Build an ancient-level power in the nightmare world

"This level of dark aura..."

Seeing the sudden change on the compass, Vivian's heart sank.

Her right thumb was already pressed against the sharp geometric angle of the brooch.

With just a little force, the sharp point of the brooch could pierce the skin of her thumb.

She carefully moved her feet and walked into the house.

Her spiritual vision did not activate immediately.

Having been a member of the Torchbearers for several years, she knew very well that blindly activating clairvoyance under these circumstances was by no means a wise move.

At the same time, her attention was also focused on the compass in her hand.

Following the direction of the white pointer, Vivian slowly moved into the house.

She sensed the spiritual energy emanating from the soundproof barrier that Chess had set up and judged that the other party should be fine at the moment.

Vivian had already gone inside; the layouts of the rooms in this apartment building were basically the same.

So after entering the room, she groped along the wall on her left and quickly found a knob that looked like a gas lamp switch.

After hesitating for a moment, she turned the knob and turned on the gas lamp in the room.

Bright lights shone from above, instantly dispelling the darkness in the room.

The moment her eyes adjusted to the light, Vivian saw Chase.

The other person was leaning leisurely against the bedroom door.

Chase, a barely suppressed smile playing on his lips, watched her quietly.

"you……"

Seeing Chess's expression, Vivian instantly understood why he hadn't turned on the lights.

Her left hand gripping the compass tightened slightly as she stared at Chess, gritting her teeth as she said:

"I will report today's events to the captain truthfully."

After speaking, she lowered her gaze again and looked at the compass in her hand.

The black pointer on the compass had somehow returned to the mark between 1 and 2.

Seeing this, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Upon hearing this, Chess's expression suddenly turned serious.

He looked at Vivian and quickly said, "Just kidding, just kidding."

As he spoke, Chase took two steps toward where Vivian was.

The sole of the shoe scraped against the floor, making a soft sound.

In the otherwise quiet environment, it sounded particularly jarring.

That soundproof barrier had disappeared sometime ago.

"Stop!" Vivian suddenly called out softly.

Upon hearing this, Chess paused in his tracks.

He looked at Vivian with a blank expression and a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Vivian, who had been staring at the compass and holding her breath, suddenly opened her eyes wide.

Her pupils contracted sharply, and her face turned deathly pale instantly.

She abruptly took several steps back, simultaneously pressing the brooch she was clutching in her right hand against her chest.

A trickle of blood seeped from her fingertips, slowly sliding down the geometric patterns of the silver brooch.

Dozens of white rays of light rapidly coalesced and took shape around her.

These rays were as thick as a finger, varied in length, and faced in different directions.

A powerful spiritual energy emanated from her.

The spirit-detecting array that Chess had drawn in the center of the living room of Room 202 suddenly burst out with a blinding white light.

This array was originally used to detect the spiritual fluctuations emanating from Chris's room.

On the white powder inscribed with array formations, a kind of transparent white flame seemed to ignite.

The white glow surrounding Vivian formed a complex geometric barrier in the air, protecting her inside.

Only then did she dare to look away from the compass, cautiously and quickly glancing at the direction where Chase was.

At this moment, in her eyes, although the smile on Chase's face had disappeared, he still had that somewhat nonchalant look.

"I admit, that joke might have gone too far, but the way you are now..." Chase looked at Vivian, apologizing as he asked cautiously.

Vivian did not respond to him. She looked at Chase, her eyes flashing with a complex expression.

The black pointer on the compass in her left hand was currently pointing to the mark 6.

The white pointer was pointing to the spot where Chase was standing.

Moreover, when the other person moved, the pointer also moved slightly with him.

Vivian knew very well what this meant.

She slowly backed away, her gaze fixed on Chess, without saying a word.

She held up the compass in her hand and showed the markings to Chess.

This was the first time Chase had ever seen Vivian in this state.

He realized something in an instant.

His pupils contracted sharply the instant his gaze swept over the compass in Vivian's hand and he saw the mark the black pointer was pointing to.

His breathing suddenly became heavier.

He quickly pulled out the compass from his pocket, stared at the pointer, and his surprise turned into astonishment in an instant.

Chase frowned, his gaze shifting rapidly between the compass in his hand and the one Vivian was holding.

Immediately afterwards, a hint of wariness appeared in his eyes, and he raised the compass in his hand, aiming it at Vivian's direction.

Vivian kept her eyes on Chase, paying attention to his every move.

The moment Chase raised the compass, she saw clearly where the pointer was pointing.

At that moment, a hint of doubt appeared in her eyes.

The compass that Chess showed her, like the one in her hand, was a temporary rune array compass standard for torchbearers.

At this moment, the black pointer on the compass in the other person's hand is pointing to zero.

Seeing this, Vivian twisted her wrist and quickly glanced at the compass in her hand again.

The black pointer on the compass was pointing to zero.

A deeper look of confusion appeared in her eyes.

The black pointer was clearly pointing to 6.

This scale indicates that the dark aura that just appeared on Chase has reached the second depth.

This profound aura of the Dark Realm often signifies the activity of Dark Realm creatures at the level of Revelation, or the existence of deep Dark Realm corruption.

In either case.

None of these were things that she, a spirit messenger with only one holy seal engraved on her, could handle.

That's why she reacted so strongly just now.

But at this moment, the black pointers on the compasses in her and Chase's hands had both returned to zero.

This left her feeling confused.

What exactly happened here in those few short seconds?

The sensing array she set up in this apartment to monitor the aura of the Dark Realm was based on a rune combination principle originating from the Torchbearer headquarters.

The sensing array should not have any problems.

When the compass reading suddenly jumped to 6, she would rather believe that she had misread it than think that there was something wrong with the compass.

"So Vivian, was the mark you just saw a 6?" Chase, who had been standing still, suddenly asked with a serious expression.

Vivian nodded solemnly upon hearing this.

Although the compasses in both of their hands had already reached zero, she still dared not relax her vigilance in the slightest.

"When you went up to the second floor just now, did you notice anything unusual?" Vivian suddenly asked.

Chess was on the second floor earlier than her, at least two minutes earlier.

During this period, the black pointer on the compass always points to a mark between 2 and 3.

This scale indicates that some areas may have the aura of the first depth of the dark domain emanating from them.

Based on the Torchbearer's many years of experience dealing with the Dark Domain, as long as the scale does not exceed 3, Dark Domain erosion will not occur.

As long as there is no dark domain erosion or reality distortion, the two of them, as Spirit Envoy-level Saint Path Walkers, can handle it completely.

So at that time, she didn't feel there was anything wrong with Chase going upstairs alone.

Upon hearing this, a hint of doubt flashed in Chase's eyes, and he asked in return:

"Didn't we come up together?"

"We agreed in the hallway that I would come in first to check the situation, and you would wait outside, ready to provide support at any time," Chase added.

Vivian frowned upon hearing Chase's explanation.

She instinctively felt that what Chase said seemed wrong.

But when she carefully recalled her memories of entering apartment 037, she realized that she did indeed go up to the second floor with Chess.

At that moment, her spirituality faltered slightly.

Vivian sensed the change in her own spirituality and her heart tightened.

She keenly sensed that something was wrong with her current state.

She looked up at Chase, who was still standing there, her doubts undiminished.

Because the compass had briefly shown the mark 6, she still dared not activate her spiritual vision rashly.

She wasn't sure if what she saw of Chess, and the surrounding environment, had been distorted.

Dark domain infiltration is often very covert.

If her perception has become distorted at this moment, then the markings on the compass may no longer be of any reference value.

If there is indeed some kind of deep dark domain erosion around her at this moment, activating her spiritual vision would instantly put her in extreme danger.

Therefore, even though the compasses in their hands both pointed to zero at this moment.

She dared not relax for a moment.

The luminous matrix in her hand remained active as she spoke, proposing:

"Let's maintain our current distance and leave here first."

"Okay." Chase immediately agreed with Vivian's idea.

After reaching an agreement, Vivian and Chase maintained a fixed distance from each other.

Vivian slowly backed away, while Chase slowly moved forward. The two walked down the stairs one after the other to the first floor of the apartment building.

The corridor on the first floor of the apartment.

Chase stepped onto the soundproof spiritual barrier he had set up, stood at the door of Room 102, stared at the door, and a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes.

In the end, he suppressed the urge to barge into the house for the time being.

He held the brass-colored round compass tightly in his hand.

At this moment, the compass needle has reached zero.

Just now, he went up to the second floor alone, and the moment he stepped into room 202, the reading on the compass in his hand jumped to 6.

This made his heart tighten.

But the moment he pulled his foot back from room 202, the compass reading instantly returned to zero.

He had never encountered such a sudden jump in the pointer's markings before.

This compass is extremely accurate and very stable; generally speaking, it will not have any problems.

Therefore, he was certain that a dark aura that could make the compass reading jump to 6 must have appeared here just now.

So he didn't continue checking the second floor, but went straight down to the first floor to meet up with Vivian first.

From going upstairs to going downstairs, his perceived physical time would not exceed one minute.

But when he went down to the first floor, Vivian was gone.