Tan Soul City.
In a pavilion, a figure stood ramrod straight. He wore a dark azure robe, and his long, fine black hair seemed about to trail along the ground, yet an invisible force held it aloft. His entire bearing was ethereal, his face indistinct, giving him a ghostlike air.
Death Dream Hall Master held a visiting card in his hand and chuckled.
"Visiting me to discuss the Dao? Then let him come." His voice was androgynous and elusive. "We can hardly let people look down on our Tan Soul City, can we?"
"In that case, I'll invite him up."
Outside the door, the middle-aged man who had just delivered the visiting card spoke somewhat stiffly.
Death Dream Hall Master tipped backward, his body perfectly straight. Thin black mist appeared out of nowhere, forming a throne that caught him.
The moment he sat on the throne, his body seemed to soften again, pressing tightly against it like a relief carving.
The decor throughout the room changed instantly, turning from ordinary furnishings into something eerily sinister.
Shapes resembling faces, exotic beasts, and even twisted geometric figures were carved into every part of the room. Even the mist floating in the air took on similar forms.
Within a few breaths, the door opened, and a gray-robed young man stepped inside.
At once, every furnishing in the room combined into a mental assault. An illusion realm that felt like being dragged into hell enveloped the gray-robed young man.
"A show of force?" Dongguan raised his head and saw Death Dream Hall Master in the center of the room.
Just as the information he had found described, Death Dream Hall Master possessed a peculiar "humanlike quality." He seemed human yet not human, caught in the sensation of the "uncanny valley effect."
He, too, was