Chapter 207: Spirituality That Attracts Dirty Creatures

Chen Xiyi sat in Ximen Yue’s study, looking at the computer as he searched the internet for the information he needed.

For example, the upcoming 182nd God of Cookery Contest was set to begin in three days—the one held every ten years.

If records weren’t forged, this contest had probably continued for a thousand eight hundred and twenty years.

After briefly watching past contest footage, Chen Xiyi was utterly shocked. He had expected a simple cooking competition, but realized his understanding had been too narrow.

Dishes emitting golden light upon opening, or glowing food—these were seemingly basic requirements. Without any special effects, one couldn’t even pass the preliminaries.

After eating certain dishes, contestants experienced ripped clothes or bizarre phenomena. The variety was astounding. Chen Xiyi was stunned.

Maybe after eighteen hundred years, everyone thought such results from food were perfectly normal.

No one except Chen Xiyi felt rather unimpressed.

“And yet, these Noble Families aren’t extinct!” Chen Xiyi scrolled further, finding news about some young master of a powerful family causing trouble yet again, which naturally led to discussions about the Noble Families themselves.

This was the modern world, but definitely not his previous life’s world.

After all, this land was called Qian Country. It sounded ancient and poetic, yet wasn’t the same world at all. At best, the technologies seemed familiar—almost everything else was different.

Chen Xiyi quickly searched and found these Noble Families were numerous, active in every region.

Essentially, they monopolized markets or occupied the upper echelons of society. Lower classes seemed to have paths upward, but socio-economic mobility felt entirely frozen.

“A large-scale feudal dynasty,” Chen Xiyi muttered, “merely draped in a cloak of humanism, stepping onto the modern stage in a new form. Without an emperor’s centralized power, they run rampant without restraint.”

He easily deduced this from various news stories circulating online.

He hadn’t forgotten—he held the thirty-thousand-year memories of Wandering Light. Even a shallow comparison revealed patterns. How could Wandering Light build the Temporal Response Bureau controlling an entire world without formidable talent?

Thirty millennia were ample time for even an ordinary man to undergo a profound metamorphosis.

“Besides the utterly unscientific aspect of the food, there are martial arts schools too. Are these martial artists really so exaggerated?”

Chen Xiyi watched a video of a young man suddenly inflating into a massively muscular giant. One punch completely obliterated a solid training dummy.

The dummy was solid, perhaps made of unknown materials, but no normal man possessed such strength.

“And whispers of supernatural ability users linger,” Chen Xiyi pondered aloud. “Plus Ye Fan, a cultivator in this world—just what kind of chaotic place is this? Superficially, its level seems low.”

This world lacked even Modules. Objects with real Historical Connotation were exceedingly scarce—perhaps only one documented. How could so many anomalies emerge?

“Shoot,” he groaned. “The supposedly powerful Hidden World Clans, cultivators lurking in ancient mountains and forests, wildcard martial artists… Did I fall into a trashy urban fantasy novel?”

The plotline would involve early-stage face-slapping arrogant young masters and collecting beauties; mid-stage face-slapping cultivators, martial artists, Noble Family scions, and collecting more beauties; late-stage face-slapping divine kings, cosmic overlords, and yet more beauties.

Currently, if Ye Fan hadn’t gotten the security guard job but was instead forced into a marriage arrangement as a male wife-in-residence, things would likely blow up. On his mother-in-law’s next big birthday celebration, divorce papers would appear, unleashing a torrent of Peach Blossom Luck.

Though it made a twisted sense. Such concentrated absurdity needed a sprawling feudal dynasty to nurture it.

Otherwise, how could spoiled heirs mobilize official local forces against rivals at will? Madness!

“Skkkreeeeeak~”

Suddenly, Chen Xiyi heard a sharp, grating sound—like metal scraping glass.

He turned. A pale, distorted face pressed hard against the windowpane, flattened and grotesque like dough smeared on the glass.

“Oh my Pan Gu! Look here! Third floor! Aren’t you afraid I’ll just open this window and knock you plummeting?” Chen Xiyi couldn’t help but scoff.

He walked over and locked gazes with the creature. Its eyes rolled white in their sockets. Its face was horribly swollen.

“You definitely used a slimming filter if you had photos. Otherwise, your big face would resemble a sesame-spotted flatbread—both wide and speckled.”

Observing this drowned dirty thing, swollen beyond identifiable gender, Chen Xiyi speculated a watery demise. Exactly where it died, or why it sought him? No clue.

[Drowned Ghost, Health Points: 100%, Status: Hungry]

[Ability 1: Wandering Spirit]

[Ability 2: Water Manipulation]

[Experience Log]

[April: Scents deeply desired Spirituality, searches frantically on rainy night]

[April: Soaking in the lake]

[April: …]

Chen Xiyi mentally sighed. Oh, wonderful. It was here for him.

He knew about Spirituality. His Primordial Spirit’s first major evolution (“First Immortal”) generated numerous negative statuses related to it. Clearly, Spirituality was core to a Module, much like the Primordial Spirit itself.

But Chen Xiyi hadn’t felt it… Well, now he did. His Primordial Spirit held it: a tiny point of brilliance acquired today while collecting the charred corpse. It radiated faintly within him. This Spirituality acted like an XP multiplier modifier. It doubled passive XP gain from 1 to 2.

Of course, base XP gain was minuscule. Without Nourishment Resources to provide the primary XP multiplier buffer, his Primordial Spirit might crawl forward only ~1% per month.

Therefore, collecting one corpse roughly equaled one month’s passive XP gain.

Since Spirituality seemed a natural passive modifier, Chen Xiyi decided to study it later when time allowed.

He never dreamed this thing would act like a beacon for dirty creatures seeking him out.

“I always said, when Heaven closes a door, it opens a path. Me searching slowly through alleys for corpses meeting violent ends was tedious. But snapping up one attracts others seeking… unplanned finishes.”

Chen Xiyi rubbed his chin, genuinely pleased as he observed the drowned ghost.

The “drowned” prefix screamed violent death. Couldn’t have been a peaceful departure at life’s dawn, surely.

“Though,” he mused, “not many seem destined for a ‘happy funeral’.”

Given that viewpoint… violent deaths were everywhere? The classification felt nebulous.

Before he finished that thought, the creature against the glass suddenly opened its mouth.

Or rather, its jaw unhinged, stretching impossibly wide past its ears. Muddy water, tangled weeds, and a horrible decay stench gushed out in a torrent.

CRACK! The glass shattered instantly.

“Whoa there!” Chen Xiyi reacted instantly, moving with surprising speed. His hands shot up, clamping the ghost’s lower jaw tight and brutally forcing its mouth shut! Th-THUMP! Its entire head ballooned visibly.

With the outlet blocked, its head had nowhere to vent the pressurized contents.

“Swallow it down! Quickly now! Don’t waste any!” Chen Xiyi ordered urgently.

The ghost flailed wildly, struggling furiously against Chen Xiyi’s grip, venomous fingernails seeking his exposed skin. He wouldn’t tolerate scratching! Instantly, ten extra ghostly arms manifested around him. Instead of grabbing attackers, these spectral hands were spectral restraints, expertly pinning the creature’s limbs onto its torso—a multi-objective pin!

Soon, the ghost went limp. Impossible to tell whether defeat was by pure overwhelming pressure or surrender. Either way, things ended perfectly.

Chen Xiyi casually dragged the sodden form inside. After closing the now-glassless window frame, reality struck—cold wind and rain poured through the gaping hole. Water rapidly puddled the expensive floorboards beneath his feet. Awkward. New guest demolishes billionaire’s window on first rainy night? Not the impression to give.

“Master… what…?” Ximen Yue arrived quickly, swathed in plaid silk pajamas. His tired eyes swept the glass-littered carpet before landing on Chen Xiyi standing atop a nearby polished table next to the damaged window frame. His hands gripped some dull black vinyl tape that was… taping the abomination to the plaster ceiling?

Ximen Yue glimpsed the same pale waterlogged thing. Everywhere the tape sealed it, murky water persistently dripped onto the expensive rug below.

“Oh,” Chen Xiyi grunted mildly while pressing down the last stubborn tape edge layer, “something crawled from the lake. Some peeping Tom who likes watching through windows. Bit bloated though—can’t tell genders yet. Temporarily pasted onto the ceiling’ll do.”

Hearing it crawled from a natural water source? Specifically the PARK outside? Ximen Yue felt pure dread flood his veins. Was this neighborhood cursed?! First, fiery corpses in the gardens; now aquatic horrors scaling walls. THIS WAS THE THIRD FLOOR OF LUXURY LOFT CONDOS! Only monsters did window spying here!

The Landscape Lake mentioned lay merely steps away—directly outside his building’s entrance! Originally considered a classy selling point. Now? Breeding pits for foul entities!

“I’m guessing that’s the only one tonight,” Chen Xiyi said reassuringly, finally off the table. “Got some wallpaper paste? Need extra security for textures. If more visit… Well, paste them onto a wall. Process all compost tomorrow.”

Instead of comfort, Ximen Yue felt a primal shiver surge down his spine. Paste things onto WALLS?! How could he ever sleep under these circumstances?!

“Truth be told, I’m… suddenly wide awake,” Ximen Yue said, throat tight. “Mind helping me find something sturdy? To block that giant window void for tonight…”

Chen Xiyi merely grunted in acknowledgment. After reinforcing his ceiling-captive, the soaking thing now thoroughly immobilized like midnight wallpaper décor, he returned to the glowing computer. He resumed delving deeper into online oddities, hoping to unearth clues implying unknown patterns.

While Ximen Yue frantically propped bulk-packed books against the broken window’s internal wooden frame—a hopeless seal against serious rain but psychologically comforting—Chen Ximen parked himself near Chen Xiyi. He occasionally blurted insignificant conversational scraps, clearly seeking proximity for safety vibes radiating off this strange guest.

Chen Xia, multitasking, divided attention: absorbing web information whilst chatting slightly, while simultaneously directing his Primordial Spirit to actively dampen his radiated Spirituality signature—the lure attracting tonight’s underwater spy. An experiment to stop future invasions.

Chen Xia paused his scrolling. “Master,” Ximen Yue asked hesitantly, “thinking of moving tomorrow… your thoughts?”

Chen Xia didn’t glance up. “Sitting to look sounds fine. Place seems decent: central downtown loft swanky district, decent subway routes… Wait, this place isn’t small! Nearly… five hundred square meters? That’s massive space! Wow… Rich folks indeed.”

He suddenly recognized Ximen Yue’s financial power beneath that weary face. Coastline nine-figure business mogul was understated! Mid-city penthouse bragging rights were rare.

“Truthfully,” Ximen Yue admitted, “own private villa down south—parents, retired in-laws living there since ages ago… Distance demanding though: hour-plus commute every workday. Thus bought this floor nearby barely touches work distance… But this building? Two encounters with monster intruders back-to-back feels… incredibly ill-omened. Thought perhaps… you’d accept staying temporarily? Villa grounds much more spacious…”

Chen Xia’s perception of Ximen Yue ballooned exponentially. So multiple mansion estates lurking? Hmm…

“You’re THAT wealthy?” Chen Xia perked up immediately. “Serious? Get me some heavy farm vehicles? Excavators? Agricultural tractors? Operational ones.”

Visions danced of Homesteading such machines afterwards! Hand such massive construction tools to his Blacksmith ghost. Enhanced durability? Enchanted digging prowess via Enchantment? If sent someday traversing true immortal or magical realms suddenly? Revving his mythically empowered excavator—directly tunneling through godly mountain fortress barriers beneath! Crushing ancient sect ancestors beneath treads mid-meditation!

“Why… would Master need digging gear?” Ximen Yue blinked. “Presumably something specific? Tomorrow morning—messaged dad. Direct escort to heavy machinery dealership awaits.”

“For forceful transcendental blessings, naturally,” Chen Xia stated gravely. “Adhesive talismanic script over the shovel bucket pieces? Tread rolling over spiritual enemies—grinding ghostly politics bullies into biological compost slurry. Neither undead nor god withstand iron tread judgment!”

He imagined the Panoply crushing sanctified temples skeletons; running over elite cultivator meditating formations; plowing under necropolis grave lords unearthing mysticism… Suitable.

Ximen Yue’s eyes widened—a revolutionary viewpoint unfolding!

“Master,” he asked excitedly, “if… simple pocketknives personally carved… protective talismanic marks? Would it scare small pests?”

“Wrap a sacred script directly around any pebble,” Chen Xia snorted dismissively. “Amplified projectile—has physical impact plus conceptual spiritual harm rates! Achievable instantly. Better solution? Acquire real firearms! Confiscated military-grade munitions? Infusing warhead casings blessing? Boom! Modern spectral extermination!”

Envisioned ordnance blessing rites… explosive purification techniques… Fascinating concepts… Ximen Yue’s mind raced.