Noon. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Cao Yaxuan lifted the bed curtain and saw Xu Lang still lying in bed. She said, "Xu Lang, what's wrong with you today? Why are you so down?"

Today Xu Lang was glued to the bed, not getting up at all, not even eating breakfast.

"Ah, you wouldn't understand." Xu Lang rolled over.

Cao Yaxuan scratched her head. She really had never seen Xu Lang in this state before.

"Do you have a fever?"

"I think you're the one with a fever!"

Cao Yaxuan still wanted to eat, but didn't want shots. "Then rest well. We're going to eat something delicious today~"

"How delicious?" Xu Lang asked.

"Excellent ingredients brought by Huihui."

"Fine, bring them to me."

Cao Yaxuan's mouth twitched. Xu Lang could still eat, so it shouldn't be too serious.

She let the curtain down and went to the dining hall.

"How's Xu Lang?" Wang Yazhi's dark brows slightly knit as she asked.

"Haha, nothing major. Maybe he's just worried the Blood Calamity's coming." Cao Yaxuan laughed carefree. "Send him some glowing sauerkraut fish. Maybe he'll perk up after eating!"

Even after finishing the sauerkraut fish, Xu Lang still loafed in bed, looking as if he were gravely ill.

Regret!

Utter regret!

Coins, why did I squander you before?

Golden Fortune Auspicious Door, Purgatory's Master, Demon Emperor Set, can't you vomit up the Nightmare Coins? I'm done playing.

Nightmare Lord sequence, desperately need a Nightmare Coin recovery function!

...

Time flew, night arrived.

The women knew Xu Lang was in a bad mood, so they dressed up on purpose.

Xu Lang stared at the ceiling, motionless.

"Oh no, oh no, you're not done for, are you?!" Cao Yaxuan fretted.

She had even put on her battle robe today!

After some fussing, the women finally got a tiny reaction from Xu Lang, which just made him more depressed.

"Not in the mood today, go to sleep early!"

Those words hit like waves, and the women's expressions all changed!

That's the classic excuse of a middle-aged man, and it's common among some folks with weak constitutions!

Cao Yaxuan considered aloud, "Is His Excellency Xu not feeling well today?"

Wang Yazhi smiled faintly, "Maybe the air conditioner wasn't on, temperature was off!"

Xu Ruyan chimed in, "Worked all day yesterday, too tired!"

Tong Qi: "Recent pressure!"

Sherry: "Didn't sleep well last night!"

Zhen Lu: "Haven't taken off in ages!"

Ayiguli: "Hair's covering his eyes!"

White Sand: "Evil Furry Grain barking in the doghouse!"

Jinsha: "Bathroom light left on!"

Yinsha: "Has something on his mind!"

Gu Ya: "Worries about the state and the people!"

Han Zhixiu: "Took a cold shower today, wrong move!"

Xu Xiaomeng: "Qin Shi Huang unified the six states!"

Senior Sister Red Butterfly: "Wilted!"

Xu Lang, exasperated, simply covered his head with the blanket.

"Xu Lang, where's your ambition? Even licking, lick with a man's dignity!"

"We can't let you resort to new energy, can we?"

Once proud, now fallen from his peak, Xu Lang was being egged on by Cao Yaxuan and the others.

"Stop, stop. Go to sleep first, you'll be fine tomorrow!" Xu Lang didn't want the women to waste sleep time. Tonight, he had to sleep on the dot at twelve!

Not a second later!

"Alright then, hope you're okay." Cao Yaxuan leaned in and hugged Xu Lang. "If something's bothering you, tell us. Of course, it's fine if you don't."

Xu Lang felt a warmness in his chest. "Okay, I know. Sleep early."

As long as someone could fall asleep, there was still hope.

The Nightmare Bed gave people the right to sleep whenever they wanted. There was no bed more comfortable than the Nightmare Bed.

Maybe something good was about to happen.

Xu Lang felt the night especially agonizing, and, unusually, he had a nightmare.

In the nightmare he was swallowed by the abyssal maw and couldn't wake up no matter what.

Mainly because he didn't want to wake — he was grinding points, and waking up a second early felt like a crime.

...

Sixth day of the break, early morning.

Before eight, Xu Lang was awake and tore Senior Sister Red Butterfly out from under the covers.

She had nearly ruined his point-grinding scheme last night.

Senior Sister Red Butterfly squinted drowsily at Xu Lang, then went back to sleep.

Xu Lang ignored her and checked last night's earnings.

[Basic Nightmare Coins 1,280, conversion rate 5,754%, eight-hour total output 71,114 Nightmare Coins]

[Total Nightmare Coins: 1,000,000]

Finally!

Finally this day had come!

One million Nightmare Coins threshold cleared!

"What a gratifying breakthrough!"

Xu Lang felt like a chosen child of fortune!

A last-minute breakthrough, killing above your rank, surviving disaster — the feeling of future blessings following a narrow escape must be something like this.

Without caring about where people were, Xu Lang immediately started upgrading the Nightmare Bed.

Damn it — being cautious before made sense, but after being cautious for so long, what's the point!?

With Nightmare Eye, he really didn't need so many restraints.

Rebellion? Not happening!

[Nightmare Coins -1,000,000, Royal Nightmare Bed upgraded to Level 7]

[Please select the following nightmare traits]

[1. Fusion (Unlocked)]

[2. Simulation (Unlocked)]

[3. Curse (Locked)]

[4. Epitaph (Unlocked)]

[5. Nightmare Eye (Unlocked)]

[6. Dreamland (Locked)]

[7. Nightmare Apostle (Locked)]

This time, the Nightmare Lord sequence did not offer a new trait. He had to choose one among Curse, Dreamland, and Nightmare Apostle.

Also, going from Level 6 to Level 7 wasn't a massive leap, so Xu Lang didn't need to enter a deep sleep.

After using the sequence for so long, Xu Lang had some feel for the Nightmare Lord's pattern and could roughly predict outcomes like this.

Otherwise he wouldn't have set this up on the eve of the Blood Calamity.

"Too bad, didn't roll a developmental-type trait... I have a feeling later there will be traits that increase Nightmare Coin output!"

Xu Lang wasn't afraid of lacking firepower; he feared lack of development.

A Level 7 Nightmare Bed was already a supreme treasure, but who wouldn't want it to upgrade faster?

The next upgrade for the Nightmare Bed might cost five million, even ten million Nightmare Coins!

That said, when the Nightmare Bed upgrades, base Nightmare Coins increase and the bed grows larger... hehe!

The Small Bed could finally avoid overcrowding, indirectly boosting Nightmare Coin conversion rate.

Next, Xu Lang considered which nightmare trait to pick.

Curse felt like a deep, terrifying killing intent like an endless abyss. It made his heart jitter; he wasn't keen to choose it.

This thing seemed like a dog that might bite its owner. He wondered how the previous Nightmare Lord had tamed it.

Dreamland he could sense a bit — it's a skill that requires manual operation, a bit troublesome.

Nightmare Apostle fit his current situation best. It could let him be a hands-off manager and also tie into passive development. It could increase the acquisition speed of Nightmare Essence.