Zuo Lin'an carefully scrolled through the forum posts. He found it quite amusing to see a large number of One-Star and Two-Star difficulty dungeon bosses venting their frustrations there.
However, despite all their complaining, not many explicitly stated that their dungeons had been cleared by players.
This was likely because the National War Dungeon at Lingyang First High School had wiped out most of the Great Xuan Dynasty's high-end combat power.
Time ticked by, and before long, the office door pushed open.
A familiar figure walked in.
“Instructor An.”
Zuo Lin'an stood up to greet him.
The moment An Wen saw him, his grim and sour expression softened significantly.
“You're here?”
“Come on, let's grab some lunch at the cafeteria. It's just past noon; we can talk while we eat.”
Zuo Lin'an nodded. “Sure.”
The two of them left the office together and headed toward the cafeteria. Along the way, Zuo Lin'an noticed many people staring at him as if they were looking at a ghost.
“What's with them...?”
An Wen snorted.
“They're all just fools hoping to get lucky.”
“They actually think Sin Hunter City is an easy place to visit. With their level of skill, even training them for a few more months would be useless. Going in there is just suicide!”
“I've warned them both directly and indirectly multiple times, but every single one of them just plays dumb!”
“They don't even stop to think. They don't even have the guts to pick up a knife and kill someone. They're useless at everything and do nothing but drag their feet all day. What could trash like that ever achieve?”
“Your batch of students was much better.”
“The ones who stayed either had great talent or sheer guts. At the very least, they could handle the sight of blood. And those who didn't have what it took had the self-awareness to give up and leave early without wasting anyone's time.”
Zuo Lin'an was somewhat surprised.
“Not a single one from this batch caught your eye?”
An Wen let out a helpless sigh.
“None!”
“They really are the worst batch yet!”
There was actually one more thing he didn't mention.
It wasn't just his own students; the trainees under the other instructors were just as useless.
The two arrived at the cafeteria.
Zuo Lin'an was surprised to find that he could still eat for free.
“I can still get free meals even after graduating?”
Carrying his food tray, he followed behind An Wen. Looking at the lavish spread of food, he couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic.
An Wen picked a quiet corner with fewer people.
“Why wouldn't you?”
“An outstanding student like you is considered one of our own even after graduation. You left in a hurry last time, but everyone at the training base still remembers you.”
“You're welcome back anytime. No one will stop you.”
Once they sat down, they finally got down to business.
“You came back this time for your second rule, right?”
Zuo Lin'an nodded solemnly.
“Yes. A senior of mine suggested I consult you, saying you have plenty of experience.”
An Wen nodded in satisfaction.
“Of course I do.”
“Which one of us instructors at the training base doesn't have real capability? Some of us even used to serve as bosses in specter dungeons.”
“Even now, we still go back to help out from time to time.”
Zuo Lin'an paused.
“Help out? As a boss?”
An Wen smiled dismissively.
“Yes. In some specter dungeons of Two-Star difficulty or higher, the number of specters allowed inside matches the difficulty level, but some of those dungeons only have a single boss.”
“If they feel like they don't have enough specters to confidently wipe out the players, they'll occasionally recruit Specter Masters from the outside to help them.”
Zuo Lin'an found this quite novel. “Recruit? There must be strict requirements, right?”
An Wen gave a casual nod.
“Of course. They don't just recruit any random Specter Master. Usually, they only hire from training bases like ours or from official organizations outside.”
Zuo Lin'an knew that the official organizations he referred to were special departments composed entirely of Specter Masters, created by the upper echelons of the government to safeguard the living environment of ordinary people.
This was, after all, the supernatural world. Many who died horrific deaths had a chance of turning into specters, and there were plenty of rogue Specter Masters who disrupted social order.
The special departments existed precisely to handle these situations.
Speaking of which, many specters were formed through natural transformation. The locations where these specters resided were often cordoned off and designated as natural specter dungeons.
The specters in these dungeons lacked clear consciousness and could not communicate or share information on the forums.
From what he knew, some specter items with exceptionally powerful effects usually came from these kinds of dungeons. After all, no dungeon boss with half a brain would craft an overpowered specter item just to arm their enemies.
An Wen only touched upon these matters briefly without going into too much detail.
“Anyway, let's not talk about that.”
“Right now, the most critical thing is your second rule. Based on my years of experience, if we plan it around your first rule, there are two main directions open to you.”
Zuo Lin'an nodded silently and listened intently without interrupting.
“The first direction is multi-faceted development. You set a different Death Rule for your second slot, and then different Death Rules for your third, fourth, and even fifth slots.”
“For example, your first Death Rule is killing one person on the hour. For your second, you could choose Xu Youyou's rule where those who respond die. Your third could be my daughter An Mu's rule where those who continuously gaze for ten seconds die, and so on.”
“Of course, I'm just giving examples.”
“You can choose other Death Rules to set.”
Zuo Lin'an thought for a moment. “And the second one?”
An Wen said, “The second direction is to treat your current Death Rule as your primary rule, and then set multiple auxiliary rules to support it.”
Zuo Lin'an was a bit confused by this.
“Auxiliary rules?”
“Instructor An, could you explain that in more detail?”
An Wen looked at him. “I was planning to anyway.”
“If you choose the second direction, it will help you eventually upgrade this primary Death Rule into a Domain Rule using a Rule Sublimation Stone!”
Zuo Lin'an's eyes widened slightly.
The first thing he thought of was Bai Mo's endless prison, which he had already witnessed twice.
That was a Domain Rule.
If he could actually obtain a rule like that, he would literally wake up laughing from his dreams.
“Really?”
An Wen's expression grew serious.
“I can only say that if you take this path, there is a very high probability of a Domain Rule being born in the future.”
Zuo Lin'an took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
“Then what do you mean by auxiliary rules...?”
An Wen didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked a question.
“Have you decided?”
Zuo Lin'an didn't hesitate for even a second. He was absolutely choosing the second direction.
After all, An Wen had made it crystal clear.
The first direction meant gathering five completely different Death Rules. That way, whether in the early or late stages, his specter body would possess immense level of cruelty.
With more Death Rules, the probability of players triggering them would skyrocket. And with his gold hairpin specter item, he could achieve virtually limitless killing.
But!
There was one major drawback to that path: he would never be able to obtain a Domain Rule.
Therefore...
“Instructor, I choose the Domain Rule!”
Rate on N.U.
