The green light instantly enveloped the high school grounds, and an extremely sinister, terrifying aura surged in from all directions.
Every student present felt the abnormal shift immediately—confusion spread across their faces.
Then came a low rumble, and the earth began to tremble beneath their feet.
Everyone froze in place.
A wave of tension suddenly filled the air.
Bathed in the faint green light, the students stared as faint illusions began to emerge across the school campus.
These images slowly became three-dimensional, gradually solidifying.
Before long, eerie tomb mounds appeared in the school plaza.
Blue ghostly flames flickered above each mound.
Around the school’s main building, even more tombs materialized.
The gathering blue flames lit everything around them in an eerie azure glow.
At the same time, the teleportation array in the center of the plaza began to flicker—and then vanished completely.
***
Inside the Tianlan Academy’s monitoring room…
“This is bad!”
A monitor technician shouted in alarm:
“The bronze gate has mutated—it’s appeared inside the secret realm!”
“It has activated an additional domain layer! Energy levels are spiking rapidly!”
“The domains are overlapping—fusion is occurring! Difficulty level has reached Nightmare Grade!”
With each report, the surrounding instructors were gripped with shock.
“Quick! Sever the secret realm connection and pull the students out!” commanded Xi Qinyu.
“We can’t!”
The technician grew anxious.
“The domain’s energy is too strong—we’re unable to cut the link!”
“No way we can leave it like this!”
Several teachers immediately stood.
“We’re going in. The mutation is too severe—this is beyond what the students can handle!” said Guan Wen firmly, turning to Xi Qinyu.
Si Wenle added:
“Open the secret realm gate! If anything happens to the students, it’ll be a devastating loss for all of humanity!”
The other teachers echoed their resolve to enter and handle the threat themselves.
Xi Qinyu’s face darkened.
He frowned deeply, then gave the order:
“All instructors, assemble! Enter the secret realm immediately!”
“This mutation of the bronze gate is no small matter. All instructors are to fight at full strength and prioritize the students’ safety!”
“Yes!”
***
Back inside the secret realm, the strange events continued.
The tomb mounds multiplied and solidified.
Before long, they dotted the entire school plaza.
The blue flames hovering above them made one’s blood run cold.
The students stood frozen.
Having just finished a grueling training session, most were exhausted—barely able to stand, let alone fight again.
And no one understood what was happening.
“What’s going on? Wasn’t training over?”
“Where did all these tombs come from?”
“And the teleportation array? If there’s more training, at least let us rest first!”
The plaza was filled with chaos and panic.
Then—without warning, a wave of resentful ghosts and evil spirits descended from above, surrounding the students.
Screams rang out as the ambush caught many off guard.
Combat erupted instantly among the tombs and throughout the plaza.
These newly arrived evil spirits were powerful—most were C-rank or B-rank, much stronger than expected.
They emerged from nowhere and completely blindsided the students.
Fortunately, Tianlan Academy’s students were well-trained.
Though surprised, they recovered quickly.
They regrouped by squad and returned to formation, reentering battle.
Su Nan’s squad also sprang into action.
Ghosts and spirits surrounded them—Su Nan was startled, completely in the dark about what was going on.
If this had been part of the academy’s plan, there would’ve been advance notice.
There was no way they’d send students into something this deadly without warning.
And judging by the strength of the enemies—C- and B-rank just from the start—then deeper inside, A-rank evil spirits were almost guaranteed.
Everyone realized the truth: the difficulty of the secret realm had skyrocketed.
Su Nan reacted instantly—Thunder Flash exploded from his palm.
A pouncing spirit was instantly disintegrated.
Glancing around, he saw that the B- and C-rank ghosts hadn’t managed to trouble the girls in his squad.
With clean, coordinated attacks, they vaporized every enemy that approached.
Suddenly—another mutation.
In the sky, a massive white specter materialized in midair, casting a shadow that blanketed the entire plaza.
The moment it appeared, the temperature plummeted.
The other ghosts, which had been fighting the students, suddenly froze—and then drifted into the air, as if pulled toward the giant specter.
It let out a bone-chilling shriek, and from its body, thick fog began to pour out.
The fog spread rapidly, covering over a thousand meters in seconds.
It engulfed the students, the plaza—and even the main school building.
Within the mist, the temperature dropped even further.
Students instantly felt their bodies growing numb.
“Ghost Domain!”
Someone cried out….
“Be careful! This is a Ghost Domain!”
The name made Su Nan’s expression turn grim.
Everyone had learned what a ghost domain was.
When large numbers of ghosts and spirits gather, they produce a sinister energy known as evil aura.
If this aura reaches a certain threshold—it creates a ghost domain.
Inside such domains, ghosts grow vastly stronger, while human warriors grow weaker—drained by the oppressive energy.
And ghost domains… only appear in Nightmare-grade secret realms.
Something students were never meant to face.
Everyone tensed.
Meanwhile, the giant white specter continued to absorb spirits, growing stronger as the mist thickened.
Then—Su Nan saw something strange.
Amid the eerie fog in front of him, a faint vision of a bustling street began to emerge.
He frowned deeply.
He wasn’t the only one—other students nearby began noticing it too.
“What the heck is this?”
“Why is there a street forming in the mist? Is this part of the ghost domain’s power?”
“Or… could two secret realms be overlapping? What the hell is going on?”