Chapter 274: with translation of chapter title

Lin An gripped the soul box, his gaze thoughtful as he looked at the system description:

"Soul Box: Special Prop"

"Prop effect: isolates detection, protects the out-of-body spiritual body (soul) from spiritual energy erosion."

The description was very brief, and the four words "out-of-body spiritual body" in the item piqued Lin An's interest.

The Doomsday Game indeed has the concept of a soul, but that is said to be an ability possessed only by rumored Fourth Rank powerhouses.

Ordinary Awakened Ones and players, when they die, they just die—nothing special.

Perhaps under extreme conditions they could turn into a Supernatural Incident or a Meme, but they still need a carrier.

And rumored Fourth Rank beings can, after bodily death, rely on powerful mental strength to survive briefly for a period of time.

No one knows the principle; one can only speculate that Fourth Rank beings have already become non-human, hence they possess such special abilities.

Is that dark-blue soul a Fourth Rank?

So weak?

Lin An doesn't really believe that the spiritual body called "Master" is a Fourth Rank existence; even if it were extremely weak, it shouldn't be unable to withstand a single strike of the Death God Phantom, right?

Besides, having a Fourth Rank appear at this stage—isn't that just telling ghost stories?

Just the Third Rank beings appearing in Linjiang are enough to leave Lin An astonished.

After throwing the necklace back into the ring, Lin An prepared to go upstairs to wake the black dragon.

The Death God Phantom summoned by the Withering skill deals ordinary damage, and he only expended a bit of strength, mainly utilizing the characteristic of Withering.

As a spiritual body, regular attacks are ineffective.

Besides Divine Stab and Withering, Lin An doesn't have any other skill on hand good enough to harm it.

"Crush the hands and feet, then have others take control."

Before going upstairs, Lin An tossed out a sentence and walked into the dark stairwell.

The two Awakened Ones must not be wasted; perfect to throw them to Mo Ling as flesh puppets.

In the restaurant, Wang Kun's face was ashen.

He looked pleadingly at Fan Bing, hoping she would say something good for him.

As for whether he was admired or not, embarrassed or not, he no longer cared.

In his view, Fan Bing had probably already defected to Lin An, just as he himself had done earlier; he actually also wanted to find Lin An to leak information.

Perhaps if he hadn't harbored greed, hadn't been persuaded by Li Lei, he'd still be happily eating hot pot.

Even...

Perhaps there's still hope to join Lin An's team?

Regretting not having done so earlier.

For a moment, Li Lei's mad ravings in his ear were irritating and unsettling.

Idiot! Seeking death himself and yet causing me to end up like this!

However, Fan Bing did not speak; she merely sighed deeply, her gaze complex as she sat back down.

Wang Kun and Li Lei both thought she was with Lin An, even that their relationship was intimate.

But only she knows that, if she hadn't been decisive enough to gamble...

her fate would not be any better.

Relief, torment, helplessness.

Facing Lin An, this rational and ruthless man, she truly had no recourse.

She now only worries about one thing...

Lin An probably wouldn't "free-ride" on her, would he?

Room 908, dim.

The energy core has been completely depleted, not even enough energy left to light a lamp.

One must say, the toxicity of the Manchineel Flower is indeed overwhelmingly domineering.

After all attributes increased by three, Lin An only felt his whole body filled with explosive power.

The feeling of growing stronger is addictive; he can clearly sense a strange life-and-death power coiling at his heart.

No need to think; it's surely the power of the Nether River.

In a thought, it seems he could consume his life origin to restore his wounds.

Overdrawing the future to sustain the present—truly befitting the two words "Nether River".

"Black Dragon?"

Lin An's mental power fluctuated as he softly called the black dragon.

No response.

He helplessly looked at the little creature on his wrist; clearly its eyelid twitched, yet it was still pretending to sleep.

"Stop pretending to sleep..."

"If that spiritual body hasn't been finished yet, spit out a bit; I still have use for it..."

Lin An gazed at the black dragon with a headache; in his perception, the black dragon's belly held a cluster of dark-blue phantom weakly struggling and dissolving.

Compared to before when it swallowed the Soul-devouring Hand and the Suturer, this time the black dragon obviously has some indigestion.

Frankly, if it weren't for the dark-blue spiritual body having too many secrets, Lin An wouldn't intend to make the black dragon spit it out.

After all, the little one is in its growth phase; once it reaches maturity, it will be his greatest aid.

"Spit it out... remember to give it back to me.."

"After eating it, it can grow bigger..."

Childish babbling.

The little creature pitifully lifted its head, then reluctantly spat out the dark‑blue spiritual form in one gulp.

Quickly put it in the necklace, or he'll die...

He really spat it out?

Lin An heard the voice and rejoiced, hastily taking the necklace from his Space Ring.

In the dim light, the spiritual form emitting specks of fluorescence took on the appearance of a little old man.

The spiritual form was covered in pits and gaps, its eyes filled with bewilderment.

After a brief pause, an aged voice muttered to himself:

I...

Who am I?

I've come out!!

Overjoyed, the palm‑sized spiritual form hadn't even recovered before it let out a series of miserable screams.

Ahhh!

How could I be exposed to the outside world!

His memory seemed to have lost much; the palm‑sized spiritual form, like snow melting under the scorching sun, instantly shrank a notch.

Get in!

The old man didn't have time to think further; hearing Lin An's low shout, he instinctively dove into the necklace.

Inside the necklace, the old man, anthropomorphized, sat slumped in the pitch‑black space, his whole body wracked with violent tremors from pain.

His eyes were full of confusion as he clutched his head, desperately trying to think.

Lin An saw this and frowned slightly.

It seemed the old man called Master had lost many memories inside the black dragon's belly?

Is he pretending or is it real?

Not bothering to investigate, he directly extended his spiritual power into the necklace, shaping it into a needle that suddenly stabbed toward the dark‑blue spiritual form:

I ask, you answer.

If you dare conceal even a hint, I will shatter your soul!

Outside the necklace, the black dragon gazed at him hungrily through the crystal, its pair of dark‑gold vertical pupils full of longing.

The old man called Master shuddered at the sound, then, as if recalling something, lifted his gaze to the black dragon's eyes.

The vertical pupils locked eyes with his.

Ah!!

His gall and liver felt like they were about to burst.

The old man felt heart‑wrenching anguish and, terrified, scrambled backward.

Black dragon! Shen Yuan black dragon!