DEMON GROUPI ACCIDENTALLY ENTERED THE EVIL CHAT!

The air in front of the gates of Blackwood Asylum was heavy and cold, carrying the scent of mold, damp earth, and old despair.

Yuan Lin stood in the shadows of a giant tree, his heart beating with a steady, strong rhythm. It wasn't fear, but an adrenaline-charged anticipation.

His night had transformed from a simple search for an energy source into a potential confrontation with forces he didn't even know existed yesterday.

He activated his `[Perception]` skill to its fullest, scanning the scene before him. The "Gray Vein" of chaotic energy pulsed from the heart of the main building, like a column of black and purple smoke, visible only to his mind's eye. But it wasn't just raw energy.

It was polluted. He saw faint, distorted shapes within it, silent screams of pain and madness frozen across time, the remnants of the tortured souls who had lived and died here. These were the "phantasmal entities" the System had warned him about.

"So, ghosts aren't the spirits of the dead," he whispered to himself. "They're just... echoes. Echoes of extreme pain, carved into the fabric of reality."

The idea itself was terrifying, but it also revealed to him the nature of this world.

He saw the "Black Tiger Hall" van parked carelessly near the entrance. They were relying on brute force and hadn't bothered with stealth. In stark contrast, he saw with his perception the members of the blue-clad group, who had moved silently to occupy the roof of a side building, watching like hawks waiting for the right moment to strike.

They were all waiting. But what were they waiting for?

He didn't have to wait long.

A low humming sound began to emanate from the main building, a deep vibration that Yuan Lin felt in his chest. The glow of the "Gray Vein" suddenly intensified, and in the main courtyard of the hospital, where the grass had long since died, something began to grow.

A luminous, phantasmal plant sprouted from the earth. It grew with unnatural speed, its stem twisting and forming from pure chaos energy. Its bud opened to reveal a massive flower with petals made of dark purple light, and at its heart was a glittering black jewel, absorbing all the energy around it.

*"A treasure born of heaven and earth,"* Yuan Lin thought, quoting a phrase from one of the cultivation novels he had read. *"So, this is what they came for."*

It was a "Chaos Orchid," the embodiment of all the painful energy that had gathered in this place over decades, transformed into a rare natural treasure. For him, it was more than a treasure; it was a feast, the key to significantly leveling up his cultivation.

As expected, the "Black Tiger Hall" was the first to move.

"It's there! Move!" their leader yelled, and he and his four men rushed toward the courtyard.

They hadn't covered more than ten meters before the hospital's ghosts attacked them. The screaming shapes erupted from the walls and the ground, their smoky arms lashing out at any living thing that came near.

"Fight them! They're just illusions!" one of the Tiger Hall men shouted, throwing a powerful punch at one of the phantoms. His fist passed through the smoky form without any effect, but the phantom's claws left deep black scratches on his arm, and the flesh around them began to die and turn gray.

The man screamed in pain. These were no illusions.

A chaotic battle began. The Tiger Hall men were tough fighters, and every punch and kick they threw carried explosive power, but they were fighting an intangible enemy. They were wasting their energy fighting shadows.

Yuan Lin watched from his spot, his mind working quickly. *"I can't face them directly. The Tigers are fools but they're strong. And the blue-clad group hasn't moved yet; they're waiting for the Tigers to exhaust themselves. If I want to get that flower, this is my only chance."*

He was the unknown third party. He had to use the chaos to his advantage.

At that moment, the blue-clad group moved. But not all of them. Two of them leaped from the roof with incredible agility, moved quickly to the edges of the courtyard, and began to throw yellow paper talismans that exploded with a pure blue light upon touching the phantoms, distracting the more powerful entities. They were creating a diversion.

While everyone's attention was focused on these two and the Tigers' battle, the other two members of the blue-clad group began to move silently toward the orchid from another direction, using the shadows as cover.

"Now!" Yuan Lin told himself.

He took the shadow talisman he had bought out of his pocket. It was a cheap piece of black paper. He poured a thin thread of his own Chaos Energy into it. The talisman dissolved in his hand, and he felt as if the shadows around him had embraced him. He didn't disappear, but his body became blurry, difficult to distinguish in the darkness.

He moved quickly, not directly toward the flower, but around the edge of the courtyard, using the chaos as cover. His heart was pounding, not from fear, but from the thrill of the hunt.

He got closer to the flower. He was only a few meters away. The two blue-clad fighters were busy fending off a stubborn phantom that was guarding the flower closely.

Suddenly, a screaming shape erupted from the ground directly in front of him. It was a face distorted by pain, its mouth open in a silent scream. It lunged at him.

Yuan Lin didn't hesitate. He remembered his fight with the dogs. He pulled the ugly goblin dagger from his boot and pushed the smallest possible amount of his Gray Chaos Energy into it. The dagger glowed with a faint, dirty gray light.

He didn't make a skilled thrust. He just instinctively shoved the dagger in front of him.

The blade passed through the phantom easily. There was no resistance. But the moment the chaotic energy touched it, the phantom let out a sharp mental shriek that Yuan Lin felt deep in his skull, and the smoky form evaporated like steam.

It had worked. His energy was the perfect weapon against these entities.

He didn't waste a second. He took advantage of everyone being distracted and leaped the remaining distance. He reached the Chaos Orchid. It was pulsing with energy, cold and vibrant to the touch.

Quickly, he used his dagger and cut the flower's stem at its base.

The moment it was severed, the flower did not maintain its shape. Instead, it transformed into a stream of pure purple light that flowed through the dagger, up his arm, and sank into his body.

A system window appeared before him.

["Chaos Orchid" has been harvested. +500 Chaos Points obtained. Purity of Gray Chaos Energy has significantly increased. Assimilating energy...]

"The treasure... it's gone!" one of the blue-clad fighters shouted, having finally noticed what happened.

But it was too late.

Yuan Lin didn't wait to see their reactions. The moment he absorbed the flower's energy, he turned and ran at full speed, using the remaining power of the shadow talisman to melt back into the darkness of the forest.

He left behind two powerful factions staring at an empty courtyard, each suspecting the other and that mysterious shadow that had stolen the prize from under their noses.

Yuan Lin ran through the forest, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He had succeeded. He had outsmarted them all. He had played the part of the thief, the lone wolf, and had won. A feeling of absolute arrogance and satisfaction washed over him.

But as the orchid's energy settled in his body, he felt something else. It wasn't just pure energy. It carried... fragments.

Fragments of memories.

A fleeting image flashed in his mind, terrifyingly clear and vivid: a sterile white room. The sound of a muffled scream. And the face of a man in a white doctor's coat, smiling a cruel smile, his eyes as cold as ice as he held up a long, shiny needle.

Yuan Lin stumbled, almost falling. The image vanished as quickly as it had appeared, but it left behind a deep, profound chill.