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Translator's note: Wait… Why was Xiao Chuxia panicking? That's right she was the weakest among them, but their Spiritual Energy would be taken away by percentage, right? That had nothing to do with how much Spiritual Energy she had.
"So now you understand what I meant by 'being trapped,' right?" Lu Ziming said, spreading his hands in a helpless gesture.
Then he continued, "To survive in the Land Between, you have to relentlessly earn Spirit Money—there's no room for slack. Whitestone traps everyone with Spirit Money.
"On the surface, it might seem like the people here are free, but they're really imprisoned—just in a different way. In a real prison, at least you don't have to constantly fight for survival. But here, without Spirit Money, you can't go anywhere. From the moment you open your eyes, you're already working to earn money. Even then, by the end of the year, you'll barely have anything saved up."
Xiao Chuxia's face shifted suddenly, as if a realization had clicked. "This is just like the 33 taels of silver from ancient times, isn't it?"
"33 taels of silver? What's that?" Yang Ming asked, his curiosity piqued.
Xiao Chuxia explained, "The 33 taels of silver was a method used by ancient rulers to control the people. The common folk earned about 33 taels of silver a year, but their basic living expenses required 36 taels. That 3-tael gap forced them into a constant struggle to make ends meet. They worked day and night, never having time to think or fight back.
"The one billion Spirit Money needed to leave Whitestone is the same thing—it's a mirage, a false hope. They offer you a way out, but it's just a carrot dangling in front of you to keep you from giving up."
Li Xiaoru nodded in agreement. "Yes, that's exactly it. The 33 taels of silver is just like this system." She said, trying to sound knowledgeable.
Fang Xiu, however, remained deep in thought, his gaze lingering on Yue Lai Inn. He had begun to understand Zhou Qingfeng's purpose in creating Whitestone.
Before meeting the Specter God, Zhou Qingfeng had been humanity's savior, a hero who fought to end the Specter threat. He had wanted to lead humanity to victory, taking the frontlines. But not all psychics shared that same mindset.
"When the sky falls, it's always the tallest person who bears the burden," Fang Xiu murmured. "Many psychics must have felt the same way—having just gained their powers, they didn't want to fight immediately. They wanted to live, enjoy life, before being thrust into battle."
"Zhou Qingfeng clearly disagreed with that," Fang Xiu added. "So he designed Whitestone—a town that's not quite a prison, but feels like one."
In Whitestone, any psychic who wanted to survive had no choice but to hunt Specters day after day. The more Specters they killed, the fewer entered the real world. It was a cruel cycle, and for those trapped within, escape was an illusion.
As they continued their walk, the group passed by an old pawn shop. The shop looked ancient, with half its sign missing and its colors faded, giving it a ghostly appearance—almost like a scene from a black-and-white photo.
Lu Ziming pointed to the shop. "This is where you exchange Spirit Money. They keep detailed records of how many Specters you've killed, and you can trade that for money here. Also, if you ever manage to gather one billion Spirit Money, you can use it to buy a way out of the Land Between."
"Wait, I have a question," Xiong Tianguang said, raising his hand. "What happens if someone comes to Whitestone for the first time and doesn't manage to earn 100,000 Spirit Money on their first day? Won't they die for sure?
"And also, we had to take the Ferryman's boat to get here, but we didn't have any Spirit Money. If it weren't for Xiu getting some from Wei Xin, we wouldn't have even made it."
Lu Ziming nodded. "You can still ride the Ferryman's boat without Spirit Money, but it costs you Spiritual Energy instead."
"Spiritual Energy?" The group looked puzzled, unsure of what he meant.
"That's right," Lu Ziming continued. "Whitestone uses two types of currency: Spirit Money and Spiritual Energy.
"Whitestone runs on energy. When you kill Specters, their bodies are absorbed by the town and used as energy for its functioning. So even if you don't have Spirit Money, you can still use your Spiritual Energy in transactions here.
"If you didn't use Spirit Money to take the Ferryman's boat, your Spiritual Energy would have been forcibly reduced by one percent, permanently."
"What? Permanent loss?" Xiong Tianguang gasped, his face paling. "Are you saying that if my Spiritual Energy is at 61%, at the early stage of the fourth tier, and they take away 1% of it, I'll drop to the peak of the third tier?"
Lu Ziming nodded gravely. "That's exactly what I mean. I've been in the Land Between for three years, fighting tooth and nail, and I'm still just at the early stage of the fifth tier. The reason my progress has been so slow is because I've once used Spiritual Energy for transactions.
"You see, when you hunt Specters outside Whitestone, you can't predict when you'll encounter a powerful one and get injured. I once got severely injured for three days. I couldn't leave Yue Lai Inn during that time and couldn't earn any money. By the time I recovered, all the Spirit Money I had was already spent.
"But I couldn't leave the inn either. Leaving meant certain death. In my injured state, I couldn't withstand the Grey Fog. So, to stay, I had to pay 1% of my Spiritual Energy every day."
Hearing this, Fang Xiu finally understood why Wei Xin, the Zombie, had been stuck at the fourth tier for so long despite being in The Land Between for years. It was because of the Spiritual Energy extraction.
Whenever a psychic couldn't make enough money, they had to survive by selling their Spiritual Energy.
Zhou Qingfeng's approach was utterly ruthless. This method would force the people in Whitestone to fight tirelessly every day and limit their power.
By doing so, he could prevent anyone from becoming too powerful and breaking the rules of Whitestone.
With endless, unrelenting combat, no one could guarantee they wouldn't get injured.
And if they did, without Spirit Money, they'd be left to wait for their energy to be drained.
In this kind of situation, simply staying alive was already a battle in itself, let alone working on self-improvement. They'd only be left as perpetual laborers, endlessly killing Specters.
"Sir, what are we supposed to do now that we're in Whitestone? We should hurry up and hunt Specters to earn money. Together, we can't even gather 100,000, so we can't afford to stay in an inn," Xiong Tianguang said seriously.
Xiao Chuxia, realizing her Spiritual Energy was the lowest, began to panic. If she couldn't gather 100,000, she would be the first one to die from the Grey Fog.
"Yeah, that's right! Xiu, let's go hunt Specters and earn some money quickly."
Just then, Lu Ziming smiled faintly. "Don't worry. You can stay at my place tonight. My place can also resist the Grey Fog."
"Your place?" Yang Ming blinked, looking completely surprised. "You've already bought a house in Whitestone? Wow, that's impressive! You're practically the model worker!"
Lu Ziming let out a bitter laugh. "If I could afford to buy a house here, I'd be a king. It's a rental."
"Whitestone has rental properties?"
Lu Ziming nodded. "Yes. These dead people can engage in transactions, so I found one and rented its storage shed."
"Wait, you rented a storage shed? How much is the rent for a day?" asked Yang Ming.
Lu Ziming gave them a surprising number, "One day costs 300,000 Spirit Money."