133: Chapter 133 Invitation

"Hypnosis?"

Deacon Zhao and Jiang Luoli looked at him simultaneously.

"It's not ordinary psychological hypnosis."

Su Chen walked to the projection wall and pointed at the four photos.

"Look, their behavior seems to be dominated by some kind of intense, singular 'pleasure' or 'obsession,' completely ignoring the most basic survival instincts."

"Applying facial masks until suffocation, watching videos until sudden death, guarding money until exhaustion, biting one's tongue to death while eating..."

"These things were desires they already had, but something external strengthened their desires to the point of completely disregarding their survival instincts."

"If someone can achieve this, it's highly likely to be hypnosis."

"Deep hypnosis?"

"Can it reach the level of completely controlling behavior, or even blocking pain and fear?"

"In modern psychology and known spiritual energy methods, there are very few cases that can achieve such precise, intense, and lasting results."

Su Chen nodded.

"In the era of spiritual energy recovery, anything is possible."

"I personally think this is a direction worth thoroughly investigating."

"No matter how powerful the hypnosis is, it cannot exist without an origin point. As long as we can find the person who shares a connection with these few individuals who seem to be scattered across the country, that will be the culprit behind the hypnosis."

Deacon Zhao pondered for a long time and nodded heavily.

"Your conjecture is very valuable, Xiao Yan."

"I will immediately report to headquarters, adjust the investigation direction, and focus on checking for Awakened ones in Jinguan City who are skilled in mental control or the flow of suspicious magical artifacts."

"If you can find the connection point between these people, then the other parties involved in that connection point event must also be specially protected; make sure not to let them continue to have contact with outsiders."

Su Chen thought of something else and quickly added.

"I suspect... the culprit's goal may not stop there."

...

Jinguan City Central Square, the morning three days later.

The sun had not yet risen, but this ancient square was already bustling with crowds.

The originally open square had been temporarily renovated.

In the central area stood a massive water mirror, ten zhang high and over five zhang wide.

The mirror surface was naturally not ordinary glass, but a medium composed of spiritual energy.

This was the gateway to the "Spirit Realm."

It was the entrance to the core venue of the Heroic Spirit Contract Ceremony.

In front of the water mirror, a dense crowd formed a winding long line.

These were young candidates from all over the Great Xia who had passed the preliminary screening, all under the age of twenty-five.

Su Chen swept his spiritual perception across and found that while the strength of most of the young martial artists varied, very few could contend with him.

However, a group of martial artists wearing huge black robes caught his attention.

The auras on these people seemed to be obscured by the black robes, and his spiritual perception could not sense their cultivation levels.

"This group of people isn't even willing to reveal their identities; can they actually pass the official assessment..."

Although he had not found anything suspicious for the time being, Su Chen still raised the danger level of these people by a notch.

"Oh my god, this Heroic Spirit Contract Ceremony has finally started; I'm so excited I couldn't sleep!"

"I heard that those two from North China and West China, as well as the ancestor from Wangchen Temple, are all coming. What if they all take a liking to me and start fighting over me?"

A young man not far in front of Su Chen was whispering excitedly to his companion.

"Bro, your information is already outdated!"

"Rumor has it that the mysterious Hall Master Su from the Central China region also seems to have participated anonymously."

"It is said that Hall Master Su is originally from the former Hehuan Sect and is extremely skilled in charm techniques, tsk tsk..."

"Four Transcendent Heroic Spirits; the scale of this ceremony is absolutely unprecedented."

"If I could be chosen by any one of them."

"Tsk, it would be a step straight to the heavens!"

"You kid, can't you be a bit bolder in your fantasies? What if they start fighting out of jealousy over me?"

"They would fight out of jealousy over one person? Don't dream. The standards of Transcendent Heroic Spirits are incredibly high. It is said they have been waiting for specific people for hundreds or thousands of years with no movement. Their sudden collective appearance this time must have deeper reasons."

"The words are crude but the reasoning is sound. If they could actually fight over which male martial artist to snatch, I'll livestream myself eating dirt!"

The buzzing of discussions filled the air, with the focus almost entirely on the explosive news of the several Transcendent Heroic Spirits participating in the selection process for the first time.

For all martial artists, especially male ones, this was undoubtedly a huge temptation and opportunity.

One of the traditions circulating in the martial arts world was that after the contract, female Heroic Spirits would generally become husband and wife with the male martial artists.

After all, during the process of the contract, there would be a fusion of souls.

That was a fusion at a higher level than the physical level.

The several Transcendent Heroic Spirits were naturally a group of extremely beautiful women, and it was said they were widows who had waited for their loved ones for thousands of years and suddenly "gave up," and their strength was also extremely formidable.

For a young man, this lethality was, to be honest, a bit too high.

"Student Xiao Yan, Miss Jiang, what a coincidence."

A crisp female voice with a slight Shandong accent rang out.

Su Chen turned his head and saw the two female Taoists from Wangchen Temple he had met at the registration point pushing through the crowd towards them.

They were still wearing those green Taoist robes; the round-faced junior sister had a warm smile on her face, while the oval-faced senior sister followed slightly reservedly.

"Greetings, fellow Daoists."

Su Chen nodded slightly, acknowledging the greeting.

Jiang Luoli also nodded politely.

"It really is fate that brings us together over a thousand miles."

The round-faced junior sister familiarly leaned in closer and lowered her voice.

"Brother Xiao, Miss Jiang, this Spirit Realm is not like the outside world; it is fraught with crises."

"I heard that the 'monsters' inside are real projections formed by spiritual energy. Although you won't really die if hit, the pain is real, and it's not easy to obtain points."

She paused, a sincere expression appearing on her face.

"Although this Heroic Spirit Contract Ceremony is an individual opportunity, temporary teaming up is allowed within the Spirit Realm."

"We are all from the same hometown, and having met again in this vast sea of people, why not act together and look out for each other?"

"Although our sister duo's cultivation is not top-notch, we have some experience in healing and will definitely not hold you back."

"And..."

She looked around mysteriously and lowered her voice even more.

"The elders in our temple have revealed some information about the resource points and monster distribution within the Spirit Realm, which we can share."

The oval-faced senior sister also added at the right moment, her tone much calmer than her junior sister's.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao's strength is extraordinary, and Senior Sister Jiang is also an elite of the Huayu Association; if we could join forces, the efficiency of obtaining points would definitely be higher."

"The more points you have, the higher your ranking will be when choosing Heroic Spirits later, and the greater your chances."

"When distributing points, we can even do a nine-to-one split; you two take ninety percent, and we only need ten percent—just enough to have the entry qualification to be selected."

Their invitation was reasonable and even carried considerable sincerity.

In the unknown Spirit Realm, teaming up was indeed a good way to reduce risks and increase efficiency.

And Su Chen and the other person were indeed both offensive-type martial artists; strictly speaking, they did lack a cheap healer.

However, Su Chen smiled and shook his head without almost any hesitation.