Chapter Thirty-Six: Collective Skill Advancement (Part One)

There were still 192,000 points of Fear left. Feng Tianlin first spent 150,000 to upgrade the Eerie Movement Technique to LV10. This skill was extremely important, so it naturally took priority. When he raised the Eerie Movement Technique to LV10, the system notification sounded.

“Congratulations, host, for completing the first stage of the Eerie Movement Technique. The skill has advanced and is now Spatial Teleportation.”

Indeed, LV10 was a threshold—breaking through it brought unexpected effects. However, due to his limited strength, he could only upgrade it to LV10 for now. He wondered what level he would need to reach to continue advancing further.

Sensing the transformation of energy within himself, Feng Tianlin guided the new power and activated it. He found that within a fifty-meter radius, he could teleport at will—a significant improvement over the Eerie Movement Technique. With this skill, he was now immensely powerful.

Next were Long Mengting’s two skills. Feng Tianlin spent 15,000 Fear points to upgrade Invisibility to LV6 and another 10,000 to raise Piercing Claws to LV6.

Now, even if the Black Scarlet Fiend appeared, he probably wouldn’t sense her presence, and the duration of invisibility had increased substantially. The power of Piercing Claws had also risen dramatically. At this point, Long Mengting could probably hold her own even against a Grade C opponent.

The remaining 17,000 Fear points were just enough to upgrade Explosive Wild Bear’s Bear Bomb to LV6, leaving only 7,000 Fear points.

Feng Tianlin decided to use these last 7,000 to grant a skill either to Explosive Wild Bear or the Female Wraith.

After browsing the system interface for a long while, he realized that suitable skills for them were few and far between. In the end, he chose a formidable skill for Explosive Wild Bear: Celestial Shield.

Celestial Shield: Instantly deploy a circular shield of varying size (the smaller the shield, the higher the defense) capable of absorbing a certain amount of damage (determined by skill level).

This skill paired perfectly with his Bear Bomb—set off a bomb, then block with the shield. Flawless.

Since he wasn’t entirely sure what the Female Wraith’s skills actually did, Feng Tianlin simply spent 6,000 Fear points to upgrade Celestial Shield from LV0 to LV4.

Thus, the stats for Feng Tianlin’s team became as follows:

Host: Feng Tianlin
Level: Grade E
Skills: Commander (Passive, no level), Spatial Teleportation LV10, Frost Nova LV6, Soul Interrogation LV3, Spatial Dead Zone LV5, Disguise LV7, Phantom LV5.

Team Member: Bloodthirsty Lolita
Level: Grade D
Skills: Piercing Claws LV6, Invisibility LV6

Team Member: Explosive Wild Bear
Skills: Bear Bomb LV5, Celestial Shield LV4

Team Member: Female Wraith
Level: D
Skills: Yin Spirit Breath LV6

After all this was done, Explosive Wild Bear and Long Mengting ran off to test their new skills. With Explosive Wild Bear’s combat instincts, he’d quickly grasp the combo.

The Female Wraith, however, was different—she was still in shock. From the moment the new awareness overtook her mind, every fiber of her being told her that the doll before her was her boss and that she must obey him. This awareness was like instinct—utterly irresistible.

As soon as she accepted this instinct, her skills were upgraded dramatically. It was all too sudden. Although her intelligence prevented her from fully understanding the situation, she knew for certain that her new leader was anything but ordinary.

Feng Tianlin smiled at her dazed state. “Stick with me, and you’ll live the good life.”

He hadn’t accepted her because she had some particular talent—he simply thought having a female wraith around would make scaring people more effective. At this point, he was completely unaware of her immense potential.

His immediate priority was to accumulate more Fear points. To do that, he’d need to orchestrate a larger event. But after that, he wouldn’t be able to stay in Ling City any longer. After all, the Eerie Creature Investigation Bureau of Tianjing City seemed to have people even the Black Scarlet Fiend feared.

But rumor had it that Tianjing City was currently overrun by bizarre creatures. When the time came, he could simply head back there.

As he was pondering this, Ruan Miao’s voice reached his ears.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and show your ghostly form like before!”

Feng Tianlin looked over to see Ruan Miao holding a sketchpad and a pencil, apparently threatening the Female Wraith.

“What are you doing?” Feng Tianlin hurried over to stop her. For the sake of her art, this girl was truly fearless.

Ruan Miao looked aggrieved. She hadn’t been allowed to draw the Black Scarlet Fiend earlier, and now she couldn’t even sketch the female wraith he’d recruited?

Feng Tianlin was about to scold her when his expression turned grave. “Spirit Tamers are coming!”

He sensed three auras of bizarre creatures under human control approaching—two Grade Ds and one Grade E—likely coming for the Female Wraith.

“Spirit Tamers? What are those?” Ruan Miao asked curiously.

“They’re humans who deal with beings like us. It’s a long story,” Feng Tianlin replied, his gaze fixed on a certain spot downstairs.

Knowing this wasn’t the time for questions, Ruan Miao fell silent.

Feng Tianlin used Disguise to conceal his own presence, then ordered Long Mengting to hold Explosive Wild Bear and activate Invisibility. That way, only the Female Wraith’s aura would be exposed.

Soon enough, the Spirit Tamers were at Ruan Miao’s door, knocking.

“Who is it?” Ruan Miao called out as she walked over to open the door.

Outside stood four men in brown overcoats—clearly the standard attire for Spirit Tamers.

These three were combatants from the Ling City Eerie Creature Investigation Bureau, here to track down the Female Wraith. A Grade D combatant had recently been badly injured fighting her, drawing the Bureau’s attention and prompting them to send this team.

The leader was Zhang Yang, the other Grade D was Li Ming, and the Grade E assistant was Niu Ben.

They were dissatisfied with the Bureau’s decision—a nearly defeated female wraith hardly warranted a three-person squad, even if her skills were rumored to be formidable.

Upon opening the door, Zhang Yang immediately presented a document. “We’re special agents. Please cooperate with our work.”

Ruan Miao, understanding their purpose, still played along. She feigned panic. “Huh? I haven’t done anything wrong! What am I supposed to do?”

Her reaction was perfectly normal, so the Spirit Tamers didn’t think much of it.

Zhang Yang smiled. “Don’t worry, this has nothing to do with you. An escaped criminal is rumored to have hidden something in this room. Just wait outside and don’t enter—that’s all we ask.”

His attitude was extremely polite—not due to professionalism, but because what man isn’t courteous to a beauty? Especially one as stunning as Ruan Miao.

She nodded. “Alright, but please be quick—it’s late, and I need to sleep.”

She glanced at her watch; it was already past three, nearly four in the morning. Any normal person would have been asleep by now.