Chapter 58: Zombie frenzy, ten evil people!

Returning to his room, Xu Lang began meditating.

Upgrading the Meditation skill to level four required 300 Nightmare Coins—not exactly cheap, but not outrageously expensive either.

However, after upgrading, Xu Lang would be left with only about a hundred Nightmare Coins, so he decided to hold off for now.

Time slowly passed. After what felt like a considerable while, Xu Lang felt the effects of his meditation diminishing and withdrew from his focused state.

The dorm was a single large open space with no separate bedrooms, allowing him to see what the three women were doing at a glance.

Wang Yazhi had finished practicing with her sword and was now sitting cross-legged, resting.

Tong Qi sat on the sofa, her eyes vacant—probably browsing the chat room.

Cao Yaxuan had somehow acquired a book and was sitting cross-legged on her bed, thoroughly engrossed in reading.

A flicker of curiosity crossed Xu Lang's eyes. "Yaxuan, what are you reading?" he asked.

Xu Lang sat down beside her. "Let me take a look too."

"Okay."

The Compendium of Folk Mysteries and Oddities read like a storybook, documenting folk occult practices like 'Soul Calling' and 'Fox Cries,' as well as supernatural entities such as 'Wandering Corpses' and 'Mountain Goblins.'

The book wasn't particularly long, but its content was densely packed.

According to Cao Yaxuan, although the book was purely informational with no special functions, it had initially been quite expensive on the Trading Network.

Such books often contained indirect game clues, so the first wave of readers would resell them online for others to purchase.

"Wandering Corpses... interesting," Xu Lang murmured, flipping to a specific page and nudging Cao Yaxuan to pay attention, especially since their previous game round had involved fighting zombies.

According to the book's records, zombies were unique undead monsters of the Dharma-Ending Age, born from the world's accumulated resentment, possessing terrifying strength and potential.

They were categorized into seven ascending ranks: Black Zombie, Green Zombie, Purple Zombie, Hairy Zombie, Wandering Corpse, Unrotting Bone, and Flying Zombie.

At the Flying Zombie level, they had essentially become spirits—their movements unpredictable, immune to thunder tribulations and fire disasters, and nearly impervious to all magic.

"This is terrifying! Even Purple Zombies have supernatural abilities like invisibility, dream manipulation, and earth evasion... I really hope we don't encounter such monsters this round," Cao Yaxuan said with a shudder.

"Black Zombies achieve immortality—now that's enviable," Xu Lang remarked with a sigh.

"Heh, when I was a kid watching zombie movies, I actually wanted to become one. Thought I could hide in a coffin and play on my phone forever," Cao Yaxuan laughed.

A glint flashed in Xu Lang's eyes. "Why not consider making your childhood dream come true? We did obtain that Black Zombie Essence Blood, after all."

The Black Zombie Essence Blood was a tier-two item. One more upgrade would make it tier-three, and it might even have an evolution branch that grants players zombie bloodline.

Thinking about it, that seemed highly plausible!

"No way!" Cao Yaxuan retorted with a pout.

Xu Lang patiently coaxed her:

"Zombies have so many benefits! Eternal youth goes without saying, and the longer you 'lie in the board,' the stronger you become!"

"You start with near-indestructible durability, though you do have quite a few weaknesses and vulnerabilities."

"But if you keep upgrading, you could eventually gain a body impervious to all restraints, plus supernatural abilities!"

Damn!

Even he was getting tempted!

Zombies grew stronger by consuming human blood. With so many players dying each round in the Dorm Survival Game, leveling up would be incredibly fast!

Becoming a Millennial Zombie King within three game rounds wasn't just a pipe dream!

"Hmph, no way! They're too ugly!" Cao Yaxuan grumbled.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade her, Xu Lang clicked his tongue and turned to look at Tong Qi.

The girl was still glued to the chat room.

Forget it—better not corrupt her.

Xu Lang and Cao Yaxuan continued reading the Compendium and discovered it even documented strange insects like the 'Blood Thread Insect.'

The Blood Thread Insect was a gu insect cultivated by gu masters. Once implanted in a body, it granted boundless energy and immense strength.

"This book has some intriguing stuff," Xu Lang remarked, impressed. "Yaxuan, how much did you pay for it again?"

"Fifty Copper Coins," Cao Yaxuan shrugged. "Most of the content had already been circulated widely. I bought it mainly out of curiosity."

So, she'd basically gotten the leftovers.

"Not bad. I'll take this book," Xu Lang said with a smile.

"Then it's yours," Cao Yaxuan replied, slightly proud of her find.

Xu Lang chuckled and called out to Wang Yazhi and Tong Qi, "Tong Qi, Yazhi, come take a look too."

Wang Yazhi had been curious about their murmuring and immediately walked over upon hearing him.

Tong Qi did the same.

After they had all finished reading, Xu Lang stored the Compendium of Folk Mysteries and Oddities away.

The three women, still buzzing with excitement, continued discussing the monsters and occult arts from the book, while Xu Lang settled on the sofa.

The Compendium of Folk Mysteries and Oddities was a tier-zero item, meaning it could be upgraded—and for only 10 Nightmare Coins.

There was no reason not to try upgrading it.

Huh? It can only be upgraded once?

Xu Lang raised an eyebrow slightly—this was the first time he'd encountered such a limitation.

Perhaps all book-type items were like this.

He didn't dwell on it too much and picked up the Secret Records of Folk Mysteries and Strange Tales to browse through.

This time, the records on those strange tales and occult arts were even more detailed, with many specific methods to counter them.

But Xu Lang only skimmed through those sections, flipping rapidly until he found the key content.

The Ten Evil Practitioners!

The biographies of ten cruel and insane individuals unfolded before his eyes.

The Ten Evil Practitioners were a folk organization from the previous era, consisting of ten members who all practiced evil arts. Among them were talents who brought calamity upon living beings.

"No wonder the description calls this a malicious book."

"If the content recorded in this book is true, then these ten can't merely be called evil—they're human demons!"

"Wiping out entire families was as natural to these ten as breathing or drinking water!"