Demon King Castle, Rear Hall.
"Xu Lang~ can I use a bit of Terror Force... I just checked, and the Terror Force in the Terror Pedestal has grown to a thousand!" Zhen Lu pulled on Xu Lang's hand, her voice syrupy and sticky.
Terror Force could improve the quality of the Spirit Fields.
And right now, the Spirit Fields weren't just growing Dreamlike Night-Blooming Cereus—there were plenty of other precious crops as well.
Ever since the Platinum Luxury Apartnt had been upgraded into the Demon King Castle, the person who visited the Rear Hall most often was Zhen Lu. As the Beast Spirit Envoy, her Sequence naturally gave her a fondness for nature and animals.
"Use it, use it, but don't overdo it," Xu Lang replied.
As the energy source of the Demon King Castle, Terror Force might have many uses down the line, but for now, it could only be used to strengthen the Spirit Fields.
"Got it!" Zhen Lu's face lit up with a smile. As her thoughts touched the Spirit Fields, a prompt imdiately popped up.
【Do you wish to use Terror Force to strengthen this Spirit Field? Please enter a specific amount.】
Zhen Lu tested the waters with fifty units of Terror Force, and the Spirit Field imdiately glimred with light, the soil turning noticeably richer.
It looked unremarkable at first glance, but when compared to other Spirit Fields in the area, the difference was glaring.
The Spirit Fields consisted of thirty-six individual plots, each capable of independently growing a crop—sowhat reminiscent of the classic ga QQ Farm.
Of course, so larger crops took up more plots.
For instance, the peach tree that Zhen Lu carefully tended occupied three Spirit Field plots.
Next, Zhen Lu strengthened those three plots, then went on to reinforce the seven plots growing Dreamlike Night-Blooming Cereus, before finally stopping.
"I'm sorry, there's not enough Terror Force, so I'll just have to make you all suffer for now!"
Looking at the crops in the unfertilized fields, she felt a pang of guilt inside—whether it was her obsessive-compulsive tendencies kicking in or the effect of her Sequence.
She silently resolved that, in the future, she would act more ruthlessly to make other players fear her!
Then again, any Mad King Building player let loose into the world could be called a demon in human form.
Zhen Lu and her group had abundant resources and still retained much of their humanity, but other Mad King Building players faced extre survival fear every day, fueled further by SAN value, which made them even less human.
Xu Lang had known from the start that this was how the atmosphere would develop, so he wasn't willing to micromanage everything. He didn't even have the confidence to guarantee he'd survive every round—how could he possibly have the energy to play babysitter?
More importantly, Mad King Building players simply weren't valuable enough to warrant such effort.
From that perspective, Mad King Building players were actually kind of pitiful.
...
"Ahhhh!!!"
"This is truly excruciating pain!"
"Organs torn apart, organs torn apart—I've already reached the realm of the Buddha!"
Inside a dimly lit dorm room, on a central stage, a male player cut open his own chest and used a small knife to carve designs on his internal organs.
Around him stood a group of masked individuals, silently watching this male player.
Finally, at a certain mont, the male player's SAN value dropped to a single digit!
His eyes bulged, his breathing stopped, as if he had died.
"Ananda, I hope you're still lucid!" A masked player with a leader-like aura spoke, his voice deep and resonant.
"Lucid? Of course I'm lucid!" The male player wept tears of blood. "I heard the Buddha's decree—the Buddha truly exists!"
The leader asked, "What did you gain?"
The male player replied, "A great Buddhist divine ability—Nirvana and Immortality!"
The leader barked, "Speak like a normal person!"
"Damn Dorm Survival Ga, that great Demon King—it interfered with the Buddha's revelation to and turned Nirvana and Immortality into a Level 20 Excellent skill, Rebirth!" The male player was filled with grief and fury, then suddenly grabbed his own scalp and pulled outward.
With a ripping sound, an old layer of human skin was flung to the ground, and his entire body's injuries healed as if new!
The masked people around gasped.
"A divine skill, truly a divine skill!"
"Ananda, with this skill, you won't need to recover and can hold the 'Buddhist Feast' for extended periods!"
"So envious—next ti should be , right?"
"Everyone step aside, I'm up next. Ananda, my pain will definitely surpass yours!"
"Honorable Ananda, I have a Bubblegum here that can send you straight to bliss—selling it cheap!"
All these masked people were Mad King Building players.
Extre psychological tornt, combined with extre physical agony, could send one's SAN value into a freefall, while strong faith could prevent one from losing their way.
Thus, the Buddhist Cultivation Society was born!
They gave themselves code nas from Buddhist figures and made a grand vow: to cleanse the Blood Mist World and bring the Buddha's Kingdom back to the mortal realm!
The Buddhist Feast was the event they held regularly, offering themselves as a feast to entertain the Buddha.
In the Dorm Survival Ga, there were many cultures and religions that mirrored Blue Star's own, yet were slightly off. The Buddha might be a real deity—at least no one could deny His existence outright.
For the players, having such an ethereal belief was enough!
Our future is destined to be real!
...
Elsewhere, similar events were unfolding.
Several players poured out their grievances before a statue of a deity, and as they narrated, their inner sorrow reached its peak, causing their SAN values to plumt.
Gradually, so began to lose their minds.
Their strength surged, and new knowledge flooded their brains.
Suddenly, with a bang, one player smashed the statue.
Clay idols were just things that drove people mad—see the comnt sections of any idol boy band for details.
And an idol born from despair held a aning that transcended the mundane, even life itself!
"What have you done?!!!"
Multiple pairs of bloodshot eyes turned toward the player who had destroyed the statue.
"What... what are you looking at for? I felt you all were about to lose control, so I smashed the statue—that's what we agreed on earlier! It's a calming asure!" The player's face was tense, his voice low.
But madn didn't listen to reason.
Soon, that player was killed by the others in a fit of rage.
...
Worshipping gods was just one of many SAN Manipulation schools.
Mad King Building was rich in talent, with a multitude of SAN Manipulation schools.
For example, so people enjoyed seeking thrills on the edge of life and death, venturing alone into the Blood Mist World to break through their limits amid great terror!
Others liked to test poisons on themselves, jabbing Adrenaline right into their temples!
The attribute boosts from SAN Manipulation were only temporary.
But if you always kept it up, wasn't that effectively permanent?
Moreover, the Chaotic Knowledge that ca from unknown realms was anything but false—it was just chaotic.
Too advanced knowledge would make a person completely lose control.
And those who completely lost control would directly beco Mad Vanguards!
The Building Guard chanism and the Chaotic Knowledge chanism actually complented each other perfectly—knowledge too advanced couldn't enter, while players could digest low-tier knowledge.
Whether this was the Mad King Building's clever design or just happened by chance, Xu Lang personally leaned toward the forr.
Of course, Xu Lang knew what the Mad King Building players were up to—he could even say he knew it like the back of his hand.
But he didn't stop them.
Life always finds a way. In Purgatory, committing evil was justice.
The Mad King Building's foundation was just like that—rotten to the core. Trying to change it was impossible. It wasn't as if he could gorge himself to bursting while loudly telling others, "You need restraint, you need calm!" right?
Put in their shoes, Xu Lang felt he would only be crazier.
He believed that many SAN Manipulation schools still had room for improvent.
When he had enough Nightmare Essence one day, he could go to the Future Dreamscape to find two more complete SAN Manipulation thods and help the players refine their schools.
As the number of simulations increased, Xu Lang's developnt deepened.
Now, with enough Nightmare Essence, he could directly simulate a future one month away, using new future tactics to replace the current old ones, completing iterative updates ahead of ti.
New technology, new future!
Mad King Building players were all enjoying the benefits, while Xu Lang suffered the hardships.
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