Everyone had heard of curse techniques to some extent; they were an extremely rare form of evil art. However, the Cursed Evil Spirit Skull that Ouyang Zhen mentioned was unknown to them.

They were still puzzled when, suddenly!

Zhang Zheming stared at his hand. He felt a surge of nausea in his stomach and actually bit down, tearing a bloody chunk of flesh from his own arm. Blood filled his mouth. After chewing a few times, he swallowed it.

"AH!!"

Zhang Zheming screamed in agony a second later. His body craved it, driving him to do it, but his consciousness remained perfectly clear.

Zhang Zheming went mad, as if one bite was not enough. He took another large bite from his bloody arm, exposing stark white bones.

This scene made everyone's scalp tingle.

"You... what have you done to me?" Zhang Zheming stammered, terrified, his mouth dripping with his own blood.

Chu Hao said coldly, "You will slowly eat yourself. After you die, you will even devour your own soul. Since you aimed a gun at my life, this Taoist Master will take yours. And... no one can save you."

"Ding... Host has shocked others with pretentiousness, gaining 200 Show-off Points."

Hearing Chu Hao's words, Zhang Zheming was terrified, more so than ever before; he had almost scared himself shitless.

This manner of death is simply more agonizing than being killed outright. Is this the death Chu Hao meant?

Not just the others, even Ouyang Zhen from the Ghost Dao Sect felt a chill down his spine. This ancient curse technique was unbreakable; Zhang Zheming was a dead man.

At the same time, Ouyang Zhen grew even more wary of Chu Hao. Originally, he had planned to escape and cause trouble for Chu Hao, but now, he wouldn't dare even if he had the courage.

"You can't do this! I... I'm the Steward Director of the Seventh District!" Zhang Zheming was terrified to the extreme.

Chu Hao looked at him with a smirk, as if listening to the world's biggest joke.

"Sorry, but I just want to play you to death. If you've got the guts, let the Zhang Family of the Capital City come after me. We'll see if your family kills me first, or if I wipe out all of you."

"Oh, and if you don't come after me, I'll be quite displeased—I'll be short one toy."

Everyone's scalp tingled. The Zhang Family of the Capital City is just a toy? Who else in the world would dare say such a thing?

Chu Hao dared. In fact, it would be best if the Zhang Family came looking for trouble.

Zhang Zheming was in utter despair, faced with unprecedented fear. Ridiculously, he had only just considered using this man to climb the ranks, unaware that Chu Hao regarded him as a clown.

Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

Zhang Zheming tore another bite of flesh, his harrowing scream echoing through the alleyway.

Chu Hao's gaze turned to the people from the Seventh District, especially Old Yuan and Feng Ju, whose hearts were pounding.

"Ding... Host has intimidated others with pretentiousness, gaining 200 Show-off Points."

Chu Hao said coldly, "Old Man Yuan, this Taoist Master assisted the Seventh District out of regard for our past. Since you all have so many rules, I no longer wish to play with you. Go find someone else."

Old Man Yuan despaired.

It's all my fault for speaking too much, he thought, wishing he could slap himself. Chu Hao's statement clearly drew a line between him and the Seventh District.

Chu Hao left.

Zhang Zheming was the first person who had made him genuinely want to kill.

The mere thought of Zhang Zheming eating himself sent a chill down Chu Hao's spine.

"When I get angry, even I'm afraid of myself," Chu Hao couldn't help but reflect.

At that moment, in the alley, Feng Ju sighed. Chu Hao had definitively severed ties with the Seventh District, the very thing he had least wanted to see. He said coldly, "Steward Zhang, you shouldn't have provoked Master Chu. This ancient Spirit Summoning Technique is unbreakable. The only person who could save you is him."

Zhang Zheming trembled all over. Seeing his own flesh made him drool, the urge to bite becoming overwhelming. He cried, "Home... I want to go home!"

「On the street.」

Li Yin approached, swallowing hard. He gave Chu Hao a strange look. Is this the same Chu Hao I know?

Tonight had truly been an eye-opener for him. He said excitedly, "Ah-Hao, where are we going now? Are we still ghost hunting?"

Chu Hao replied with annoyance, "Going home to sleep."

Li Yin's face fell. "But the girls at the nightclub are waiting for us, along with the two million worth of drinks!"

Chu Hao thought about it and felt a pang of regret. Two million! he thought. I was a bit of an idiot, chasing the fleeting pleasure of showing off. I remember that time I blew two hundred million on a stunt and couldn't even afford instant noodles afterward.

A saying suited him perfectly at that moment: "I am not showing off; I am on the way to showing off."

Chu Hao felt an itch. I can't let that two million go to waste, he thought, then said, "How about... we go back and have some fun?"

He had pretty much put the matter of Zhang Zheming behind him, a testament to his optimistic nature. After all, he was an orphan; if he'd possessed a fragile heart, he wouldn't have survived in Anli City for long.

Li Yin was thrilled. "Of course, let's go back! The girls are waiting!"

Just as Chu Hao was about to set off, his phone rang. It was the superstar, Yi Qinglian.

Yi Qinglian's anxious voice came through, "Are you all right? Where are you? I'm at the nightclub."

FUCK!!

Wouldn't going back now be like walking into a lion's den?

If Yi Qinglian saw how many drinking companions they'd found, they'd probably be done for.

Chu Hao hurriedly said, "I've gone home."

Yi Qinglian asked, "Really?"

Women's intuition is too sharp, Chu Hao thought, then lowered his voice, "Of course, it's true. Everything's been settled, and I have class tomorrow."

Yi Qinglian replied, "Alright then, I'll head back too."

Chu Hao breathed a sigh of relief. He dared not return to the nightclub. Heaven knew how many people were waiting to ambush him there.

He opened WeChat and was overwhelmed; it seemed all sorts of big shots and weirdos were heading to the nightclub.

His decision not to return to the nightclub left Li Yin feeling glum.

"Come on, I'll take you to see my mansion."

"Damn! You've got a house too?"

So, the two took a taxi to Hongyun Deep. This was the mansion he had just bought; no one had lived in it yet.

Late at night, the driver asked, "Young man, where to?"

"Aisen Apartment, Hongyun Deep," Chu Hao replied.

The driver's eyes widened. He asked in an odd tone, "Young man, are you sure that's the place?"

Chu Hao nodded. "That's the one."

The driver wiped sweat from his brow. He knew full well what kind of area Hongyun Deep was—super-luxury mansions worth two hundred million. These two lads didn't look all that wealthy. I hope I haven't encountered two robbers in the middle of the night, he thought.

But then he reconsidered; it was unlikely. The security there was very tight. Without a key card, they probably couldn't get in.

They arrived at Aisen Apartment.

When the security guard saw it was Chu Hao, he immediately let them through, even saluting.

The driver's eyes bulged.

"Ding... Host has succeeded in showing off, gaining 100 Show-off Points."

Just like that, I've shown off, Chu Hao thought, amused. In the future, I should bring more people to the mansion for no reason.

Seeing the luxury mansion, Li Yin was stunned. "Ah-Hao, did we come to the wrong place?"

Chu Hao pulled out the keys. "Bro just bought it a few days ago."

Li Yin was floored. "Holy shit! Brother Hao, please accept my knees... How much is this place?"

Since Li Yin was an acquaintance, Chu Hao didn't want to show off too much in front of him and replied honestly, "It was just a hundred million. I ran into an acquaintance who gave me a discount of a hundred million."

"Ding... Host has succeeded in showing off, gaining 100 Show-off Points."

Well, you can't blame me for this, Chu Hao thought. Even telling the truth counts as showing off.

Li Yin's jaw dropped.

A hundred million is already a lot, and he got another hundred million discounted! He's going to scare me to death!

The mansion was indeed very large. The two went upstairs.

Li Yin swallowed hard. "Just... just you living here? Doesn't it feel kind of scary?"

Chu Hao nodded. "It is a bit too big for one person. That's why when I bought it, it was mainly for a convenient place to park my car."

"You... Can you stop showing off for one second? You bought a luxury mansion just to park a car?" Li Yin exclaimed.

"Where's the garage?"

"Underground."

"I'm going to check it out!"

Li Yin rushed to the underground garage.

The mansion had everything one could need. Chu Hao returned to his room, which was countless times better than the small place he had rented before.

Chu Hao opened the System. After reaching level 9, he was finally eligible for a profession change. He was very curious about what the new profession would be.

Pretentious Expert: Chu Hao

Experience Points: 100,000/1,500,000

Show-off Points: 780

Mana Points: 1,300

Chu Hao noticed that his title of Apprentice Ghost Hunter had disappeared and was replaced with Pretentious Expert.

System Notification: "Host has leveled up to Pretentious Expert. Profession change successful. Received Pretentious Die."

He saw that an additional die had appeared in his inventory.

Pretentious Die: Possible outcomes upon rolling: 'Lucky Show-off,' 'Unlucky Show-off,' 'Gain 100 Show-off Points,' 'Gain 200 Show-off Points,' 'Gain 300 Show-off Points,' or 'Gain 400 Show-off Points.' (Can be used once per day; usage resets after 24 hours.)

Chu Hao's eyes widened. "System, what the hell is this Pretentious Die?"

The System replied, "Is the Host an idiot? Throw the Pretentious Die, and you can obtain the abilities and Show-off Points indicated by the roll."