog. The ground beneath them was cracked, pulsing faintly with blue light, and the air itself felt thick, heavy, and wrong.
Most unsettling of all, figures floated in the distance. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of shadows.
Some were barely visible, mere wisps of darkness drifting like forgotten memories. Others had more defined forms—warriors in rusted armour, scholars in tattered robes, and even creatures that had long since turned to bone and dust.
Ghosts! Or Lost Souls! Kent murmurs. And all of them turned, their empty eyes locking onto Kent and Nima.
"Ah," Kent exhaled. "I don’t suppose this is some friendly ghost town, is it?"
Nima shot him a glare. "They’re hostile. All of them." I can feel it. Kent we need to move.
As if confirmation of her words, the nearest spirits began to move. Slow at first, their movements unnatural, jerky. Then faster. Within seconds, the air filled with eerie, echoing wails as the ghostly horde surged forward.
Kent grinned. "Well, at least it’s not boring."
He cracked his knuckles. He still didn’t know where they were or why they had been pulled here, but if the local welcoming party wanted a fight—.` They were getting one.
Nima, wasting no time. With a sharp motion, she reached her black hole/ summon space inside her heart. "She called out to Raka and Lumo,".
The moment she spoke, some black energy covered the area, and from the shadows, two figures emerged.
Raka and Lumo—the soul servant bound to Nima—rose from the mist, his Aetherial frame covered in dark clothes and a furry spirit bear, their crimson eyes gleaming with spiritual power.
The moment he materialized, the spirits reacted.
The wailing intensified. The ghosts hated him. They surged forward with increased fury, clawed hands reaching for him. "You serve a human. What a shame."
But Raka didn’t flinch. He just watched them like a mindless fool.
Lumo Says, "A fine battlefield," his voice deep and rasping directly into Nima’s mind. "My lady, shall I harvest them?"
Nima nodded. "Make it efficient." After that, she says, "Kent, did you see how cool I looked when I summed them? Take some photos for me. I will post it in Cultibook."
Kent rolled his eyes, ’photos!’. "Yeah, yeah Nima you looked cool. Go kill some ghosts. I’ll handle the rest. Once we are done you can take your photos."
Kent moved. The first spirit lunged, its skeletal hands clawing toward his throat. Kent sees these skeletons have some kind of core in the middle of the chest area. It glows like a black dim light. He ducked the attack, twisted it, and drove his fist into its core. A shockwave erupted from the impact, dispersing the ghost in a burst of blue light.
Ding! System notifications.
Ghost core detected.
Description: The ghost core is created by thousands of ghosts. This core can control the skeleton.
Note: This ghost core is very helpful for Soulbinder Nima. The system recommends collecting the core.
Kent didn’t get time to think about the pros and cons of the system notifications. Two more came at him. Kent sidestepped, grabbed one by the arm, and threw it into the other, sending them both tumbling back. His movements were sharp and efficient, and his body knew how to fight.
Raka and Lumo, meanwhile, were a blur of destruction. They cut through the spirits with ruthless precision, Lumos claws slicing through ethereal flesh. Nima quickly took advantage of the situation. She absorbs their fragmented souls into her soul refinement Orb.
Each time they struck down an enemy, dark energy coiled around them, strengthening the soul refinement orb. Nima stood behind them, hands weaving in the air, forming intricate symbols of power. Each defeated spirit sent a ripple through her body, her cultivation surging faster than ever.
Kent sensed it immediately. She was levelling up very fast. Her aura shifted, spiritual energy growing more refined, more potent. The stagnant energy that she previously had was cracked apart like a dam finally breaking.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
"From Kent’s point of view, it feels like a cocoon breaks its slumber and becomes a butterfly."
Then—A pulse. "A shockwave of power erupted from Nima as her cultivation jumped."
Ding! Congratulations host. The host sister levels up.
Name: Nima
Cultivation: Level D.
Skill: Soulbinder SSS
Servant: 2/3
Her eyes snapped open, glowing with dark energy. And for the first time, the ghosts hesitated. Low-level ghosts were very scared of Nima.
The battle slowed. The ghosts that had once attacked relentlessly now hovered, uncertain. Even the swirling fog in the sky seemed to dim.
Then—A deep, guttural laugh.
Kent stiffened. The laughter wasn’t coming from the ghosts. It wasn’t coming from Nima. It wasn’t even coming from this dimension.
It came from everywhere. A cold wind swept through the ruins. The fog overhead flickered.
And then—WHOSH! A door appeared.
A massive, iron-wrought gate materialized in the distance, its surface covered in ancient symbols that pulsed with ominous energy. Beyond it, Kent could feel something waiting. Watching… Amused…
"Well," Kent muttered, exhaling slowly. "That’s not ominous at all."
Nima didn’t answer. She was staring at the door, her expression unreadable.
Kent could tell.
Whatever was behind that gate—It wasn’t done with them yet.
A heavy silence settled over the battlefield. The ghosts that had once lunged at them with mindless fury now hung back, their hollow eyes locked onto the door.
It loomed in the distance, massive and ancient, its iron surface carved with pulsating runes. The energy it radiated was wrong—not just eerie, but something deeper. Something hungry.
Kent wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. "So, do we, uh, knock? Or just pretend we don’t see the horrifying death gate and walk away?"
Nima didn’t answer immediately. Her gaze remained fixed on the symbols, her breathing slow and measured. She was feeling some kind of connection with the strange gate. "Seeing Nima’s face Kent could tell—she was processing something."
Kent says to the System, Use appraisal! And tell me, Where are we? I am willing to use 100k SP.
Ding! Deducted 100,000 SP for the appraisal fee.
Location: A pocket dimension.
Description: Thousands of years old Sect of the demonic cult.
Kent says out loud. Nima, we are inside a pocket dimension. This belongs to an old demonic Sect. Stay by my side.
Hearing that, Nima exhaled sharply. "This place isn’t just a pocket dimension."
Kent arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Did you figure that out just now? The sky being foggy wasn’t enough of a hint?"
Nima ignored him. "This is a prison." I can hear many souls begging for forgiveness. They are saying they will never do any evil. Let them be reincarnated.
Kent frowned. "…What a prison?"
Instead of answering, Nima took a step forward.
And the door moved. With a groaning creak, the iron gate began to open.
Inside Kent’s mind, Why didn’t my system give me that information? What the hell system!!! What’s wrong with you?
Ding!
The host said he is willing to spend 100k SP. The system can only give basic information. To know the details, the host needs 1 million SP.
Do you want to use Appraisal again?
Yes/No
One million SP!!! Seriously. Right now, How much SP do I have?
Ding! SP balance: 3.3 million.
I need FIVE million SP to level up my cultivation. I can’t use one million SP. With three million I can now leave up my cultivation to level-D middle.
Nima is already ’Level D.’ She has two servants Raka and Lumo both of them also Level D. I can’t fall behind. "It’s hard for me to earn SP. When I get back home I need to find a sustainable way to farm SP."
Nima can tell me about the details. She can communicate with all souls. So, I don’t need to waste my SP. I will catch a small fry ghost and make him reveal everything about this place.
I MIGHT NEED TO LEVEL UP MY CULTIVATION SOON. THIS PLACE IS VERY DANGEROUS.