"Let me see, hurry up and let me see."
Wraithshade's voice was low but filled with excitement, crackling with a sizzling sound. In that instant, the Endbringer in John Chou's hand burned his flesh black, forcing him to release it. The Endbringer fell to the ground, dissolving into a wisp of black vapor and vanishing. Earthly Soul looked at John Chou in confusion.
"Your level doesn't seem to allow me to do that, there's nothing I can do."
John Chou shrugged helplessly, and then Wraithshade floated over, glaring at him viciously.
"What exactly is so incomprehensible about this, this thing called a level?"
Already descending into madness, Wraithshade raised both hands before John Chou, his eyes burning with a fierce hunger for knowledge. John Chou sighed helplessly.
"That's why I told you, you can't understand or experience it. This power of 'level' is what humans or ghosts unleash when they reach their limits. But your limits are bound by what you know. I've said this before."
"Why? What is it really..."
A burst of laughter, and a shadow shot up from the ground—a nearly two-meter tall, muscular middle-aged man with cropped hair, looking about forty. I stared in confusion, but Earthly Soul immediately broke into a smile.
"That's the boss of the cemetery, isn't it?"
"Undertaker, what the hell do you mean by this?"
In a flash, Wraithshade floated up to the man called Undertaker, pressing his stiletto against his throat.
"Nothing special, Mr. Wraithshade. Right now, Earthly Soul is the tricky one, and John Chou's proposal gives us all a win-win. I've already reached an agreement with him—for the sake of our joint research. So, Mr. Wraithshade, please step back."
Wraithshade's face twisted with anger, refusing to budge. The Undertaker smiled and shook his head helplessly.
"Trying to grasp everything in your hands is a bad habit, Mr. Wraithshade."
The Undertaker continued, and suddenly a black current surged from Wraithshade's stiletto. The Undertaker gripped the stiletto tightly.
"Put it away, Mr. Wraithshade. The fact that I can still call you that means I'm giving you plenty of respect. Not everything revolves around you. Even though you know the location of the Unreal Covenant, it doesn't matter anymore—John Chou and his group know it too. So, our cemetery shouldn't be forced to cooperate with you any longer. And Nightfall isn't yours alone. If you want to talk, have your boss come over."
Suddenly, as The Undertaker spoke, he shoved hard, sending Wraithshade crashing to the ground. Wraithshade glared at us viciously.
"Then you'd better watch yourselves. John Chou, that guy also..."
"No need for you to worry about that, Mr. Wraithshade. We prefer equal cooperation, not being suppressed and forced into it."
Wraithshade, now completely calm, snorted coldly and vanished into the ground as a streak of black shadow, quickly disappearing from sight.
"You've already been told the location of one Unreal Covenant mark. So, what do you think? Any results yet?"
John Chou asked, and The Undertaker nodded.
"Indeed, we've already found one genuine Unreal Covenant marker. We still need two more. John Chou, if possible, could you tell us where the other two markers are?"
John Chou immediately shook his head and chuckled.
"Since we're cooperating, I've already shown my sincerity. At the very least, you'll naturally learn about all three markers as we uncover more. Then you'll successfully locate the Unreal Covenant. Does that sound fair to you?"
The Undertaker nodded, then glanced at my Earthly Soul before dissolving into a black shadow and slipping into the ground.
"Then I'll leave it to you to teach them the Shadow Arts."
Soon, John Chou walked up to us.
"Watch closely. I'll do it once, and you can try to grasp it yourselves."
As he spoke, wisps of Ghost Aura seeped from John Chou, and suddenly his whole body transformed into a red shadow, spreading across the ground. It was truly incredible—though I sensed a faint change, I couldn't tell how he did it.
Earthly Soul pondered, and soon John Chou stood before us again.
"So, did you figure anything out?"
"It's similar to a ghost's Ghostshift, right?"
John Chou nodded.
"Smart. It is indeed similar to Ghostshift, but with a key difference: the ghost soul has to connect with the surrounding darkness, or rather, match the quality of the darkness around you. That way, you can achieve it."
I was baffled. When it comes to Ghostshift, the only thing I remember is Old Nine's Specter Pearl. As for what Ghostshift really is, my mind was completely blank.
"Looks like Zhang Qingyuan will need some time to master it."
Earthly Soul shook his head helplessly, then sat cross-legged on the ground. His body slowly turned to light and shadow, and just as he was about to sink into the earth, he was bounced back out. I stared at him in surprise—he almost had it.
"It's hard to control the force, so you have to keep trying. It took me about two days to get it right."
"Looks like that's the case. Maybe a week—I can't control Ghost Aura as delicately as you can."
John Chou started walking. After a short distance, he waved to me.
"Come over, brother. Let's go over there, I'll explain it to you slowly."
I grunted in response and awkwardly followed him. Earthly Soul kept trying behind me.
"No need to feel embarrassed. Wasn't it always like this before? When I taught the three of you, you were the slowest to learn, but you still got it in the end."
I grunted again. As we approached something near the wall, John Chou turned into a streak of red light and left the room, telling me to wait for him.
Earthly Soul kept trying and failing, over and over.
I started to get anxious. Finally, John Chou returned, carrying a blackboard, some chalk, and a rag.
"I'm not a grade schooler, am I?"
I muttered, and John Chou smiled, set the blackboard on the ground, picked up a piece of chalk, and drew a big circle. Inside the circle, he wrote the character for 'ghost.'
"Let's start with the ghost's Ghostshift. You've done it before, even if it was unconscious."
I started to recall—I'd only managed it after swallowing the Specter Pearl Old Nine gave me. I couldn't remember any other time I succeeded.
"When you were half white, half black—that mixed state, remember, brother?"
I nodded. John Chou kept writing on the blackboard, drawing a larger circle outside the first, and in the space between, he wrote 'Illusion' and 'Form.'
"First, you have to understand something. You've seen angry dogs or cats, right? And those animals in nature?"
"Huh? What's that got to do with anything?"
My mind was full of question marks. John Chou nodded.
"Take peacocks—they spread their tails not just for mating, but also to compete. Frogs change color when facing strong enemies, warning of danger. Ghostshift is similar. Basically, it's about intimidating your opponent."
I blinked. I understood, but still had no idea how to do it.
"Some animals, though weak, use special tactics to keep predators away. Ghostshift isn't just a change in appearance—the key is that your power increases. Manifesting the ghost soul counts as Ghostshift, but it's not quite accurate. The real thing looks like this."