Gradually, Fang Xiu's mind became blurry.
Under the relentless attacks of countless consciousnesses, even he found it overwhelming.
'Is this what death feels like? It's oddly nostalgic. Having died countless times before, I've become numb, but only in these moments, when true death looms, do I feel a trace of warmth in my cold blood.'
He suddenly felt very tired. The endless cycle of life and death was exhausting. 'I wish I could just die for real this time.'
It wasn't strange for Fang Xiu to think this way because this was a battle of minds. There was no gunfire or bloodshed, just the opponent's consciousness overpowering one's own, causing it to waver and slowly fade away.
But as his consciousness weakened further, Fang Xiu smiled. "My wife is still alive; she had to die first! Besides, how can I get defeated by such a stupid Specter?"
He let out a menacing laugh.
Nightmare was taken aback for a moment, then sneered, "You can still laugh at death's door?"
He increased his efforts, and Fang Xiu's Spiritual Energy kept increasing.
16%, 17%, 18%, 19%, 20%, 21%...
Fang Xiu reached the second tier!
Just then, a pale arm reached out from the crowd.
Nightmare frowned. "Still trying to put on a dying struggle?"
Soon after, another arm emerged, and with a strong push, Fang Xiu's consciousness rose from the crowd.
Fang Xiu, standing atop a mountain of bodies, had a terrifying grin on his face.
He was surrounded by a horrifying black mist, like a demon rising from a mountain of corpses and seas of blood.
"Impossible!" Nightmare was shocked. "Tens of thousands of consciousnesses can't hold you back?"
As Fang Xiu emerged, countless consciousnesses rushed towards him, but as soon as they touched the black mist around him, they screamed and began to dissipate.
At the same time, endless black mist gathered around Fang Xiu from the surrounding void.
The black mist around Fang Xiu was depleting due to the attack of tens of thousands, but more black mist would appear out of nowhere to replenish it.
"What is this thing!" Nightmare exclaimed.
Fang Xiu, protected by the black mist, withstood the attack of tens of thousands.
He moved, step by step, toward Nightmare with an increasingly sinister grin. "This is the pain you brought to Greenvine City."
"Pain?" Nightmare didn't understand Fang Xiu's words.
"Don't you get it?" Fang Xiu shook his head in slight disappointment, seemingly dissatisfied with Nightmare's intelligence.
"When you spread fear in Greenvine City, pain follows. In a way, I should thank you. You helped me advance to second-tier, enhancing my abilities to feed on people's pain."
"Feeding on their pain?" Nightmare's face changed drastically. "Isn't your ability to foresee the future? Do you have two abilities?"
"That doesn't matter, does it? Considering you're going to die in a minute." As soon as Fang Xiu finished speaking, he reached out with a pale hand.
The endless black mist in the void seemed drawn to his palm, quickly forming a black sphere that resembled a black hole.
With a loud boom, the black sphere shot out, heading straight for Nightmare.
Nightmare's body immediately produced countless black smoke to block it, but the black sphere pierced through the smoke and hit it directly.
Nightmare screamed in pain as it was violently thrown back. Its face twisted in agony. "Impossible! Even if you can absorb pain, why is your pain so heavy?"
Seeing Nightmare scream, Fang Xiu became excited, and his face twisted into something more sinister. "Hehehe... You absorbed all the fear from Greenvine City, and I absorbed all its pain."
"The whole Greenvine City? How is that possible?! I pulled the entire Greenvine City into a dream to absorb everyone's fear. You're just a second-tier psychic; you couldn't possibly do that."
"That's why I have you to thank. You not only helped me enhance my Spiritual Energy but also helped me absorb all the pain from Greenvine City."
"Me? Help you?"
"Don't forget whose body you're in."
At these words, Nightmare's face drastically changed, and it instantly understood everything.
By invading Fang Xiu's body, Nightmare essentially became Fang Xiu, controlling the Specter Zone and connecting to everyone's dreams. It absorbed their fears through their dreams. Similarly, Fang Xiu used the dream channel to absorb everyone's pain.
It was as if Nightmare had numerous threads connecting everyone's dreams, and by entering Fang Xiu's body, those threads were connected to Fang Xiu through Nightmare.
"Curse you! How dare you use me! I didn't expect you to turn the tables in such a situation, but luck can't always be on your side," Nightmare roared in anger.
Clearly, Nightmare thought Fang Xiu was just lucky, with the second-tier ability enhancement happening to enhance the ability to absorb pain.
Only Fang Xiu knew this had nothing to do with his luck.
A psychic's abilities are closely related to their spirit, a reflection of their soul. It's influenced by each person's experiences, thoughts, emotions, personality, and what they truly desire deep inside.
Fang Xiu's ability was pain because he had suffered deeply, his pain etched into his very bones.
His innermost desire was for all Specters in the world to feel this pain, to empathize and experience everything he had endured. That was why he awakened the ability to manipulate pain.
The enhancement on people's powers when they reached the second tier was also closely related to the souls. It was an enhancement of the pain ability, but the direction of this enhancement was ultimately determined by Fang Xiu himself.
When he was surrounded by tens of thousands of consciousnesses, he noticed the pain on each of their faces.
Fear and pain go hand in hand. When fear spread throughout Greenvine City, people were terrified. Various events of life and death, separations, and bloodshed occurred, each filled with extreme pain.
At that moment, Fang Xiu saw an opportunity to turn the tables.
Nightmare became powerful through the fear of the entire Greenvine City; Fang Xiu thought he could achieve that through the city's pain.
He couldn't defeat Nightmare now because it had the support of countless people. Thus, only by having a similar base of support could they stand on equal footing.
Driven by this desire, Fang Xiu attempted to absorb pain just as Nightmare absorbed fear.
However, with his first-tier abilities, he couldn't quite reach that level; there was always a barrier in the way.
But when Nightmare helped him break through to the second-tier, that barrier was shattered, and he finally absorbed the pain of the entire Greenvine City.
TL Notes:
Translator's note: I'm sorry if the explanation part feels confusing and unclear. The author was putting big words together and tried to muddle it through again.
Seriously, I don't think he needs to explain everything every time. We're reading a supernatural story and we know weird things happen. Just say "When you bring fear to the city, pain follows," and that's good enough.