Ghost Catching System

Chu Hao was speechless. The possession technique of the Ghost Offering Clan was so formidable that only the Six Paths Pupil could detect it.

Forget it. I might as well take them out as I see them and save myself the trouble later, Chu Hao thought.

He vanished into the darkness. The only way to identify members of the Ghost Offering Clan was with the Ghost-whipping Whip, taking them out one by one.

Ahead, in the pitch-black darkness, he spotted another member of the Ghost Offering Clan. Without a word, he charged forward, trampled the figure underfoot, and obliterated its soul with a direct hit from his whip.

"DING! You have killed a Ghost Offering soul and gained 100,000 Experience Points."

Next.

One, two, three... five... eight.

There were many Ghost Offerings, 108 in total. Chu Hao didn’t even spare the coffins in the trees, opening them only to exterminate whatever was inside.

Gradually, after killing about thirty-seven of them, he had also gained 3,700,000 Experience Points.

Pretentious Expert: Chu Hao

Level: 7

Experience Points: 5,900,000 / 8,000,000

Pretentiousness Points: 22,500

Mana Points: 14,700

Merit Points: 60,000

Ghost Servants: Zhao Yun, Confucius, Sadako, Chu Renmei, Jiayeci, Ghost Dragon (Qiu)

Chu Hao felt tired from running. He realized it had been a long time since he last rested; his body couldn’t keep up, and he was starting to feel hungry.

He collected compressed biscuits and water from some of the dead. Otherwise, where in this Ancient Tomb would he find anything to eat?

After resting for a bit, he resumed his hunt.

Chu Hao saw someone running through the trees like a nimble monkey. Thinking it was a member of the Ghost Offering Clan, he lashed out with his whip from behind. But instead of a scream of agony, the person just crouched on the ground in pain.

The burly man clutched the back of his head, wincing in excruciating pain. "Damn it!" he cursed. "Who the hell lashed me?"

Chu Hao felt embarrassed; it wasn’t a member of the Ghost Offering Clan after all. He recognized this burly man. The man had previously teamed up with two others to deal with a Ghost Samurai and was quite strong.

"Sorry, I hit the wrong person."

The burly man was furious. He turned around and shone his flashlight, but Chu Hao had disappeared. Blaming the darkness, he shouted angrily, "Son of a bitch! Come out and fight me one-on-one if you dare!"

Chu Hao replied helplessly, "Are you sure?"

The burly man snapped back, "Come out, huh? Got the guts to ambush me but not to face me one-on-one?"

So, Chu Hao walked out, holding the Thunder Whip, looking at the burly man.

The burly man was instantly dumbfounded. He obviously recognized Chu Hao. This kid is bizarrely strong, he thought. Maybe I could handle him if my companions were here, but alone, I probably wouldn’t stand a chance.

The burly man said, speechless, "Bro, that’s not cool of you."

Chu Hao waved the Ghost-whipping Whip and replied, "How is that not cool?"

The burly man eyed the Ghost-whipping Whip and couldn’t help but swallow. Even a fool could see that the Thunder Whip was impressive and definitely extraordinary. With a sour face, he said, "I... I’ll pretend I didn’t see you."

After that, the burly man started to leave.

Chu Hao glared and said, "Wait a second. Who said you could go?"

The burly man stopped in his tracks. With his quick temper, he would have usually started a fight by now, but he didn’t dare get angry in front of Chu Hao. Helplessly, he asked, "Little brother, is there... anything else?"

Chu Hao replied, "You’re pretty strong. Help me with something, and I’ll reward you handsomely."

After a moment’s thought, the burly man asked, "What kind of help?"

Chu Hao felt a headache coming on. Ordinary people couldn’t identify members of the Ghost Offering Clan. He said, "See those coffins? Find them, break them open, and kill whatever’s inside."

Then, he took out the Yin Yang Sword. "This will be your reward," he said.

The burly man stared at the Yin Yang Sword, immediately captivated by its Inscriptions. Anyone with expertise would recognize it as a fine blade.

The burly man asked skeptically, "Are you serious?"

Chu Hao tossed the Yin Yang Sword to him. "Kill as many as you can, and bring your other buddies along."

The burly man readily agreed, "Alright."

With the burly man’s help, Chu Hao felt much more at ease. How tiring it would be to cover this entire area alone!

Therefore, Chu Hao stopped chasing members of the Ghost Offering Clan and headed towards the base of the tree.

The burly man watched Chu Hao disappear, holding the Yin Yang Sword with a peculiar look on his face. This Chu Hao is quite interesting, he thought. The Yin Yang Sword is clearly a treasure, yet he just handed it over so casually.

Following the principle of "getting paid to solve problems," the burly man found his two companions, and they got to work.

Finally reaching the base of the tree, Chu Hao estimated it to be about 200 meters tall. It was so enormous that calling it a Divine Tree was no exaggeration.

Beneath the tree, a structure resembling a sacrificial altar encircled the Divine Tree. The Chu Kingdom must have worshiped it as a deity.

At the foot of the steps leading to the altar lay many dried corpses, kneeling on the ground as if begging the Divine Tree for something.

These were dried corpses prepared by the Chu Kingdom, a testament to their faith in the Divine Tree.

The more Chu Hao studied the tree, the more bizarre it seemed. A tree this gigantic must be tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years old, right?

I wouldn’t believe for a second that it hasn’t gained sentience.

Chu Hao used the Devil Mask to check the tree’s ranking.

As expected, the result was: ????

It must be slumbering, Chu Hao thought. A tree spirit of this caliber could sleep for thousands of years. I’d better not disturb it. If it gets upset, it might just snuff me out.

In front of the altar lay a vast underground lake. Bridges spanned it, and natural stone pillars led into its depths. Is King Chu’s Tomb in there?

"HEE HEE!"

Two children, a boy and a girl wearing traditional bodices, were hanging from the bridge, laughing eerily at Chu Hao.

Are they the Gold Boy and Jade Girl, sacrificial attendants for a royal burial? Chu Hao wondered.

Using the Devil Mask, Chu Hao saw that one of the children had a combat power of 10,000. That makes sense, he thought. Having been ghosts for thousands of years, it would be strange if they were still just minor spirits.

Ghost Soldiers—that was their rank.

As Chu Hao walked towards the bridge, the two children giggled and played, then vanished at the far end.

He looked down below the bridge. The massive roots of the Divine Tree were visible, each one larger than a house, coiling like dragons as they extended deep into the earth.

Light emanated from beneath, revealing purple flower buds growing on the roots, resembling trumpet flowers on the verge of blooming.

They glowed with a faint purple light, casting an ethereal beauty upon the scene below, like a fantastical fairyland.

Chu Hao was somewhat surprised. What are those purple buds? They seem to be nurturing something.

Suddenly, a cry of alarm came from ahead: "Little Ying!"

It was Su Muyue’s voice. Chu Hao ran over and saw Su Muyue, Zuo Lingyun, and several other unfamiliar faces gathered together.

Chu Hao approached and asked, "What’s wrong?"

Su Muyue, seeing Chu Hao, was too preoccupied with her shock to show any surprise at his arrival. She pointed downwards with a delicate, pale finger and cried, "Little Ying! She’s turned into a fish!"

Chu Hao looked startled. "Are you kidding me?"

A blond, blue-eyed foreigner dressed like a mercenary exclaimed in horror, "OMG! My God, that little girl really did turn into a fish! To be precise, a mermaid!"

Chu Hao looked down and indeed saw a fish swimming away. He could vaguely make out a beautiful fish tail and body that somewhat resembled Little Ying. With a flicker, it vanished, so quickly that even Chu Hao’s enhanced vision couldn’t track it.

Holy crap! Chu Hao thought.

A living person turned into a mermaid? Are they messing with me?!