It had been six hours since he discovered the passage to the opening.
The opening had now widened enough for an adult to enter. Chen Beixun stood beside it, gazing down into the world below.
It was pitch-black inside. He couldn't see a thing.
Standing beside the opening, Chen Beixun looked both uneasy and excited, like a student waiting to see his exam results.
"Phew—" He let out a long breath, then leaped into the opening. His figure grew smaller and smaller, swallowed by the darkness without a sound.
Whoosh, whoosh—
The swirling wind buffeted his battle suit. Listening to it roar past his ears as he fell, Chen Beixun couldn't help letting out a few breaths.
He had no idea what lay below or what dangers awaited him.
Chen Beixun spread his Spiritual Force as far as he could, trying to cover the greatest possible area. Even so, he couldn't detect a single object.
"Damn it!" Chen Beixun furrowed his brow, feeling uneasy. "How deep does this go?"
Suddenly—
A ball of ghostly blue flame appeared out of nowhere. Its light spread outward, barely illuminating a radius of a few dozen meters.
The vision of someone at the Universe Level was exceptionally sharp. Chen Beixun narrowed his eyes and watched the flame.
His falling speed remained unchanged.
"I've found something!" Chen Beixun realized that his Spiritual Force seemed to have touched an object.
"Are those stairs?" Chen Beixun made a rough guess based on what his Spiritual Force detected.
4,600 meters.
2,100 meters.
1,200 meters.
1,000 meters.
Boom—
Chen Beixun slammed both feet into the ground. His center of gravity shifted downward, and he finally steadied himself in a half-crouch.
"This is... the world below? A hundred thousand meters deep!" Chen Beixun looked around, his gaze finally settling on the ghostly blue phosphorescent flame rising in the distance.
In its light, several dark gray stone steps emerged from the blackness, descending into the depths.
A skeleton lay sprawled across the slick surface of the stone stairs. It was remarkably well preserved.
Chen Beixun closed his eyes. Behind him, the Heng Divine Weapon shot out twenty-seven small white swords, which assembled into three long white swords that circled him. Then he started down the stairs.
He walked at an unhurried pace, covering hundreds of steps in just a few seconds.
The deeper he went, the hotter and more humid the air became.
After about twelve minutes, Chen Beixun stepped off the final stair and entered a space eighty-one meters high, with an area of one square kilometer.
At the center of the space, directly opposite the staircase, rested a small silver-gray cube, held up by a skeletal hand.
"Is that the secret technique?!" Chen Beixun's eyes lit up. He took a step forward, then pulled back.
He examined it with his Spiritual Force. Once he was sure there was no danger, he wrapped the cube in his power and brought it into his hand.
"Was it really that easy?" Chen Beixun was astonished. He weighed the small cube in his hand and found that it weighed about a ton.
He put the cube away, but for some reason, a sudden shiver ran through him.
"I can leave now." Chen Beixun turned to fly back, but just then... muffled footsteps sounded behind him, accompanied by the rush of flowing water.
The water roared, appearing out of nowhere. It was icy cold and stank of riverbed mud.
The muffled footsteps drew closer. Chen Beixun's expression shifted uncertainly.
His Spiritual Force covered the area, but he couldn't detect any living creatures.
"An illusion..." The words surfaced in Chen Beixun's mind, repeating over and over.
The muffled footsteps gave way to ghostly silence, leaving only the rushing water.
Splash, splash, splash—
Chen Beixun froze in place. He couldn't move his legs, just like someone trying to run in a nightmare.
Qishan roared, "Stay calm! It's all fake!"
Chen Beixun seemed to have lost his hearing. He couldn't hear Qishan at all. Even when Qishan tried to communicate with him mentally, his voice reached Chen Beixun as nothing more than an indistinct whisper.
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead. Behind him—or rather, lurking there like a nightmare—was some hideous monster, waiting for him to turn around so it could hook an arm over his shoulder like a wolf and tear out his throat.
"Who's there?!" Chen Beixun spun around. The Heng Divine Weapon on his back unleashed eighty-one white swords, which formed a crescent blade and slashed toward the sound.
Boom!
A tremendous crash reverberated through the space like a thunderclap.
He panicked. Those damned sounds grew even more brazen, coming at him recklessly from every direction!
The fear of the unknown.
He could no longer suppress the instinctive trembling of his body.
"Run!" That was the only thought in Chen Beixun's mind. His calm, detached demeanor had vanished, replaced by an animal's instinct to survive.
Chen Beixun nearly stumbled as he bolted for the exit in a pitiful panic.
Boom!
He slammed into an invisible wall and watched helplessly as two stone walls sealed off the exit. In that instant, despair engulfed him. It felt as if an invisible tentacle had wrapped around his throat and squeezed.
Deep inside him, a fear that had taken root in the icy abyss countless ages ago bloomed like a flower from the other shore. It overwhelmed every shred of reason and spread into the depths of his mind.
Helpless, he collapsed onto the ground and thrashed about.
The dull footsteps tore through the last barrier in his mind, layer by layer, like giant hands ripping it apart.
They stole away his thoughts and reason.
At last, Chen Beixun passed out.
Inside the space beyond the bronze-colored gate of Slanted Axe Tower...
Threads of blood fell from above, forming a curtain of crimson rain.
Pavadode knelt on one knee, holding a long staff.
Suddenly, a lilting whistle sounded. Pavadode lifted his head and struggled to use his staff to push himself upright.
Beyond the layers of bloody rain, Pavadode watched a figure drawing closer.
"Don't come any closer," Pavadode shouted.
At his words, the figure stopped. His head drooped as he stood parallel to Pavadode.
The figure was a man wearing a long trench coat.
The man raised two fingers, pinched the brim of his coat's hood, and pulled it back, revealing a youthful face.
"Oi!" the man called out playfully. Two crescent-shaped curved blades appeared in his hands, rather like the sickles used to harvest wheat.
"Universe Level 9? Didn't your elders teach you to respect your betters?" Pavadode called out, irritation clear in his voice.
The man lowered his stance and drew his hands behind him. He crossed his fists, bringing the tips of his curved blades together with a series of clinks. He looked ready to spring into action.
Pavadode sensed a dangerous aura. He quickly shifted from holding his staff in one hand to gripping it with both.
"Is that pressure coming from him?!" Pavadode was surprised. He didn't dare let his guard down and prepared to give it everything he had. After all, there was no telling whether his opponent was one of those terrifying powerhouses who could defeat enemies above his level.
It was possible for someone at Universe Level 9 to defeat a Domain Lord at the first level using their own strength, but it was extremely rare.
"You're taking this so seriously!" The man grinned wickedly, his fierce gaze fixed on Pavadode.
Boom!
The man moved, and the bloody rain stopped with him. Each droplet hung suspended in the air, as if time had frozen.
Pavadode reacted swiftly, raising his staff to block the man's attack. Then he stamped his foot.
The space trembled violently.
The area around Pavadode seemed to be flooded with mud, becoming solid and dense!
He met the man's eyes. Wearing a playful expression, the man stared back at Pavadode as his curved blades whipped through the air.
Every strike flashed with golden light.
Pavadode could only defend. The shock numbed his arms, but he gritted his teeth and held on.
"My name's Xiang Zhixing. What's yours?" the man asked casually, as if he didn't take his opponent seriously at all.
Pavadode shifted to one side, then spun around to evade the attack. Taking advantage of the opening, he thrust his staff at his opponent!
"Whoa, are you trying to kill me?" Xiang Zhixing's figure drifted like the wind, evading the attack with uncanny ease.
The attack had irritated Xiang Zhixing. He pressed one thumb against the other, then slipped his little fingers through the rings at the ends of the curved blade handles.
Boom—
A terrifying wave of air swept toward Pavadode, composed of countless wind blades.
Pavadode had no advantage in speed, and facing such a fast attack, he could only take it head-on.
Countless wind blades scraped across his alloy battle armor, producing a piercing skrrt.
The armor could completely block the blades, but not their impact. The suit absorbed some of the force, while Pavadode's body had to endure the rest.
"How was that?" Xiang Zhixing asked cheerfully.
Pavadode was gravely injured. He gripped his staff with both hands and braced it against the ground, barely holding himself up on one knee.
"You're strong," Pavadode said with a smile. "I lose."
Xiang Zhixing pointed his curved blade at Pavadode, then asked with a sardonic grin, "What's your name?"
"Pavadode." Pavadode closed his eyes and waited quietly for death.
"Hmm..." Xiang Zhixing tilted his head back. He gently flicked his curved blade with his right hand, tapping it against his thigh, which was covered by alloy battle armor.
"Oh!" Xiang Zhixing raised a finger and exclaimed in recognition, "You're Pavadode! I'm Xiang Zhixing! Don't you remember?"
After speaking, he slowly walked toward Pavadode, muttering to himself, "Good Friend Ice House."
Pavadode: "?"
"Good Friend Ice House! Hahaha!" Xiang Zhixing rambled on with an easygoing air. "I bought you a drink on Emerald Star!"
Pavadode: "?"
Xiang Zhixing suddenly struck and killed Pavadode with one slash.
He continued to babble, "It's normal to feel dizzy!"
"Whoo... whoo... Blow on it and you won't feel dizzy anymore! Ha! Ha! Gah! Gah!" Xiang Zhixing lay on the ground with his hands held up like binoculars, peering at Pavadode's head and blowing on it repeatedly.
"Ah! Why are you dead? Heehee!" Xiang Zhixing rubbed at his eyes.
Not far away...
Two people had been watching the fight.
"Captain, is this the genius our family secretly raised?" A man in battle robes tugged at the sleeve of the one addressed as captain.
"This... uh..." The captain's mouth twitched.
Inside the world beneath Slanted Axe Tower.
Chen Beixun sat slumped in a corner, his eyes vacant. An Changyan was beside him, softly trying to calm him down.
After Chen Beixun passed out, he woke up twice. The first time, his whole body seemed to be convulsing, and his mind was in a haze. With the last of his awareness, he randomly released someone from his World Ring.
That person was An Changyan.
When he woke a second time, Chen Beixun had suffered a mental breakdown. He hid in the corner, screaming and thrashing wildly.
An Changyan was remarkably bold to dare approach and calm him down.
With his soothing words, Chen Beixun slowly recovered.
"An Changyan?" Chen Beixun weakly reached out and touched An Changyan's neck.
Then he realized...
"Stop choking me." An Changyan immediately stood and backed away several steps.
Chen Beixun: "Huh? I choked you?"
An Changyan touched the purplish marks on his neck and said fearfully, "You keep choking me every so often. If it weren't for your Demon Island Vine protecting me..."
"Who knows what might have happened..." An Changyan pressed his pale lips together and backed away in fear.
Hearing this, Chen Beixun exclaimed in surprise, "Demon Island Vine, you've done a great job!"
Demon Island Vine was exceptionally intelligent for an auxiliary plant. It had sensed that something was wrong with its master early on and stopped him.