Chapter 902: Chapter 649: Visitors Arrive_2
"With that title, you can stand on equal footing with Qu Muzhi. What you need to do next is to secure the position of United Commissioner, which will become a new starting point in your career."
"We are getting old, the future belongs to you young people. He sees hope in you."
"But I didn’t kill Xiang Fengchen, he was set up. If we’re talking about who contributed more to the mission, Director Nalan was much stronger than me." Yang Xiao didn’t dare claim credit and spoke the truth.
However, Lu Youdao just shook his head and said seriously, "That’s not important. The mere fact that you were willing to face danger alongside Nalan Shuo means you deserve it."
"Mr. Lu, what was with the ghost in that room? How could it have the memories of Director Nalan?" Yang Xiao asked.
"That ghost was taken from a group of Evil Cultivators we killed. Initially, we planned to use it to gradually resolve Nalan Shuo’s Heart Demon, but we didn’t expect that his obsession was too deep. He couldn’t resist the ghost’s power, and in the illusion, he sank deeper and deeper until I had to call off the plan."
"This ghost is very special. It’s like a mirror, reflecting people’s deepest, most unbearable, and unwilling memories, attacking you with your most vulnerable memories. Once you’re completely overwhelmed, you will lose all control," Lu Youdao explained.
"In the illusion, I saw memories concerning Director Nalan, not my own. This ghost still needs to adjust to a new host, right?" Yang Xiao asked after some thought.
"You’re very clever. Today was just a trial for you. If you can’t even withstand this, then there’s no need to continue," Lu Youdao stated plainly. "This ghost is much more fearsome than you imagine. As you’re adjusting to it, it’s also trying to read you."
"I still don’t understand the purpose of using this ghost as a sparring partner. Is it to train my tolerance for pain?"
After experiencing so much, Yang Xiao was not easily deceived by fancy words. His real worry was that the ghost could see the secrets of the Drama Robe, a secret that must not be leaked, not even to the most trusted individuals.
Not even to ghosts.
What worried him more was that Lu Youdao could see his illusions, or in the future, if someone else came into this room, they might see his own nightmares through the ghost. And among them, there could very well be secrets about the Drama Robe.
Lu Youdao didn’t offer much explanation but pulled out a small, yellowed notebook from his pocket and read, "The ghost moved from the 1st ring to the 5th ring before gradually slowing down, finally stopping at the 7th ring. This proves that your spiritual power strength is nearing the Upper Level of Severe. Indeed, the more challenging the mission, the more significant the improvement to your spiritual power. You weren’t at this level before."
"Moreover, judging from the time and result of you stopping the ghost from turning, the control power you have over your spiritual power is extremely high, at least at the upper Ghost Level, and possibly even close to the peak of Ghost Level. This is crucial for you to handle high-rank Magic Artifacts."
With these words, Yang Xiao understood that one’s spiritual power strength and control power over spiritual power could be assessed based on their performance against the ghost. The last time he heard the term control power was from Professor Cui, sent from the Provincial Office.
Professor Cui is a highly rare Spirit Tester, whose ability is to evaluate the spiritual power strength of Angel Envoys, along with their Acceptance and control power. Professor Cui had explained to him that spiritual power strength determines the foundation, while Acceptance and control power are a matter of skill.
Simply put, spiritual power strength dictates the lower limit of combat ability, while the Acceptance and control of spiritual power determine the ceiling for an Angel Envoy’s future growth.
"Sparring with this ghost can enhance my spiritual power and raise my lower limit," Yang Xiao suddenly realized.
"No, it barely increases your spiritual power but can indirectly improve your control power over it," Lu Youdao raised his deformed hand slightly, "lifting your ceiling and better adapting to and unleashing the power of high-rank Magic Artifacts."
Hearing this, Yang Xiao’s eyes lit up. This was vital for him at present. He now possessed several... high-rank Magic Artifacts, but due to various reasons, he was unable to unleash even a fraction of these artifacts’ strength. Even when facing two at a time, he was overwhelmingly defeated by a Ghost-level Apostle, to the point that even the Dean of Ru Lin Academy couldn’t bear to watch.
How to describe that feeling? It was like an eunuch strolling through a brothel, only able to watch the beautiful women around him with envy.
"You possess quite a few good magic artifacts, trust me, this training is necessary for you," Lu Youdao stated earnestly.
"Of course, it is inevitable that there will be dangers involved, and such dangers are unpredictable, so you also have the option to refuse," Lu Youdao added.
"As a man born between heaven and earth, how can I remain suppressed and depressed forever? As Deputy Director Level Captain Yang Xiao, I shall diligently train and take on the responsibility of guarding our peace. If I don’t enter hell, who will? Let the storm come even more fiercely!" Yang Xiao slammed the table and stood up, his speech impassioned.
"Captain Yang, you are not yet at the Deputy Director Level," Lu Youdao corrected kindly.
"That’s not important." Yang Xiao waved his hand magnanimously, "As long as I can contribute to the defense of Rongcheng, that’s enough. Anyway, I am willing to accept the training."
"That would be for the best. Let’s leave it at that for today. You go back first. The situation with that ghost is quite special. I will inform you when the training will commence next time," Lu Youdao stood up, effectively issuing an indirect order for Yang Xiao to leave. This person was never one for pleasantries.
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Lu." After expressing his thanks, Yang Xiao turned and left.
The night was deep, and there were few pedestrians on the street. As he walked home, Yang Xiao adjusted his backpack and raised his collar to fend off the chill of the night wind.
He constantly recalled the visions from the illusion and the words Lu Youdao said to him. Training that could improve control over his spiritual power was too tempting for the current Yang Xiao. He too wanted to see what his greatest fear was deep inside.
Hmm... Actually, it seems that there’s no need to guess. It must be the Drama Robe female ghost; sooner or later, he would be skinned by her.
But Yang Xiao was not someone who gave up easily. He might be helpless against the Drama Robe female ghost now, but that didn’t mean he would be forever. Their relationship was mutually exploitative. Before he had all his skin changed, the Drama Robe female ghost wouldn’t want him dead.
Walking along, suddenly, Yang Xiao felt something and abruptly looked back. Under the lamplights, a few people were on the street behind him, quite a distance away. They walked hurriedly, and none of them were watching him.
After looking around for ten seconds and seeing no issues, Yang Xiao turned back and continued walking. His apartment building was not far ahead. There were two buildings, and Yang Xiao lived in Building 1, but now he walked towards Building 2 instead.
After entering Building 2, Yang Xiao went straight to the ground floor public restroom, which was empty at this time. Locking the door, he quickly stripped off his clothes and put on the Drama Robe, summoned the Soul-Capturing Mirror, and used the mirror in front of him to shuttle outside the apartment building.
He never believed in accidents or coincidences. His cautiousness was what had kept him alive to this point. Using the Soul-Capturing Mirror’s ability, he searched around the apartment building twice, but found nothing. To be safe, he shuttled back to his own room but did not reappear immediately. Instead, he hid in the Mirror World and used various angles to check if anyone was hidden in the room.
After a lot of effort, he found nothing, and Yang Xiao was uncertain. Was he being overly sensitive?
After checking the nearby rooms and the dark corners of the corridor again, he finally reappeared and went back to his room, heading straight to the computer. After turning it on, he accessed the surveillance footage.
He had previously had Xi Menxiu help him with a connection, allowing him to access the nearby surveillance cameras at will. After reviewing the recent footage, Yang Xiao leaned back in his chair, his brows slightly furrowed. The surroundings were calm, with no suspicious individuals around.
He also saw himself in the surveillance, with no one following behind him. The few passersby acted very normally, none paying him excessive attention.
But the more normal it seemed, the more uneasy Yang Xiao felt. He had offended too many people, many of whom were difficult adversaries.
Today, either he was being paranoid, scaring himself, or someone truly did sneak up, and anyone capable of avoiding his detection was surely no ordinary character.
After a moment of thought, Yang Xiao stood up, packed up his laptop into his backpack, "No, I can’t stay here, too risky, out."
