Chapter 166: Members Sprinting for Advanced Qualifications

Li Feng’s promotion brought greater motivation to the three ghosts: Little Blood, Nether Robe, and Zhuo Ling. However, the three ghosts had not yet touched upon the Extraordinary Ceremony.

“It takes an expert at the Third Refinements Realm anywhere from a day or two to a few months, or even a year or two, to reach the Extraordinary Ceremony.”

As for taking longer than a year or two? It wasn’t impossible, but most Dream Descenders simply wouldn’t live that long. Before the city’s descent disaster, the number of Dream Descenders was also far lower than it was now.

Shi An pondered.

“Regardless, Li Feng has completed his Extraordinary Breakthrough. I now have an Extraordinary Level combat force that I can command directly.

“Of course, Chen Jianghuai is also an Extraordinary fighter. But he is still healing. The Life Force depleted after being corrupted by the Pseudo-Man Extraordinary isn’t that easy to recover.

“Then again, I can’t let Li Feng take action to conquer ordinary Nightmares. That would easily attract even more terrifying Extraordinary Ghosts.”

He still had lingering fears when he thought of the Tower Ship Ghost he had encountered before. Li Feng had slain several ghosts. Taking advantage of the emptiness outside, he had ruthlessly tested his strength and caused quite a commotion, which was what attracted that terrifying existence. But this indirectly proved that even in the Extraordinary Realm, one still had to be careful and cautious in the Nightmare World. They were still far from being qualified to run rampant.

He thought to himself, “However, I suppose it depends on the area.

“Chen Jianghuai fought with the Pseudo-Man Extraordinary and didn’t attract any Extraordinary Ghosts. This might be because the area around the Fire Radiance Stone Mine is a Low-Risk Area and relatively safe. Or perhaps the light from the lighthouse shrouded the area and blocked the gaze of the Extraordinary Ghosts.”

In short, once Extraordinary Realm experts experienced a Fallen Dream, they also had to be extremely careful. Their situation was not much better than that of Refining Stage experts. Trying to conquer a Nightmare Area guarded by an Extraordinary Ghost was almost impossible.

Shi An stroked his chin.

“Speaking of which, the time when Dream Descenders have the best chance to conquer Nightmares is actually in the early stages, when they are still in the Control Stage or newly advanced to the Refining Stage.

“Once Dream Descenders enter the veteran stage and reach the deeper layers of a Nightmare, the difficulty of conquering it spikes immediately. Even if Dream Descenders train to the Peak of Third Refinements Realm, they rarely try to conquer Nightmares. It’s just too difficult, and finding targets isn’t easy either.

“When Dream Descenders step into the Extraordinary Realm, taking action easily invites Extraordinary Ghosts, making it even more impossible to conquer a Nightmare.”

Thinking of this, Shi An felt it was quite strange. Why was it that the stronger Dream Descenders became, the harder it was for them to conquer Nightmares?

The difficulty of conquering Nightmares only applied to other Dream Descenders. For the Dream Descenders in the Safe Zone, those active in the shallow layers were finding it increasingly easy and efficient to conquer Nightmares. As for the members active in the deeper layers, even though they encountered many setbacks when they first started conquering Nightmares—with several teams experiencing injuries and failures—they gradually adapted to the deep environment. They began to systematically conquer those low-risk Nightmare Areas that were within their capabilities.

Whether in the shallow or deep layers, the influence of the Safe Zone was expanding.

Inside the Safe Zone’s mission hall, it was bustling with activity. Compared to the past when there were only a sparse three to five missions available, the commission board now had dozens of tasks that Dream Descenders could accept.

A small number of these came from the Safe Zone officials. There were assignments for garrisoning and patrolling the Watchtower Area and the Lighthouse Camp, collecting specific materials, drawing Nightmare Maps, and so on. These were all long-term missions. There were also long-term commissions from large organizations like the Countermeasures Bureau, the Wizard’s House, and the Baijiang Research Institute.

As the official authority of Baijiang, the Countermeasures Bureau was naturally eager to recruit independent experts like Li Wei, Bearded Old Wang, and Cheng Ping. The bureau’s director of human resources had tried multiple times to bring these experts on board. Director Huang was no simple figure. His status was equivalent to a Captain at the Headquarters, and he himself was an expert at the Peak of Third Refinements Realm, though he wasn’t as skilled in combat as the Captains of the operations department.

However, when Director Huang exhausted all methods to finally enter the Safe Zone and personally invited people like Li Wei, Cheng Ping, and Bearded Old Wang, he was still rejected. He was rejected without hesitation.

Director Huang wasn’t entirely without gains, though. He managed to recruit a handful of independent Refining Stage experts for the operations team. This achievement seemed quite good, but compared to the Safe Zone, which now had over a hundred powerful members, it wasn’t worth mentioning. It should be known that out of these hundred-plus members, independent Dream Descenders accounted for more than half.

He wondered, “Is this reasonable?

“The welfare and benefits of our Countermeasures Bureau are clearly excellent. Besides, the powerful members I invited aren’t selfish people. They all care deeply about Baijiang and are heroic figures willing to step forward in times of crisis. So why did they refuse so decisively?”

After all, Director Huang had just arrived in the Safe Zone. He hadn’t even had the time to obtain a membership yet; he had simply arranged to meet with Li Wei and the others at the first opportunity. He couldn’t figure it out.

Li Wei had told him, “Director Huang, if you stay in the Safe Zone a bit longer, you might figure it out.”

After sending Director Huang off, a few people remained in the private booth. All of them were renowned independent experts in the Safe Zone: Li Wei, Bearded Old Wang, Power King, Duckbill Hat, Xu Qian, and Cheng Ping.

Li Wei chuckled. “The conditions Director Huang offered were extremely generous. He even promised that if we reach the Peak of Third Refinements Realm, we’d be allowed to form a new detachment in the operations department, enjoying Captain Level authority and privileges. Are you all completely unmoved? Or are you hesitant because there are so many people here? Honestly, the Manager doesn’t mind us holding positions in large organizations.”