The sequence is too involutional, luckily I am too.

Chapter 154 New Rules: What Are You Looking At! The Mysterious City

Looking at the reborn Wuchang Gui before him, a barely perceptible look of surprise flashed across Lu Yan's eyes, and his fingertips paused slightly.

The last time the Yin-Yang Ghost hatched, it was extremely slow. Even with the endless death energy of the Black Forest constantly nourishing it, it took quite a few days for it to finally break out of its shell, and its aura gradually filled up.

But this fickle ghost, which he had just buried in the soil of the Black Forest, broke through the soil in an instant. Its eerie aura was like a boiling tide, filling up to its maximum almost instantly, even more intense than when the Yin-Yang Ghost had hatched.

The thought had barely formed in his mind when a line of cold white text reappeared before his eyes, carrying the warning tone unique to actuaries.

The actuary keenly detected the unusual fluctuations in time and alerted the host to be vigilant.

"Is the timing abnormal?"

Lu Yan raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with surprise, as the vague message from the tower when he first entered the area flashed through his mind.

"Lost land, lost time, lost soul."

"Lost Time—Could this place have actually existed?"

Once this thought arose, it grew wildly like vines, becoming clearer and clearer, and he gradually figured out the reason for the abnormal hatching of the Impermanent Ghost.

Clearly, the timeline of the Impermanent Ghost itself was forcibly distorted and accelerated by some unknown force in this region, making it illogical and thus resulting in this spectacular phenomenon of hatching in an instant.

"I just don't know if this hasty incubation counts as premature birth, or if there will be any hidden dangers."

Lu Yan slowly squatted down, his fingertips hovering above the Wuchang Ghost, his eyes full of suspicion as he carefully examined the strange creature that had just completed its evolution.

The evolved Wuchanggui's aura was several times more violent than before, and its body was shrouded in a thick, hazy ghostly aura, which also contained a faint aura of time disorder.

Its body surface is densely covered with black and white eyes, each one moving aimlessly, the depths of its pupils filled with a deathly stillness, making one's scalp tingle and spine go cold, a chilling coldness shooting straight up the spine to the top of the head.

Especially in the instant his gaze inadvertently met those eyes, Lu Yan felt his blood surge suddenly, and an uncontrollable violent rage rose from the bottom of his heart.

But he quickly suppressed this impulse, and it never resurfaced.

The rules of Sequence 6 ultimately could not affect his powerful mental strength.

[Sequence 6 - Bizarre - Unpredictable]

[Trait - Rage: When facing the fickle and unpredictable, one's anger will gradually spiral out of control, ultimately turning one into a puppet of rage, completely at its mercy.]

[Skill/Rules/What Are You Looking At: You cannot look directly into the eyes of any being (including yourself), otherwise it will trigger uncontrolled rage, reverse your blood flow, and ultimately lead to your death in a fit of rage.]

After reading the description on the panel, Lu Yan's heart finally settled down a little. He tapped the panel lightly with his fingertips, and most of the doubt in his eyes dissipated.

The fact that it has gained the panel's approval indicates that the evolution of the Impermanent Ghost is not abnormal, and that its rules, like those of the Yin-Yang Ghost, are still tyrannical and unreasonable.

"You can't look anyone in the eye—that's actually a useful rule."

Lu Yan glanced at the erratic eyes of the Impermanent Ghost, smacked his lips, and a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

Although its appearance is too creepy and the triggering conditions are quite harsh, the suppressive power brought by this rule is enough to offset all discomfort and will surely become a great help in the future.

After confirming that Wuchanggui was alright, Lu Yan stood up and pushed open the dilapidated wooden door.

The wooden door creaked open with a piercing groan, as if it might break at any moment. The deathly silence and desolation outside instantly flooded into the room, intertwining with the eerie atmosphere inside and making it even more sinister.

He did not relinquish his "Child of Death" state, and the dense death aura surrounding him made him appear to the other strange beings in the area as a powerful and unapproachable member of his kind.

But those strange creatures remained completely still, mechanically repeating the actions they had taken in life.

Some wandered aimlessly among the ruins, their steps faltering, like walking corpses; some stood motionless beside the broken walls and rubble, their eyes vacant; others lowered their heads and fiddled with the twisted and deformed objects in their hands, their movements stiff and mechanical, devoid of any life.

If it weren't for their deformed and twisted bodies, the dense death aura surrounding them, and their lifeless eyes that glowed with an eerie red light, Lu Yan would almost have mistaken himself for an ordinary human town.

"Could it be that, in the end, the bizarre will also develop into its own civilization?"

A sense of curiosity arose in Lu Yan's heart, and he looked around at the lost city that was completely occupied by the strange.

Ruins and rubble are everywhere, and the smell of decay and blood in the air grows stronger. In the distance, buildings have collapsed into rubble, and occasionally, eerie roars come from the depths of the ruins, breaking the deathly silence for a moment.

He knew very well that to pass through this lost land, he had to find the secrets hidden within, and right now, the only breakthrough seemed to be these strange creatures entrenched here.

After a moment's thought, Lu Yan suddenly raised his hand and deactivated the "Child of Death" state. In an instant, the deathly aura around him dissipated, replaced by a vibrant and powerful aura of blood and energy.

This aura is undoubtedly the most tempting delicacy in the world for the strange creatures that rely on death energy and blood to survive; they simply cannot resist it.

The strange creatures that had previously ignored him suddenly froze, as if a pause button had been pressed.

The next second, they suddenly turned their heads, and a greedy red light instantly ignited in their lifeless eyes, locking onto Lu Yan with a fixed gaze, and letting out a strange "hoarse" roar from their throats.

Without the slightest hesitation, an overwhelming wave of eeriness surged towards Lu Yan, with roars and twisting friction sounds intertwining, making one's eardrums ache, and the dense eerie aura almost swallowed the entire space.

"As expected, without advancing to Sequence 6, it remains a monster driven only by obsession and instinct, devoid of any rationality."

Lu Yan understood immediately, but showed no sign of panic on his face, and gently snapped his fingers.

The next second, countless dark trees burst forth from the ground, their thick branches spreading wildly like agile venomous snakes, instantly enveloping the approaching eerie forces. Dense death energy seeped from the tree trunks, like greedy tentacles, slowly devouring the eerie power and assimilating its bodies.

These strange creatures that rush in are merely bound by their obsessions from their past lives, repeating their old actions. Trying to extract information from them is undoubtedly a pipe dream. It would be better to use them to nourish the Black Forest, allowing the Seven Emotions Ghosts to level up, which would be making the best use of them.

The Seven Emotions Ghosts were equally unwilling to miss this opportunity. With a flash, they all rushed into the group of ghosts and unceremoniously enjoyed this "feast" that had been delivered to their doorstep.

Especially the Yin-Yang Ghost and the Impermanent Ghost, relying on the rules they possess, face this overwhelming strangeness as if entering an empty land, reaping at will.

The Sun and Moon Mirror in Yin Yang Gui's hand rapidly flipped, and a strange light shone out. All the monsters illuminated by the mirror light lost control, their mouths contorted into exaggerated smiles, laughing wildly. The strange power within their bodies also uncontrollably dissipated, becoming nourishment for Yin Yang Gui.

The Impermanent Ghost, on the other hand, charged alone into the horde of monsters, its body emitting countless black and white eyes that stared intently at each one. Any monster that met its gaze roared in fury, its eyes turning bloodshot, and began tearing at its own kind, creating utter chaos.

Both extreme joy and extreme anger are harmful to the spirit; even the most irrational and eccentric individuals cannot avoid this.

"For the supernatural, rules are equivalent to the domain of the extraordinary. Once you possess them, the difference is like heaven and earth, enough to crush lower-level supernatural beings."

Seeing this, Lu Yan stopped paying too much attention and switched back to the state of the Child of Death, focusing his mind on sensing the surrounding aura and searching for a new target.

Apart from the dismemberment monster he had just encountered, he did not sense any other strange or unsettling auras in this area.

Clearly, he was quite lucky, landing in the "nest" of the strongest creature in the area right after his debut.

After switching states, he immediately detected several clear, rule-level eerie auras distributed in different corners of the city.

The aura emanating from the city center was the strongest, and it also gave him a strong sense of threat, far exceeding the strangeness of ordinary rules.

"Even more powerful than the rules of the game—could it be a Sequence 5 level anomaly?"

Lu Yan immediately became interested, a hint of eagerness flashing in his eyes. He moved swiftly and flew towards the nearest one with strange and unusual rules.

He certainly wouldn't miss such a great opportunity to upgrade.

Half a day later, in an abandoned library in the Lost Land.

The library's roof had long since collapsed, and sunlight streamed through the holes, casting dappled shadows on the dusty ground.

The bookshelves were askew, books were scattered all over the floor, most of them were rotten and blackened, and the writing was blurred and illegible; the air was filled with the musty smell of old paper and a faint eeriness, so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Lu Yan was surrounded by deathly aura. He held a dying Rule-level monster in one hand and tossed it to the Seven Emotions Monster beside him.

Upon seeing this, the Soul-Hooking Demon immediately pounced and quickly devoured it. Then, it deliberately burrowed into the Black Forest, replanted itself, and began to digest the nutrients and challenge the new rules.

The next instant, the soil of the Black Forest suddenly bulged, and the Soul-Hooking Ghost burst forth from the earth, exuding a rich aura of desire. Its eyes became more lively, as if it had successfully created its own rules.

In just half a day, Lu Yan acquired his sixth strange rule, and the aura of the Black Forest became even stronger as a result.

But he felt no joy whatsoever; instead, his expression was heavier than ever before, his brows furrowed tightly, and his fingertips clutching a tattered piece of cloth, his fingertips turning slightly white.

-

Although the fabric was worn and tattered, he recognized it at a glance.

That was clearly the uniform of a court investigator, with the court's unique emblem still visible on the fabric, even though it had been eroded by eerie energy.

"Is this humanity's past, or... its future?!"

Lu Yan looked around at the familiar layout of tables and chairs in the library and the remaining traces of notices on the walls, his mood growing heavier.

As he traveled along, he noticed that the architectural style and living facilities of the city ruins were very similar to the era he lived in. Even if it was a past event, it was not too far removed from the present.

"Turning an entire city into a haunted city—such a momentous event, if it had already occurred, would surely have been recorded by the court."

Lu Yan carefully put away the tattered uniform, silently keeping the matter in mind, and decided to investigate it immediately as soon as he left the tower.

If the relevant records can be found in the courtroom, that would be considered good news; if not—the consequences would be unimaginable.

Lu Yan looked up at the window, his gaze piercing through the thick eerie atmosphere and landing in the direction of the city center.

There stands a dilapidated tower, shrouded in eerie atmosphere, its body riddled with cracks, through which one can vaguely glimpse the ruins within.

The entire tower exuded an indescribable eeriness and majesty, which was the source of his strong sense of threat.

Perhaps, he can find the answers he seeks there and unravel the mystery of "Lost Time".