"Lastly, let's talk about the ranks of ghosts."
"Whether Wandering Soul, Malevolent Ghost, or Evil Spirit, they were originally divided into five grades, A through E; a few years ago it was all standardized to first-tier through tenth-tier. Below 10 is the Nascent stage."
"In the Nascent stage, an injured Wandering Soul scatters into oblivion; an injured Malevolent Ghost drops back to the Wandering Soul realm."
"Above 10, the tens place is the tier—12 is first-tier, twenty-something is second-tier."
"For Wandering Souls, the tens place is the tier. Thirty-something is third-tier. Forty-something is fourth-tier."
"Same for Malevolent Ghosts, but in hundreds—the hundreds place is the tier. Reach 1,000 and it's tenth-tier. In 99 percent of cases, they'll be stuck there unless they find a spirit lure to raise their realm."
"Evil Spirits are the same, first-tier through tenth."
Someone asked, "Teacher, aren't there also S-grade, double-S, triple-S?"
"There are. Those three are collectively called 'Transcendent grade'—existences beyond reason. An S-grade Wandering Soul can easily defeat a low-rank Malevolent Ghost."
"Extremely dangerous. Do not attempt to pact one."
"To pact an S-grade pet, your soul-force must be at least several times its value—even tenfold or more!"
Everyone committed it firmly to memory.
"Now, we begin the 'Soul-Stir' lesson. Any student who has reached the Soul-Stir realm may go."
"Once you reach Soul-Stir, you can collect your own Kunwu Saber."
"And you may apply to join tonight's mission."
"A mission?"
Chen Qing paused.
"A small-scale ghost tide has broken out at the Ghostless Temple—not a single soul in the temple survived. Tonight the captain will lead a team to clear it."
The captain?
Chen Qing suddenly understood!
Last life, it was probably on this very mission that Han Yuan had obtained the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.
Right now Chen Qing was still 8 ghosts short, and wild ghosts were far too few.
And he didn't dare provoke somewhere like the princess's tomb.
Tagging along behind the captain to scoop up bargains was the best option!
"Brother Luo! No need to waste your time here! You reached Soul-Stir ages ago, way ahead of the rest of us."
Chenkun was buttering him up.
Ji Luo nodded. "Mm. I'll head out first."
And he rose and left.
The first-place girl also stood and left.
Chen Qing said to Monkey, "I'm taking off first."
And rose and left too.
At the first two, no one seemed surprised, but when Chen Qing stood, the crowd was taken aback.
Hong Ya, Chenkun, and Monkey in particular—all three stared at Chen Qing in disbelief.
Once the three had gone, Hong Ya said dazedly, "T-Teacher, has Chen Qing... reached the Soul-Stir realm too?"
"Mm." Wu Kong nodded.
He wanted to add that Chen Qing had done it in one afternoon—no, to be precise, in a few minutes—but held his tongue.
Three double-S freaks in a single cohort was already demoralizing enough; another blow and they might lose all drive to study.
He'd thought most highly of Chen Qing.
—If not for Zhou Yangqiao.
In Han Yuan's office.
Zhou Yangqiao, Ji Luo, and Chen Qing arrived one after another.
"All three of you want to sign up?"
"Fine. Assemble on the field at six p.m."
The three walked out of the office, and Han Yuan promptly grinned.
"See that? This is personal charisma! In past years we'd thank heaven for even one Grade A; this year, three double-S's!"
He Qiang rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
The next moment, He Qiang's figure was booted out the door.
***
Not wanting to shuttle back and forth, Chen Qing arranged with the hotel to look after Chen Man well.
He stayed at the base and trained hard.
Everything else was fine, but running 30 laps in 20 minutes on the last day—that was extremely tough.
Timing himself on the field, sprinting all-out, at the 20-minute mark he'd run 19 laps.
"They wouldn't set an impossible task. There's got to be a trick, right?"
"Like, can soul-force strengthen the body?"
All afternoon, Chen Qing sat in the dorm meditating and mulling over this question.
Near six, Monkey's voice came:
"I'm dead tired... how do you even reach Soul-Stir?"
"A whole afternoon, and that cup of water didn't stir once."
"Some of them got theirs to move a little. We've still got a ways to go."
"There's more tonight, but right now I just want to sleep."
Two voices talked as they drew nearer.
Monkey, a chubby boy, and a very cold-faced youth.
The cold youth checked the room number and lay straight down on a bed.
Monkey pointed at the chubby boy. "Chen Qing, I applied to bunk with you. This little fatty and I hit it off, so he applied to move in here too. Oh—his name's He Runsheng."
"Hey there, big shot!" The chubby boy immediately thrust out both hands to shake.
"Hey!" Chen Qing looked him over. "Your family's super-rich, right?"
The chubby boy blinked and shook his head. "Nope."
"Bro, what's your name?" Monkey looked at the cold youth lying on the bed.
"Gu Xing."
Gu?
Who's ever had a surname like that?
Monkey didn't press it, and turned back to sighing and griping with the chubby boy.
"Big shot, could I ask how you reached Soul-Stir?"
"That bowl of water won't budge no matter what I do!"
Chen Qing thought about it. "I just did what Teacher Wu said—gave it a push, and it moved."
He really had no experience to teach.
"Huh?"
He Runsheng blinked, then sighed. "A big shot really is a big shot."
"By the way, Chen Qing, how many tries did you take?" Monkey asked.
Chen Qing didn't hide it. "One."
"Holy shit! For real?"
"No way, big shot! One? Just one?"
"Mm."
Monkey blanked a good while, then suddenly laughed. "Chenkun's cup of water did move—but it took him a whole afternoon!"
"He's teamed up with Hong Ya today, says they'll make you pay. With a gap like this, I'd love to see how they plan to make you pay."
"What's the deal? You two have a grudge?"
Monkey laid out how Hong Ya's family had treated Chen Qing, and the chubby boy frowned:
"That's really not decent, is it."
Seeing it was about time, Chen Qing rose and headed for the field.
"Stay safe!"
"See you, big shot!"
On the field, five armored military vehicles were already waiting.
After a while, everyone had arrived.
Counting Chen Qing, three new recruits—30 in all.
Han Yuan said:
"Same old tactics."
"He Qiang, free up three seats in your vehicle for the recruits; He Qiang will brief them on tactics on the way."
"Move out!"
Everyone piled into the vehicles, and soon they rumbled off, leaving the base behind.
The three sat in the back row—Zhou Yangqiao on the left, Chen Qing in the middle, Ji Luo on the right.
"Smells rather nice," Chen Qing thought, and edged away a little.
He Qiang began the briefing:
"Ever heard of three-by-three tactics?"
"Against ghosts, we generally use three-by-three tactics."
"Three people form a team in a triangle; three teams form a combat squad, still a triangle; three combat squads form a combat group, likewise a triangle."
"One combat group is 27 people—not counting you three, we're exactly 27."
"Best you watch how we fight today. Any small fry that slip through, you can practice your hands on."
The vehicle soon stopped, about a kilometer from the Ghostless Temple.
"Get too close and some of them won't dare come out."
"Wait till they've all shown themselves, then go in."
Something occurred to Chen Qing, and he asked, "Brother Qiang, where do ghosts hide during the day?"
"No one knows."
He Qiang smiled. "It's the world's number-one unsolved mystery."
"That's why we wait for them to appear."
No one knows?
Chen Qing turned it over thoughtfully.
"Malevolent Ghost's shown itself!"
The walkie-talkie suddenly crackled, Han Yuan's hearty voice coming through:
"Brothers, with me!"