While I was chanting a curse, the system said I was Xiao Yan?

Sensing the incredibly powerful curse energy, Haibara Yu's expression changed slightly.

Nanami frowned as well, and the level two barrier was easily eliminated thanks to their tacit cooperation.

However, facing either of these two level-two cursed spirits would likely require a great deal of effort, and there was no guarantee that he and Haibara Yu would escape unscathed.

Tianyan looked at the two cursed spirits, cracked his neck, and his knuckles made a crisp cracking sound: "You two step back."

"But......"

Nanami Kento stretched out a hand to stop Haibara Yu, who was about to step forward: "Let's leave this to Senior Tenyan. Level two cursed spirits are beyond our capabilities."

Haibara Yu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but when he met Tenen's calm eyes, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"Yes."

He and Nanami retreated to the door of the private room.

Tianyan strode towards the two cursed spirits.

His pace was neither hurried nor slow, as if he were taking a stroll in his own backyard.

The two cursed spirits felt threatened and simultaneously let out a low growl as they pounced on him!

The one on the left was faster, its claws aimed straight for Tianyan's throat, while the one on the right flanked him from the side, its claws reaching for his waist and abdomen.

The heatwave did not subside.

He didn't even slow down.

Just as the left claw was about to touch his throat, his body slightly lowered, like a leaf blown by the wind, and he nimbly slid to the side of the claw.

Raise your right hand, spread your five fingers, and place your palm against the chest of the cursed spirit.

"Applause!"

A powerful gust of cursed energy pierced through the cursed spirit's chest, exited from its back, and pinned its chest to the wall behind it.

The cursed spirit let out a miserable scream and struggled desperately, but its lost body had already sealed its fate.

The cursed spirit on the right lunged forward.

Tianyan didn't even turn around.

With his left hand raised, the bone blade behind his elbow popped out in a flash, its edge as thin as a cicada's wing, gleaming with a cold light in the dim light.

The bone blade sliced ​​through.

Silently.

The cursed spirit's head slid off its neck, rolled twice on the ground, and came to rest next to an overturned chair.

Its body continued to lunge forward, taking three steps before realizing it was dead. Then it collapsed to the ground with a thud, black liquid gushing out from the broken end.

The cursed spirit nailed to the wall was still struggling, its fingernails carving deep grooves into the wall, and lime was falling down in a flurry.

Tianyan walked up to it, raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and aimed it at its head.

The cursed spirit's head was pierced, its body stiffened abruptly, then slumped limply against the wall, motionless.

The two cursed spirits began to dissipate, and black mist escaped from their bodies, slowly drifting in the air.

Tianyan secretly scooped up the object from the ground twice and put it into his pocket.

The crystal core in his pocket was slightly warm, and the dissipating magical power seemed to be drawn towards him by something.

The black mist grew thinner and thinner until it disappeared completely.

Only a faint, fading afterglow of the curse remained in the air.

Tianyan reached into his pocket and touched the three crystal cores.

Hot.

Full.

[Tier 1 Monster Core (Full) x3]

He smiled slightly, then placed them into the antique black ring beside him.

This is the storage ring awarded by the system. It has ten square meters of space and can store and retrieve items using only one's consciousness, which is quite convenient.

Haibara Yu stood in the doorway, mouth slightly agape, eyes wide: "Senior Tenyan... what was that just now?"

Tianyan turned around and glanced at him: "Spell."

"I know it's a spell!"

Haibara Yu's voice rose a notch: "But that bone spike, that bone blade, it was too fast! Two level-two cursed spirits, three seconds? Two seconds? I didn't even see it!"

Qi Hai stood beside him without saying a word, but his gaze was fixed on Tian Yan with a look of admiration.

"That's impressive."

The voice wasn't loud, but it was very sincere. Although a level two sorcerer could deal with level two cursed spirits, the fact that he could exorcise two cursed spirits so easily clearly showed that this senior Tianyan's strength was definitely more than level two.

Tianyan waved his hand: "It's nothing. You just haven't found the fighting style that suits you best yet. Once you do, it won't be any worse."

Haibara Yu's eyes lit up: "Really?"

He clenched his fist and nodded vigorously: "Then I'll have to work even harder!"

The group searched every room in the building again, but only found a few level-four flies.

Tianyan patted the dust off his hands and sensed the level of curse power around him. It had dropped to a normal level, indicating that there were no more cursed spirits in the house.

He then walked towards the door: "Let's go, mission accomplished."

The group arrived on the first floor and walked to the original entrance, each carrying the joy of completing their mission.

The moment everyone left the building, everything around them changed.

The streets disappeared, the sunlight disappeared, the cars disappeared.

The noise of people, traffic, and the hustle and bustle of the city all disappeared!

Instead, there was a silence, a chilling silence.

Tianyan's pupils suddenly contracted.

He turned around abruptly.

Behind him, Haibara Yu and Nanami were still standing there, their expressions a mixture of shock, vigilance, and bewilderment.

The three people were standing on the same street, but this street was not the same one they had just been on.

The stone slabs underfoot are no longer modern streets paved with cement, but bluish-gray stone slabs that seem to have been smoothed by the years.

The buildings on both sides are no longer neon signs and roller shutters, but quaint wooden Japanese-style buildings. Red lanterns hang under the eaves. There are no words on the lanterns, but the candles inside burn with pink flames, hanging quietly like rows of eyes.

On both sides of the street are rows of tightly closed wooden doors.

The wooden door is carved with exquisite patterns. The details of the patterns are not very clear, but some patterns can be vaguely identified, such as butterflies, flowers, ladies, and some kind of distorted human figures that are hard to describe.

The sky above was a dark purple, with no moon and no stars.

A faint fragrance filled the air.

It's not a floral scent, nor a medicinal scent, but a more complex aroma, seemingly a blend of sandalwood, rouge, liquor, and some indescribable, cloying sweetness.

Tianyan stood still, his gaze sweeping around.

It's very much like the geisha districts of the Edo period, hidden in deep alleys with red lanterns hanging up, which only come alive at night.

But there was no liveliness here, only silence, a chilling silence.

[Side quest triggered: Slay the Tier 3 monster, the Lesser Amethyst Winged Lion King.]

Tianyan looked at the line of text on the system panel and his lips twitched violently. He thought things would go a little smoother, but unexpectedly, there was still a problem.

"What?!"

"The Little Amethyst Winged Lion King?!"

"And, tier three?! According to the system's previous standards, a tier two cursed spirit is a tier one magical beast, a tier one cursed spirit is a tier two magical beast, so tier three is..."

"Special Grade?"

Tianyan took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

Looking around at the tightly closed wooden doors, the dark purple sky, and the cloying sweetness in the air, he finally realized something.

This is a complete, self-contained domain created by a top-tier cursed spirit!