Chapter 180

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

Returning to the Consciousness Space once again, the first thing Shen Yao did was close her eyes and nurture her spirit.

System: ……

The System didn't understand why the Host, a soul that didn't even have a body anymore, insisted on maintaining certain behaviors that humans should have, but it had gained quite a few benefits from her in its previous life, so it consciously felt it shouldn't quibble with the Host too much on this aspect.

Since the Host likes it, then just go do it; anyway, it doesn't affect it.

One person and one System tacitly didn't disturb each other, until Shen Yao had sorted out her emotions on her end, then she called the System over to ask about her reward.

【Already sent to Host's space, please check～】

Clearly a mechanical sound, yet Shen Yao heard a drifting wavy line.

Mocking that the System must have earned quite a lot this time, Shen Yao opened the space, calculating the bottles and jars received while arranging the nine acquired one-cubic-meter spaces.

【Peach Wood Bracelet, Peach Wood Hairpin, Struck-by-Lightning Wood Sword.】

Shen Yao felt the System was too proactive this time, wishing it would peel open the Task World's situation and tell her.

【How so kind? There are even recovery Pills, all exclusively for evil spirits.】

One look and you could tell they were specially exchanged rewards, because the System doesn't produce these things itself.

The System hehehed, 【Host completing missions benefits the System.】

So when it can reveal more, the System reveals a bit more; there's no harm.

After so many worlds, the System had seen the light; its own Host is formidable, so it should just honestly hug her thigh and seek survival.

As for whatever other this and that, what compares to tangible rewards obtained?

Hearing this, Shen Yao revealed a "teachable child" appearance, 【Got smart, keep it up.】

Finished speaking, Shen Yao turned her head and opened the massive pile of Storage Bags accumulated in the original space.

Mainly because when she was in the Cultivation World, she put in the many flower petals bathed in Buddha Light.

Ghosts, Yin spirits, Magic Beasts and such creatures fear most these things of utmost yang and utmost rigidity.

Shen Yao had traveled many places in the Cultivation World; the related items she collected were only more, not fewer.

Rustle——

Accompanied by the sound of Storage Bags colliding with each other, Shen Yao's mood couldn't be better.

The System rarely didn't make a sound to disturb, just floating in mid-air watching the Host busy herself.

Until everything came to a pause, Shen Yao even took out quite a few Spirit Stones she had treasured for a long time, only then clapping her hands and stopping.

Hu

【Enough for now; the rest can wait until the Task World to take, still in time.】

Shen Yao nodded in satisfaction, summoned the System and had it hurry up and send her to the Task World.

The System thought the Host would stay a while longer; didn't expect the Host to be so driven — what's it waiting for? Action.

……

Familiar dizziness, familiar physical discomfort, familiar nausea and retching.

Shen Yao: ……

Shen Yao opened her eyes, only to see herself lying on a soft bed.

The bed and surrounding decorations were a pale, pale blue, looking elegant and fresh.

Pity the air carried a stench that made one want to vomit, ruining the overall aesthetic.

Not an environmental factor, but a black flyer placed on the bedside.

Shen Yao: ……

Shen Yao didn't even bother with the memories, directly pinching the flyer into her hand to examine.

【Magic Qi?】

No wonder she disliked this stench; back when she was in the Cultivation World, she had smelled it!

The flyer in her hand wasn't a flyer either, but an Invitation Letter, to go to a Strange Instance.

Shen Yao scratched her head, 【System, memory transfer.】

The System jumped out, sending the sealed large segment of memories into Shen Yao's head.

When Shen Yao regained her senses again, she had already extracted the key points regarding this world.

Modern World, Magic Qi Invasion, Spiritual Qi Revival, Strange Phenomena Descent, global upheaval.

This body of Shen Yao's belongs to a wealthy young lady whose parents both passed away.

However, also because the blow of her parents' death was too great, the original host who became an orphan finished handling the family assets, then peacefully stayed in the villa lying flat until now.

The reason Shen Yao could transmigrate over was also because the original host's constitution was too poor, and the fright from this Invitation Letter caused her to perish.

Shen Yao: ……

Reaching out to rub her face, alright, family relations look simple and clean, not too much trouble.

Stood up and walked to the Window Side, Shen Yao raised her head to look at the sky Outside.

Gloomy and dark, exuding a heart-palpitating fear.

【Originally still wanted to go find the Strange Investigation Bureau, time's too late, forget it for now.】

The countdown on the Invitation Letter is less than half an hour; even if she found the Investigation Bureau, what could she say? Better to take advantage of now to hurriedly arm herself, strive to figure out the situation as much as possible after entering the Strange Instance.

Magic Qi, then what about Spiritual Qi?

Finding a moment, Shen Yao took out the spirit stones and pills from her space, popping them while pondering.

It was said to be a Spiritual Qi Revival, yet she only sensed demonic qi; spiritual qi was practically nonexistent.

The artifact for testing spiritual roots relied on spirit stones to activate, but she herself possessed mixed spiritual roots.

Tsk.

Shen Yao was speechless; she thought, how can I be a Big Shot like this? Even in the Cultivation World where spiritual qi is abundant, mixed spiritual roots might not necessarily break through to Foundation Establishment, let alone in this current world.

"System, pills."

No more nonsense, Shen Yao hurriedly harvested wool from the System to improve herself.

The System efficiently sent over a few pills, "Able to purify spiritual roots and improve constitution."

It had no more than that; even these were only obtained by the System exchanging in advance from elsewhere, after all it wasn't its main job.

Shen Yao hurriedly swallowed the pills, then continued relying on popping pills to raise her cultivation realm.

Fortunately, back in the Cultivation World, she had refined quite a few pills during her usual leisure time.

These pills were usually stored in her storage bag within the space; now that she had come here, they all became Shen Yao's reliance.

Glug glug, glug glug——

The half hour countdown soon ended; Shen Yao had finally raised her cultivation to the third layer of Qi Refining, but once the remaining medicinal power was fully absorbed, her cultivation should be able to rise to Qi Refining Late Stage.

Not bad, not bad; relying on the difficulty law of first entering a Strange Instance, her strength should be able to handle it.

Besides, right now matters concerning Strange Instances are at a stage of being about to be made public yet not yet public.

The Country's handling attitude toward this matter is mainly conservative concealment. Whether online news or offline legends, maintaining stability is key.

The invitation letter lying on the bed reached zero on its countdown, and closely following came a stretch of mist.

Shen Yao only remembered her vision suddenly turning black; by the time she reacted, she had already gone from the room to beneath a dense forest of withered branches and fallen leaves.

This is, a Strange Instance?

Calm the mind and settle the breath, embrace unity. The Bodhi Seed Swastika Bracelet on her wrist flashed with a microglow.

Shen Yao sensed the rich spiritual energy in the air, as well as demonic qi even more intense than on the invitation letter.

The medicinal power accumulated in her body from popping pills unconsciously began to circulate; the spiritual power drifting in the air started vying to be the first to merge into Shen Yao's body.

Naturally, demonic qi was mixed in as well, but because Shen Yao wore the bracelet, it was blocked outside, unable to advance an inch.

"Th-this, where is this? Let me out quickly, I'm still a student."

Not far away, a terrified female voice abruptly rang out.

Shen Yao looked up, and just happened to see several human figures directly appear on the ground ahead that should have been empty of people.

One of them was half-kneeling on the ground, face full of panic; the words just now came from her mouth.

"Strange Instance, could those rumors be true? Are there really strange phenomena here?"

"What to do, what to do? I haven't lived enough, I don't want to die, I don't want to die."

"Are there any elders who have cleared an instance? I'm a newcomer who just experienced one instance."

"……"

From quiet and still to noisy and chaotic, it was just a moment's matter.

Shen Yao stood in place without moving, her gaze not forgetting to size up the surrounding wedding guests.

One two three four five... eight in total, counting herself exactly nine people.

Nine?

This number is a bit inauspicious, at least for the instance before their eyes.

"Alright, stop arguing. Since we've entered, we must learn to be calm.

This is a Strange Instance; for the sake of our little lives' safety, we can only rely on ourselves."

A middle-aged man who looked very righteous finally stepped forward.

The man called himself Zhao Cheng; he had already personally experienced three Strange Instances.

Now that the nine of them had entered — five men, four women — it was definitely a multi-person instance.

"The instance is fraught with crises; to find clues and successfully clear it, we can only rely on ourselves.

Alright, let's go forward first. We have to last at least three days in the instance at worst; don't think about taking shortcuts."

After Zhao Cheng finished speaking, he turned and strode forward; the crowd behind him looked at each other, then slowly followed after.

Shen Yao had entered the earliest, and her standing position was also farthest from the crowd.

Now that everyone was walking forward, Shen Yao could only trail far behind.

The current positions of the nine people: Zhao Cheng alone leading far ahead, the other seven crowded in the middle, and Shen Yao following at the very end.

"You are, you are Xi Chen, right? I've watched the dramas you acted in before, really..."

By Shen Yao's ear was that female high school student's voice, her eyes shining brightly as she looked at a very handsome young man.

The young man's features were delicate, his expression calm, completely out of place with the other panicked wedding guests around them.

Shen Yao noticed this young man called Xi Chen because of his body.

Visibly excellent aptitude; placed in the Cultivation World, he would be a single spiritual root genius.

Tsk tsk tsk.

"System, that young man called Xi Chen, I have an impression of him in this body."

He exploded in popularity on an idol singer platform, excelling in both singing and acting, plus with a good background, he leapt to become a star known to countless young men and women in today's society.

It could be seen the young man's attitude was very good; even when the female high school student spoke excitedly to the point of voice cracking, he showed not the slightest impatience.

Shen Yao walked while paying attention to the situation ahead, until the crowd following this road saw a village at the end ahead.

"Wangsheng Village"

Zhao Cheng read out the name on the village's stone stele, followed by a paragraph of large black characters emerging.

Survive seven days and you may leave

Seven days!

"That long?" someone in the team cried out in shock, then belatedly covered their mouth.

Shen Yao blinked, leaning in closer, "Is there a problem with the time?"

The speaker heard the words and was still a bit impatient, not wanting to turn around only to face a pretty girl; the words at their mouth immediately changed, "Normal instances are three days or five days."

Shen Yao understood in her heart — the longer the time, the greater the difficulty, and the harder to survive.

Stepping back a pace away from the crowd, Shen Yao maintained her persona of skirting the edges.

Not until the last of the crowd squeezed at the doorway had entered the village did she step forward.