Lan Canyin stared blankly at Xu Zimo.

Her eyes were dull, as if her soul had left her body.

“Still haven’t woken up?” Xu Zimo asked with a faint smile.

“This... This is the... Ghost God Collegium,” Lan Canyin said softly after a long silence, testing his response.

“What did you dream about?” Xu Zimo asked.

“Weren’t you the one who created the dream?” Lan Canyin took a deep breath and replied.

“I create the dream, but not the contents,” Xu Zimo said.

“The things you dream are drawn by your own subconscious.”

“I understand,” Lan Canyin nodded. “Thank you.”

“I’m leaving the Ghost God Collegium tomorrow,” Xu Zimo reminded her. “Prepare the map as soon as possible.”

“So soon?” Lan Canyin asked in confusion.

“Someone threatened you?”

“There’s no one in this world who can threaten me,” Xu Zimo replied calmly.

“It’s just that staying in this place no longer has any meaning. I plan to see what lies elsewhere.”

“Alright, I’ll bring it to you early tomorrow,” Lan Canyin said with a nod.

She was about to leave when her brows suddenly furrowed. She raised her right hand and took out the Spotted Jade. The light flickering upon it dimmed.

“It’s night already?” she asked, turning to Xu Zimo.

“It shouldn’t be. Not this fast,” Xu Zimo replied.

Although people here used the Spotted Jade to measure time, they could still roughly sense the day’s rhythm.

It had grown dark far too quickly.

Xu Zimo took out his own Spotted Jade, it too had dimmed.

Lan Canyin hurriedly shut all the doors and windows.

Outside, a gray wind was blowing, and the divine energy and ghostly aura in the void grew turbulent once again, swirling violently around the White Bone Tree.

“This ghostly divine aura feels strange,” Lan Canyin muttered to herself.

She stared silently out the window.

After a long moment, as if recalling something, she suddenly turned to Xu Zimo and asked, “You can see what’s inside my dreams, can’t you?”

“I really don’t care what you dream about,” Xu Zimo shrugged. “Unfortunately, the Great Dream Scripture manifests it to me on its own.”

“What did you see?” Lan Canyin asked, her tone calm.

“You, and another woman who looks very much like you,” Xu Zimo said.

“That’s my elder sister. She’s one of the Nine Ghost Princes of the Academy,” Lan Canyin said with a faint smile.

“Oh?” Xu Zimo nodded slightly.

“Aren’t you curious?” Lan Canyin asked, turning to him.

“Curious about what?”

“About me, or about who my sister is,” she said.

“No, not really. But you can tell me if you want to,” Xu Zimo smiled. “If not, I won’t press.”

Such things were neither here nor there, worth hearing, but not worth prying into.

“My sister’s name is Lan Xi,” Lan Canyin said. “We’re twins, though she was born a few seconds earlier.”

“In our Lan Clan, the ‘Awakening Phantom Lotus’ is a Lotus of Inheritance, each generation has one heir. But in our generation, something went wrong. When we were born, the orchid split in two. Each of us carries half.”

Xu Zimo nodded. That explained why Lan Canyin’s orchid was only a ‘Remnant Orchid.’

“She was always better than me in everything. Even after we entered the Academy, she became one of the Nine Ghost Princes, heir to Ghost God Drought-Demon.”

Lan Canyin sneered. “All I’ve ever wanted is to surpass her and become one of the Nine Ghost Princes myself. There can be only one Awakening Phantom Lotus, and only one heir.”

“You still have quite a road ahead of you,” Xu Zimo said.

He had met Xiao Tian that day, another of the Nine Ghost Princes, whose cultivation had already reached the Grand Emperor realm.

If Lan Xi was still alive, she too would likely have reached that realm. Compared to her, Lan Canyin still had some distance to go.

Just then, the gray wind outside suddenly surged. A figure swept past within the storm.

It was but a fleeting glimpse, gone in an instant, yet Xu Zimo saw it clearly.

“Lan... Ke’er?!”

His eyes narrowed as he stared into the pitch-black night where not even an arm’s length could be seen.

He slowly walked toward the door.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Lan Canyin asked.

“Going out,” Xu Zimo said.

“Are you insane?!” Lan Canyin cried, trying to stop him, but it was too late.

Xu Zimo had already opened the door and stepped outside.

Lan Canyin froze at the threshold, not daring to take a single step further.

Once outside, Xu Zimo felt it at once, the howling gale, roaring endlessly, as if it could uproot the entire world and sweep it away.

A tremendous power surged against him. The gray wind sought to swallow him whole.

Xu Zimo frowned, raising his right hand and stirring the storm around him.

The wind bent to his presence, swirling about his form.

He stepped forward, and the space beneath his foot exploded.

With a deafening boom, he flew toward the heart of the storm.

Lightning flashed within the raging wind, which spun like a colossal vortex, battering everything around.

From all directions came tearing forces, intent on grinding Xu Zimo into dust.

Xu Zimo roared, activating the God-Demon Creation Atlas and Heaven-Earth Dharma Codex.

An immense power burst forth, vast and ancient, like that of a primordial god-devil.

He grew over ten thousand miles tall, standing between heaven and earth. One hand supporting the firmament, one foot upon the mountains and rivers.

“Stay!” he bellowed, charging toward the storm’s core.

At that moment, a black light burst out from the depths of the storm.

It was fierce beyond compare, cutting through everything, annihilating all, and blasting Xu Zimo backward.

“Leave them to me!” Xu Zimo commanded, waving his right hand.

A passage opened from within the God World.

Paimon, Seven-Face, and the Red-Blade Bull Demon stepped through.

A powerful saintly might erupted from them, shaking the air.

Roars echoed across the heavens as the three took their positions beside Xu Zimo.

Above him, a cerulean planet revolved, emanating divine light.

It suppressed the storm in place.

At the core of the gray storm, a gate slowly appeared.

It was black, engraved all over with countless ghostly faces.

Two circular rings were set within it, exuding an aura as if it led straight into the underworld.

“Open,” Xu Zimo said, stepping forward and stomping heavily upon the gate.

But the door did not budge.

Even when Paimon and the others struck together, it remained unmoved.

“It’s the power of Primordial Edicts,” Paimon said grimly.

Only the Primordial Edicts themselves could render them all powerless.

It was said that the Ghost God Heaven was unfathomably strange, that when the dark wind blew at night, all who were outside vanished without a trace.

For billions of years, no one had ever uncovered its secret.

“What’s wrong? Afraid to open it?” Xu Zimo shouted. “I want to see for myself what terror has haunted this Ghost God Heaven for all these ages!”

After a long silence, a voice finally came from within the gate.

“Infernal Lord, you and I are not of the same path. Why seek an audience?”

“I’m not here to see you,” Xu Zimo replied. “I’m here to see an old acquaintance.”

“There are no old acquaintances of yours here,” the voice answered again.