Exorcist’s Self-Cultivation

A pitch-black night.

A bald man dressed in a priest’s attire walked slowly under the veil of darkness.

In his hand, he pinched a Joker Card that depicted himself in a tailcoat, but the rest of the scene was different from Du Wei’s card.

Du Wei’s card had a forest background, complete with the moon and evil wolves.

But this one only featured a palace.

The bald man in tailcoat stood at the entrance of the palace, with an uncountable number of hands grabbing onto the door’s edge, but two hands rested on his shoulders.

…

Looking at the scene on the card, the bald man whispered softly.

"Each time this Joker Card is used, one hand will detach from the edge of the door. The so-called wish fulfillment can actually be understood as a transaction; though the ways wishes come true are quite bizarre, it still works much better than the other card.”

"And as for the Evil Spirit gamble, hehe, it’s only when you lose that you realize what despair truly means.”

"However, having obtained another card, I need to head back to Switzerland immediately; otherwise, when the Old Church hunters start dealing with those things underground, something bad might happen.”

While he spoke, the bald man walked to a spot about a hundred meters away from the street.

What seemed odd to him was that fog had appeared in front of him at some unknown time.

And with Spirit Vision, the bald man saw many ghosts standing within the fog, spaced at intervals, motionless as if waiting for something.

"Is this the obstacle you’ve set up for me? Laughable…”

The bald man showed a sarcastic smile, instantly noticing the presence of those ghosts.

However, with a Joker Card in his possession, and as a hunter, the threat of ghosts was pitifully small to him.

Next.

He stepped forth, and pulled out a flashlight…

The flashlight was silver-white, looking like an antique from the turn of the century.

Soon.

He stepped into the fog…

Huh…

An inexplicable gust of wind blew through, causing the fog to churn.

The ghosts that were stationary in the fog all turned their heads at that instant and waved to him.

There was no malice, but it was eerily frightening.

The bald man emotionlessly turned on his flashlight.

The light shone on the ghosts, causing all of them to stiffen.

"I must say, you’re quite a disappointment…”

"If it weren’t for the fact that I can’t kill you directly through a wish, I wouldn’t bother playing these tedious hunting games with you.”

His flashlight could deal with Evil Spirits.

Light shining on an Evil Spirit would make it stiffen and unable to move.

Of course, it could only restrain less terrifying Evil Spirits; some far more horrendous ones could even ignore the flashlight’s effect.

But it was more than enough to handle ghosts.

If combined with his Evil Spirit Transformation ability, in a sense, neither humans nor Evil Spirits posed much of a threat to him.

However…

What he didn’t notice was that the white fog had already appeared behind him.

Of course, it wasn’t because he had taken another step forward; it was the spatial change that occurred when he walked into the fog and was included within the boundaries of the road.

Simply stepping on a corner or touching the perimeter of the road would result in being pulled straight in.

The bald man, sensing the location of the other Joker Card, continued walking forward.

When he came in front of a ghost, he casually slipped the Joker Card into his pocket, and the next moment he pulled out a silver cross knife.

The design of this knife was very similar to the one Du Wei lost on the bus, with identical patterns and length.

That is to say, these types of silver cross knives were standard-issue weapons for hunters of the last century.

Schwick…

He drew the knife, stabbed into the ghost…

It was as if he had stabbed into thin air, with no resistance whatsoever.

But as he pulled out the knife, the ghost immediately dissipated.

The bald man smirked; evidently, he was much more of a professional hunter than Du Wei.

But then, the next second.

The smile froze on his face.

An extremely cold and dreadfully chilling terror swept over him like a deluge. Stay updated through empire

In the fog, one ghost after another began to move, as if driven by some force.

With Spirit Vision, looking out, he couldn’t even count them all.

"Fuck!!”

The Bald Man felt a chill in his heart and, without hesitating, turned his head and ran.

With so many ghosts and that horrifying malice, there was absolutely no way to fight back; running was the only option.

But.

The more he ran, the worse his expression became.

Everywhere he looked, there was only fog.

Even the hunter’s most reliable ability, Spirit Vision in the Third Phase, couldn’t see anything beyond the fog and ghosts.

"Damn it! Damn that masked bastard! I swear, I’ll make sure you die a gruesome death!”

The Bald Man cursed in his heart, completely baffled by what Du Wei had done and why he was caught in this predicament.

Under the state of Spirit Vision, he hadn’t seen any Evil Spirits at all.

Wait a second…

The masked man suddenly stopped, his face full of gloom and anger.

The Dusk Bell Church had explored about one-tenth of Massas City, at the cost of one hunter, and had gathered a lot of useful information.

The situation in Massas City was very serious; aside from the thing beneath the ground, many places had undergone strange changes.

In this city, what was truly frightening were not the Evil Spirits but those sinister locations that could limit and even kill Evil Spirits.

"So I’ve entered a special place?”

"Then why wasn’t that bastard affected? He clearly has been here too!”

The Bald Man turned his head and glanced at the ghosts, his entire being entering into Evil Spirit Transformation.

His demeanor changed dramatically.

His eyes turned deathly and cold, devoid of the slightest hint of humanity.

Most of his body appeared to be covered in a layer of shadow.

The ghosts that drew near him all paused, tilted their heads, and opened their mouths wide.

But they seemed to sense something and did not take another step forward.

The Bald Man directly took out the Joker Card and said in a chilling tone, “I wish to be rid of these ghostly things.”

On the Joker Card, the man standing at the palace gates in a tailcoat showed an odd smile, and one of the hands clutching the gate’s edges slowly let go, grabbing his shoulder.

But suddenly…

Blood spurted from the Bald Man’s nose, mouth, and eye sockets.

He looked incredulously at the Joker Card and snarled, “Are you sure that if I walk in there, I’ll be able to leave this place? That man should be inside too, right? Why hasn’t he freed himself?”

The him on the Joker Card smiled even more strangely.

Each Joker Card contained a fragment of an Evil Spirit.

The more one relied on its power, the easier it was to sink into corruption.

In the gamble, whether you win or lose, the Evil Spirits are always the ultimate beneficiaries.

Wishing was a trade, and while the realization of a wish happened, its process could not be decided by man.

The Bald Man had used the Joker Card before; he was all too aware that the wishes he made would be fulfilled, but the outcome and process would never be quite as he imagined.

So, grinding his teeth and with eyes full of murderous intent and coldness, he followed the connection between the Joker Cards and charged directly towards Du Wei’s location.

Two minutes later.

The Bald Man walked through the fog and entered the streets.

Upon arrival, he saw a man wearing a cracked mask and suit staring at him.

Around were bone powder and something resembling a walking stick burning.

The firelight cast a tall shadow of the masked man, which eerily seemed to be in trouble, shaking as if trying to do something, but the shadow beneath it remained calm.

It was as if there was a delay.

Behind him were many Evil Spirits holding Black Umbrellas and Exorcists dressed in Priest’s attire, and further back, there appeared to be three more Evil Spirits.

A faint mist was emerging in the streets.

With Spirit Vision active, the Bald Man frowned; he felt that the man’s state was very off, not seeming like a person but more like an Evil Spirit.

"Have you already turned into an Evil Spirit? Strange, who are you exactly? An Exorcist from the Church or one of those madmen from the Veda Sect?”

Danger flashed in the Bald Man’s eyes as he took out a flashlight and shone it on the Evil Spirits.

All the Evil Spirits stiffened and did not move.

Then, he took a step forward, his expression turning very ugly.

"Resistance…”

The Bald Man waved his hand and suddenly noticed that under the flashlight’s illumination, his shadow seemed to be delayed, although it wasn’t very obvious at the moment.

"So this is why you can’t move, but unfortunately for you, I don’t care. I’ve already made a wish with the Joker Card, knowing there has to be a way for me to escape from here.”

"Now, let me send you to hell.”

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