When I first entered high school, the system insisted that I was destined to be an emperor in my lat

"Huff... huff..."

The river breeze returned to the ground, panting heavily.

As the man died, the broken black skull staff began to emit a strong, black, distorted aura.

*Smack!*

Dudu let out a cheerful cry, opened its little mouth like a whale sucking in water, and sucked the source of the mutation clean.

[Ding! Your natal soul beast 'Dudu' has absorbed a high-level heretical essence, resulting in a significant level increase!]

[Current Level: 19!]

[Note: You are only one step away from breaking through level 20. Please keep up the good work!]

Hearing the system's announcement, Jiang Feng's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed a little.

Level 19! Just one step away from unlocking the second divine skill!

Immediately afterwards, the system notification sounded again:

[Ding! Class B containment object detected—BPS-189 'Nightmare Staff (Damaged)'!] [Do you wish to add it to the Book of Containment?]

"This staff is actually a containment object?"

Jiang Feng suddenly realized.

No wonder the Taoist man's magic always carried a strange fluctuation, and he could even easily break through Ling Yu's Xuanwu Shield. It turned out that he was using the power of the contained object.

"Confirmed containment."

"Whoosh!"

The broken staff transformed into a stream of light and disappeared into his brow.

On the Book of Containment, the third icon lit up instantly.

[Ding! Containment successful!]

[Congratulations, host! You have acquired the exclusive ability of containment object bp-189—'Nightmare Enchantment (Passive)'!]

[Skill Description: All of the host's physical attacks/inner energy attacks will automatically be imbued with the 'Nightmare Spell' effect.]

Upon hitting an enemy, there is an extremely high chance that the enemy will be briefly afflicted with 'Mental Hallucination,' 'Sense Deprivation,' or 'Fear Shock'! (Note: The weaker the enemy's mental strength, the higher the trigger probability and the longer the duration!) "Attacks inflict negative magical effects? Extremely high probability of triggering hallucination and sense deprivation?!"

Jiang Feng's eyes lit up suddenly, and he couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

This is simply a god-tier support passive ability!

In a battle between masters, even a momentary hallucination or loss of the five senses can be enough to decide life or death!

"That old bastard not only gave me experience points, but also such a big gift. He's such a good person."

Jiang Feng was in high spirits and turned to look at the distant ruins: "Xingye, Weilan, are you alright? Go check on Ling Yu!"

……

"Cough cough... Brother Jiang Feng, I'm fine."

With the help of Shen Weilan and Xiao Xingye, Ling Yu struggled to his feet.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth; although his face was pale, his breathing was still relatively steady.

"Thanks to the Xuanwu Sea-Suppressing Shield and my Xuanwu Wedge Pattern bestowed by the commander, eighty percent of the thunder's power was deflected. It's just a superficial injury, nothing serious."

Ling Yu forced a smile and patted his chest. Jiang Feng stepped forward and carefully examined him, only letting out a long sigh of relief after confirming that he had only suffered some internal injuries from the shock.

"Rest for ten minutes to recover your inner energy."

Ten minutes later, the four of them had recovered most of their strength and set off towards the black tower again.

The closer you get to the tower, the more severe the corrosion and damage to the surrounding metal structures become.

The shops and residences lining both sides of the street are filled with various futuristic and technologically advanced everyday items.

There are shattered holographic video players, rusted mechanical housekeeping robots, and even well-preserved wreckage of hovercars.

These dense settlements and grand urban planning clearly demonstrate that this cyber city possessed a highly developed and brilliant civilization.

"How could such a developed city have become such a horrible mess?"

Xiao Xingye looked at the deformed skeletons that had long since weathered away on the street and couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

Jiang Feng stopped and looked up at the black tower that seemed to pierce the sky.

On the surface of the tower, the dark purple veins pulsed rhythmically as if they were alive, constantly releasing a distorted and polluted aura into the air.

"Perhaps the answer lies in that tower," Jiang Feng said, his eyes deep.

A bold idea suddenly popped into his mind.

From the moment they entered the city, all the mutated monsters, and even the Taoist man with spiritual power just now, seemed to have been infected by the black aura emanating from the tower.

The way this tower operates is very much like a source of pollution.

"Could it be... that this tower itself is a containment object?!"

The moment the thought crossed Jiang Feng's mind, he was startled.

If the entire city was destroyed by this containment object, then the tower's level is probably even higher than S-class!

"Boom!"

Just then, the sound of fighting suddenly came from an intersection not far ahead.

"There's movement! Take cover!"

Jiang Feng made a hand gesture, and the four of them quickly sneaked over.

On the open ground ahead, a 'Ghost-Faced Aberrant Spider' with eight long, sharp, knife-like metallic legs was frantically spitting out black spider silk. And fighting this peak sixth-tier monster were three familiar faces!

"Sizzle!"

After a fierce battle, Zhao Gang roared and, at the cost of a bloody gash on his left arm, cleaved the head of the Ghost-Faced Aberrant Spider in two with an axe!

"Hahaha! A mere sixth-tier beast dares to block our path!"

Zhao Gang stepped on the spider's corpse and laughed arrogantly.

"Brother Gang is awesome!"

Liu Manjiao walked forward with a smile, her eyes full of smugness. "What dangerous ancient secret realm? I don't think it's anything special."

Just then, Zhuo Feifan caught a glimpse of Jiang Feng and his three companions emerging from behind the bus out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, isn't this Jiang Feng?"

He immediately began to mock in a sarcastic tone.

"What, hiding in the back hoping to get away with it?"

"Unfortunately, the monsters here are not the low-level ones in Star City. Without us superhumans clearing the way, you bunch of brutes who only know how to use brute force would have no chance to move an inch!" Liu Man glanced at Jiang Feng arrogantly.

"Hmph, bringing along a pretty but useless vase, you dare to come to this blessed land and join the fun?"

"I advise you to find a hole to hide in right away, lest you get eaten by the monster and then we have to rescue you..."

"Pfft!"

Liu Man's sarcastic remarks hadn't even faded yet.

A dark red streak of blood suddenly flashed across the sky!

"Gurgle..."

To the astonishment of Zhao Gang and Zhuo Feifan, Liu Man's exquisitely made-up head flew straight off her neck!

The headless corpse spewed out a fountain of blood several meters high before collapsing straight down!

Sold out instantly!

"Liu Man!!!"

Zhao Gang and Zhuo Feifan's eyes widened in horror, and they let out a piercing scream. Their eyes instantly turned bloodshot as they looked up at the sky.

Suddenly, a mysterious figure dressed in a wide red robe and wearing a strange Nuo opera mask appeared, silently hovering above their heads.

He held in his hand a blood-red staff inlaid with a real eyeball.

"A bunch of lowly heretics, how dare you kill the spirit spider I raised! You deserve to go to hell."

The red-robed man's voice was androgynous, carrying a chilling quality that sent shivers down one's spine.

He gently waved his red staff.

"Buzz!"

A crimson ripple instantly enveloped Zhao Gang and Zhuo Feifan.

"Aaaaaah!"

Just as Zhao was about to unleash the "Giant Spirit Transformation," he discovered that the superpower genes within his body seemed to have encountered a natural enemy. They were completely suppressed by the blood-red ripples, preventing him from transforming or even mobilizing a single bit of power!

Zhuo Feifan's 'Dimensional Wind Blade' had just taken shape when it dissipated like melting ice and snow amidst the bloody light.

"What... what kind of sorcery is this?! Why did my superpower fail?!" Zhuo Feifan was filled with terror, as if he had seen a ghost.

The red-robed man's magic actually had a restraining effect on supernatural abilities!

"Die."

The red-robed man's eyes were cold, and two beams of blood-red death light shot out from the eyeballs on his staff, aiming straight for the two men's throats!