Hearing that Ed was about to go inside, Thomas immediately smiled, grinning as he rubbed his hands together.

"Brother Ed, let's grab the treasure and get out of here quickly!"

"By the way, you mentioned earlier that the monster's aura was left here months ago. The monster isn't here, right?"

Thomas was already thinking about how they could take the treasure and leave unharmed.

However, Ed gave him a cold look and suddenly said,

"What kind of aura do you think can stay in one place for months without dissipating and still be so intense?"

Thomas froze instantly. "What does that mean? Is the monster still in the room or not?"

The thought of possibly being in the same room as the owner of that overwhelming killing intent made Thomas' legs feel weak.

Ed explained, "The aura was indeed formed months ago, but the fact that it's still here means there's a reason for it."

"But as for the exact reason, I don't know. We'll find out once we go inside."

After hearing this, Thomas started feeling uneasy.

Are they seriously going in without even knowing if there's danger in the room?

But Thomas couldn't defy Ed's wishes. Since he said they were going in, Thomas gritted his teeth and followed.

Ed entered the room ahead, keeping his hunter's senses activated.

As soon as he stepped inside, two distinct auras struck his senses.

One was the aura of the treasure, the source of the golden light.

The second aura was an even more intense killing intent! Much stronger than the one he had felt before entering the room.

Looking around at the room itself, it was clear this had once been a storage room, with a doorway leading down to a basement!

The entrance was a wooden door, which could be opened to descend into the cellar.

Next to the wooden door, there was a chest, partially resting on top of the cellar door, and the treasure's aura was emanating from inside the chest!

The chest had a decayed lock hanging on it.

As soon as Ed entered, the first thing he noticed was the chest. He hadn't moved yet when Thomas leaned in and whispered,

"Brother Ed, the treasure's inside, right? Let's grab it and go!"

Seeing that there were no monsters in the room, Thomas was surprisingly relieved.

He reached out to help Ed lift the chest.

However, Ed furrowed his brow and stopped him with a firm hand. "Don't touch it. The chest can't be opened."

Thomas froze for a moment.

Ed added, "We need to step out first."

The two of them then stepped back out of the wooden house, reappearing in the view of the recording stone.

Alex and Lucas, who had been watching, rushed up in surprise.

"So, what happened? Was there any danger inside? Did you find anything?"

Thomas looked at Ed, also wondering why Ed had come out. Thomas himself was completely confused.

Ed didn't immediately explain. Instead, he glanced down at his hand.

There were exactly 30 marks on his hand, with his middle finger completely covered. The Moonstone rune marks began to spread toward the palm and the surrounding fingers.

After confirming his trump card, Ed finally spoke seriously.

"The reason I came out is because I didn't expect the owner of the killing intent to be inside the wooden house."

"It's in the cellar beneath the wooden house!"

Thomas was shocked. "So that means…"

Ed nodded. "Exactly. If we had taken the chest just now, that thing would have likely come out."

Alex frowned and asked, "So, did you figure out what's inside? It can't be a B-tier monster, right?"

Lucas's face turned pale. "If it is a B-tier monster, we should've run already!"

But Ed shook his head. "It's not a B-tier monster."

Before the others could fully process this, Ed added, "It's a ghost spirit!"

In an instant, the three of them were completely stunned. They stood there in shock for several seconds, then all of them gasped in disbelief!

"What! A ghost spirit! Shouldn't we get out of here now?!"

"Oh my god, I've only heard about ghost spirits in stories. I can't believe there's one in the Nightmare Wasteland!"

Their reactions weren't exaggerated. The truth was, the gap in strength between them and a ghost spirit was just too vast.

After Alex and Lucas managed to calm themselves down, they immediately turned to leave.

Thomas stopped them. "Hey, what are you two doing?"

Alex and Lucas were surprised to be called out. "Of course, we're leaving! If the ghost spirit comes out, we're dead!"

"Don't tell me you're not planning to leave?"

Thomas furrowed his brows. Though he, too, wanted to leave badly at the thought of the ghost spirit, he still said, "Whether we go or stay, we should listen to Ed."

So, Lucas and Alex turned to Ed.

Ed exhaled deeply. "We're not leaving. But if you two want to go, I won't stop you."

His expression was calm, almost too calm.

"The reason I came out was that I'm worried the battle might cause too much noise. You could get caught in the crossfire if you stay outside."

"That's why I came out—to tell you to keep your distance."

Since the start of the competition, Ed had known the Nightmare Wasteland inside and out, thanks to the Monster Compendium.

But for a B-tier ghost spirit, even the Compendium had very little information. After all, the compendium mostly recorded low-tier monsters, and higher-tier monsters, especially ghost spirits, were rare. Aside from the most common ghost spirits, there were very few others.

It was previously stated that the ghost spirit possesses powerful divine abilities, and just one strike from it could affect a radius of 100 meters!

Just from the description alone, such a being was terrifying!

When Alex and Lucas heard Ed's words, they were instantly stunned.

They never expected that Ed's plan was like this.

He knew that the creature inside was a B-tier ghost spirit, but he was still going in!?

Looking at him, there was no hint of joking around!

Moreover, his tone was so calm, as if fighting a B-tier ghost spirit was as normal as drinking water!

Please! This is a ghost spirit!

The two of them even began to doubt if Ed had lost his mind!

Thomas also exclaimed, "Brother Ed, I didn't hear you wrong, did I?"

Ed gave him a glance and replied, "Brother Thomas, and you too, you were just beside me. If a battle starts, you'd be dead for sure."

"Now that you're out, retreat to a safe spot with Alex and Lucas!"

After saying this, Ed seemed to seal the matter with a finality. He turned around and walked back toward the wooden house.

The remaining three stared at each other, completely stunned.

Meanwhile, in the viewing arena, the audience was once again able to see Ed after he walked out of the wooden house.

However, what shocked the majority of people wasn't just seeing him again.

Initially, it had already been surprising that Ed and Thomas had walked into the house without hesitation!

"My god, what's going on? How did these two come out? And they don't even seem to have any signs of battle on them!"

"Didn't they say there was an extremely terrifying ghost spirit inside? What's happening here? Can someone explain?!"

As the audience was left bewildered, several high-ranking figures from various Hunter associations were also at a loss.

Many of them turned to look at Reve, who had been the one to provide the information earlier.

Jason, the commentator, directly spoke up, asking, "Vice-Captain Reve, it looks like Ed's team didn't encounter the ghost spirit. What you said earlier—was it true?"

Reve's expression was also full of doubt.

This shouldn't be the case.

He cleared his throat and replied, "I can guarantee 100% that the information I provided earlier is absolutely correct."

"There was a very strong ghost spirit presence in the location we saw on screen."

"It's just that, I don't know what happened on the scene that prevented these two from encountering the ghost spirit."

Hearing this, one of the other association leaders furrowed his brow and asked,

"Wait a second, Mr. Reve, so what you're saying is that your information source only knew there was a ghost spirit aura there?"

"And you didn't actually see the ghost spirit yourself, right?"

Reve was immediately caught off guard. He had to admit that his informant had indeed never seen the ghost spirit in person.

Another association leader couldn't help but speak up, "So, this only means that the ghost spirit was there at some point."

"I think, right now, there's nothing in the wooden house! Reve has misled all of us!"

This statement made many of the association leaders nod in agreement.

"That makes sense. Ghost spirits are aggressive, and if it were truly there, it wouldn't have just stayed passive."

"Even if there's still some lingering aura, it should be faint by now!"

Reve, hearing the doubts of the others, looked visibly displeased. Though he, too, was starting to question if his information was a bit imprecise, there was no way it could be that far off.

In the end, he spoke up decisively.

"So, are all of you questioning the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association's information? Well, if what I've said is true, how will you all respond then?"

When Reve finished speaking, the others remained unmoved.

Ed retreating from the wooden house had already disproven the theory.

Moreover, this was the viewing arena. They couldn't know what was happening on-site, so what power did Reve have to prove anything to them?

In the end, several association leaders spoke in unison.

"Vice-Captain Reve, if you can prove it, we will apologize to the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association in front of everyone!"

Reve smiled and said,

"Alright then!"

"I happen to know a sorcerer who has a powerful ability. She can use a recording stone to open a special portal."

"Once the portal is open, we can stand by it and sense the aura from the scene!"

As he spoke, Reve gestured dramatically, and a figure stepped out from a corner of the arena. It was a striking woman, who gracefully made her way to the VIP seats.

She took out a crystal ball, blew on it, and the next moment, a small portal appeared in front of her!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.