Ghost-faced Terrain

The moment that ghostly face appeared, Zhao Kongcheng felt as though heaven and earth had been turned upside down, an unprecedented wave of dizziness surging through him.

He furrowed his brow and tensed his body, barely managing to steady himself.

In his field of vision, everything before him resembled a spinning kaleidoscope—chaotic, fragmented, and impossible to trace.

"Damn... it can actually use a Forbidden Ruin too. I'm screwed this time..." Zhao Kongcheng muttered, Wu Xiangnan's words before the battle surfacing in his mind once more.

"...Forbidden Ruin Sequence 176, Ghost-faced Terrain. Within the range of the Forbidden Ruin, it can deceive the senses of all living creatures at or below its own realm, reversing their concept of space.

Within Ghost-faced Terrain, up and down, left and right, front and back can all change at the Ghost-faced King's will. Though one can resist it to a certain extent through awareness and experience, there is no doubt that all offensive methods will be affected within this Forbidden Ruin, greatly reducing one's combat strength.

Therefore, aside from the captain, who is also in the 'River' realm, no other member can fight the Ghost-faced King head-on. Otherwise, there is only one path: death..."

What a disgusting Forbidden Ruin... Having experienced it firsthand, Zhao Kongcheng truly understood just how monstrous it was.

So the captain had hacked the Ghost-faced King into a grievously wounded state while inside this Forbidden Ruin?

He was a monster too!

Zhao Kongcheng took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

"Roar, roar, roar!!!"

The roars came from every direction, making it impossible to determine the Ghost-faced King's location. The ground trembled slightly, and Zhao Kongcheng could feel it rapidly closing in!

Where would it come from?

In the Real World.

Upon that bizarre and savage ghostly face, Zhao Kongcheng stood with his eyes closed like a statue, gripping his saber in both hands and aiming it forward, his brows tightly furrowed.

He had not noticed in the slightest that the Ghost-faced King had silently moved behind him.

Within Zhao Kongcheng's perception, his sight, hearing, smell, and touch were all shifting at high speed, as though he had been stuffed into an industrial-strength washing machine. False information flooded his mind, leaving him unable to distinguish anything in the Real World.

The Ghost-faced King stared at the utterly oblivious Zhao Kongcheng, a bloodthirsty smile appearing on its deathly pale ghost face.

It lowered its body slightly, then burst through the curtain of rain like a massive cannonball. It moved so quickly that afterimages trailed behind it, its sharp claws flashing with icy light as they slashed toward Zhao Kongcheng's neck!

It seemed to have already foreseen the exhilarating sight of warm blood spurting out and splattering across its body.

But just as its claws were about to touch Zhao Kongcheng, a sudden change occurred!

It was as though Zhao Kongcheng had eyes in the back of his head. He abruptly twisted aside, narrowly dodging the Ghost-faced King's claw!

Immediately afterward, the straight saber in his hand carved a long arc through the rain, striking directly for the Ghost-faced King's head!

Clang—!

A sharp collision rang out. The Ghost-faced King's hand clamped tightly around Zhao Kongcheng's blade, then it kicked out, sending Zhao Kongcheng flying like a sandbag!

Even so, the shock in its eyes could not be concealed.

It could not understand how Zhao Kongcheng had detected its attack.

Zhao Kongcheng slammed heavily onto the ground and cried out in pain. He struggled to climb back to his feet, yet the corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably.

"Surprised? Didn't see that coming?"

Zhao Kongcheng supported himself with his straight saber and smiled, his expression filled with mockery.

"Your Forbidden Ruin really is monstrous. Under normal circumstances, I definitely would've fallen for your trick and died by your hand. But unfortunately..."

Zhao Kongcheng raised a finger and pointed at the sky. "It's raining today."

"You can deceive a creature's senses, but you can't stop rainwater from falling with gravity. When rain lands on my skin, it gives me tactile feedback.

"You can alter my sense of touch and make me feel like the rain is falling on me from every direction... but I can use that to deduce the real direction!

"As long as I know one fixed direction, the rest becomes much easier."

Zhao Kongcheng chuckled, spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, and smugly raised his straight saber, its tip aimed at the Ghost-faced King.

"I'm not bragging, but if I had a Forbidden Ruin too, you'd have died eight hundred times already!"

"Roar, roar, roar!!"

Zhao Kongcheng had successfully enraged the Ghost-faced King. It charged at him madly as Zhao Kongcheng continued to keep his eyes closed, predicting the direction from which it would come.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Zhao Kongcheng and the Ghost-faced King descended into a chaotic melee. Relying on his terrifying combat instincts and experience, Zhao Kongcheng forcibly exchanged several blows with the Ghost-faced King!

But that was his limit.

Under the Ghost-faced King's full-force assault, Zhao Kongcheng's mortal body quickly failed to hold out. The Ghost-faced King seized an opening and struck his chest heavily, shattering two ribs and sending him flying.

This time, Zhao Kongcheng took a full five seconds before he could barely stand again.

If his straight saber had not blocked part of the damage, that blow alone would have been enough to kill him.

"Cough, cough, cough..." He coughed up several mouthfuls of blood in succession, his face pale as paper.

The Ghost-faced King stood in the rain, its gaze cold and imposing as it approached him step by step...

Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind Zhao Kongcheng!

"Zhao Kongcheng! Zhao Kongcheng!!"

"Zhao Kongcheng!!!"

Zhao Kongcheng froze. The voice sounded vaguely familiar...

Wait, wasn't this damn well...

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but after hesitating for a moment, he chose to remain silent.

His eyes were filled with complicated emotions.

At that moment, outside the Boundless Void Domain.

Lin Qiye stood near that patch of open ground. Rain drenched his hair, yet he seemed oblivious to it as he shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Zhao Kongcheng! Stop hiding! I know you're somewhere nearby!"

After shouting, Lin Qiye calmed down and listened for a while. Aside from the noisy rain, there was nothing.

"Damn it, that bat clearly saw a cloaked man and a monster suddenly disappear here. How could there be nothing... Did it really see wrong?"

Frowning, Lin Qiye looked around in every direction.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.

A dozen or so meters away, three strange signboards stood there alone.

Lin Qiye walked over, wiped the rainwater from the signs with his hand, and softly read the words written on them.

"No entry ahead? When were these signs put up here? And... this setup is way too strange."

Lin Qiye lowered his head in thought. Then, as if remembering something, his eyes gradually lit up.

"He seemed to have said that his Forbidden Ruins was an auxiliary one for concealing a battlefield. What was it called... the Boundless Void Domain?"

Lin Qiye carefully examined the three signboards before him. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he shouted again:

"Zhao Kongcheng! I know you're inside the Boundless Void Domain! Open the door and let me in!!"

One second, two seconds...

Zhao Kongcheng's voice drifted faintly from behind the signboards:

"You fucking skipped dinner and came out wandering around in the middle of the night for what? Get the hell out of here!!"