204: Chapter 204 Nine Heavens and Ten Earths

The perspective shifts to an unknown time and space.

No one knows how time flows here, nor does anyone know exactly where in space this world is located.

There is no sun or moon here, no sea, no wind—there is nothing but endless chaos and void.

The concepts of years and time lose their meaning here.

Time has no calendar, and chaos keeps no record of years.

Who knows how much time passed.

Perhaps it was a single moment, perhaps hundreds of millions of years.

A streak of dazzling light suddenly emerged from the depths of the chaos.

In the next moment, the white light exploded, filling the entire world.

The speed was so fast that it was as if someone had only blinked, and the vast, boundless chaos was swallowed by the whiteness.

Immediately afterward.

Within the white light, a vast continent emerged, with rivers and mountains crisscrossing it, the firmament hanging high above, and myriad races walking upon it.

But it only existed for a fleeting moment.

Boom!

The continent disintegrated, shattering into nineteen pieces.

Nine pieces rose to the heavens, and ten pieces sank into the earth.

Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

Before everything could stabilize, a wave of pitch-black tide surged from the edge of the world.

That tide was silent, yet it was more terrifying than any thunder.

It submerged the firmament and swallowed the earth, like an invisible hand pressing down on the entire world.

Half of the world turned black.

Soon, a golden light shone within the darkness.

There wasn't much of that gold, but it was stubborn.

It emerged from the depths of the Ten Lands, faintly revealing the silhouette of a ship.

The hull was broken, but the sails remained.

The golden light crashed into the black tide, the two opposing each other.

But the gold was too immature, like a newborn cub; facing the invading pitch-black heavenly demons, it only held out for a single breath.

In the next breath, the golden light began to shatter.

The world went dark.

...

Li Taiping opened his eyes.

The sky was blue, and the ground was black.

The surroundings were filled with towering trees so thick ten people could barely wrap their arms around them; their bark was like iron, and their roots delved deep into the black soil, exuding a primitive and heavy aura.

There was no fishy smell of the sea in the air, only moisture, decaying leaves, and a faint scent of blood.

Li Taiping stood in the forest, his black outer robe hanging down.

He looked down at his palm; the black tide remnant key was still there.

However, the character for "Tide" on the key's surface no longer seeped light; instead, it seemed suppressed by something, becoming heavy and dark.

"Where is this?"

He looked up at the sky.

The blue sky was very clean, so clean it didn't look like a weird dungeon.

"What was that just now?"

"A cutscene... for entering the Former Dynasty World dungeon?"

Li Taiping was silent for a moment.

Good grief, others get a loading bar when entering a dungeon, but he gets to watch the creation and destruction of a world first; this level of service was a bit over the top.

The next second.

A panel popped up.

[Entered: Former Dynasty World]

[Current Region: One of the Ten Lands · Black Forest Land]

[Time Flow: Unknown]

[Rule Stability: Low]

[Warning: Residual lifeforms from the Previous Era exist here]

[Warning: Traces of black tide erosion exist here]

[Warning: Do not trust the self you see]

[Main Quest: Not yet generated]

[Temporary Quest: Survival]

Li Taiping looked at those last two words and let out a chuckle.

"Quite simple."

He closed the panel and started walking forward.

The black soil was very soft; when he stepped on it, tiny black bubbles would emerge from the ground.

After the bubbles burst, a wisp of black gas would drill out, coiling around his ankle like a living thing.

Li Taiping looked down.

The black gas paused.

Then, as if seeing something terrifying, it retracted back into the soil with a "whoosh."

Li Taiping raised an eyebrow.

"You know me?"

There was no response.

The forest was unnaturally quiet; there were no birds chirping, no insects buzzing, and even the leaves didn't move.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, a faint sound suddenly came from ahead.

Crack—crack—.

Like bones being crushed.

Li Taiping stopped.

Not far away, from behind a giant tree, half a face peeked out.

It was a delicate-looking youth.

He was thirteen or fourteen years old, with grayish-white skin and a black Tidal Pattern on his forehead.

He clutched a bone knife in his hand, pointing the tip at Li Taiping; his gaze was fierce, but his hand was shaking.

Li Taiping looked at him, and the youth looked back at him.

The two stared at each other for three breaths.

The youth suddenly turned and ran.

Li Taiping: "..."

The people here are quite polite.

They look at you first, confirm they can't win, and then immediately retreat.

Very scientific.