129: Chapter 129 The ancestors of the Kingdom of Divine Revelation were once called gods.
"No matter."
Lin Chuan's voice rang out indifferently in Zhao Linfeng's mind.
"No matter what he wants to do, he won't be able to stir up any waves."
"You just need to continue developing the overall national strength of the Land of Rebirth on the Other Shore, restore the population, and continue to analyze Taboo Rule knowledge in the Laboratory, while training Ghost Controllers and Taboo Masters."
"The technological research and development of the old era must not be neglected either."
Lin Chuan's rule-infused voice echoed, landing deep within Zhao Linfeng's mind.
"Yes!"
Zhao Linfeng respectfully accepted the order and then withdrew.
Having arranged everything, Lin Chuan was preparing to mobilize his taboo value to undergo another upgrade and evolution.
Shua!!
Suddenly.
A figure so ethereal it seemed it would dissipate with the wind at any moment appeared without warning before Lin Chuan's evil buddha golden body.
It was that... gatekeeping old woman.
To be precise, this was merely a remnant wisp of her Rule Power.
"Friend..."
The old woman looked at Lin Chuan, a hint of complex admiration showing in her eyes.
"You have done very well."
"Although the order you have constructed is not the 'Utopia' we Ancestors envisioned in our hearts..."
"In this era of collapse, being able to protect a piece of pure land is already a rare achievement."
Lin Chuan did not speak; he just quietly watched the old woman, waiting for her to continue.
"I... have remembered."
The old woman's cloudy gaze became somewhat distant, as if piercing through the long river of time.
"I was once a living person of the Yanlong Empire, one of the first batch of 'humans' on this continent, and an ancestor of the Kingdom of Divine Enlightenment..."
"Before this world was eroded by the eerie, we also had a glorious civilization."
"Back then, I had a name..."
"Called... Granny Meng."
"Granny Meng of the Bridge of Helplessness."
Granny Meng?
Hearing this name, Lin Chuan's heart stirred slightly.
This was a deity from the myths and legends of the Yanlong Empire who presided over the Reincarnation of the underworld and made people forget their past lives.
"Friend, do you know the truth of this world?"
The old woman did not give Lin Chuan a chance to ask questions, but spoke to herself.
"This world... is actually a dream."
"All the horrors, all the eerie things, all the taboos... are imprisoned in the depths of the dream."
"And outside the dream..."
"Is the Return to Ruins, decay, nothingness, and extinction."
"The so-called 'real' world is but a thin membrane between the inside and outside of the dream."
"When the source of the dream is about to awaken, those horrors imprisoned in the depths of the dream... will frantically want to escape outside the dream, into that so-called 'reality'."
"This is... one of the truths of the Terror Resurgence."
A dream?
Lin Chuan fell silent.
Although this explanation was somewhat vague, combined with what he had seen and heard along the way, it seemed to point vaguely toward some terrifying fact.
Chaos Void Realm, Dominators, Old Masters... could it be that these existences are all just the 'nightmares' of some great being?
Lin Chuan wanted to ask more.
For example, who exactly was that Mysterious Old Man who left a bloody handprint on his chest?
For example, where would the endgame of this world ultimately lead?
But the old woman seemed to see through his thoughts; she only smiled slightly and did not answer.
"The existence that left a mark on your chest..."
"Is also an ancestor of the Dongsheng Continent."
"Nothing more."
"As for me..."
The old woman looked at Lin Chuan's questioning gaze, a flash of pride and disdain in her eyes.
"I am human."
"And also what you call... a god."
"As for those so-called 'taboos'..."
"Heh heh..."
As her voice fell.
The old woman's figure began to rapidly become transparent.
"The road is long and far-reaching..."
"Friend..."
"Take care of yourself."
As the last wisp of her voice dissipated into the sea breeze.
The old woman completely disappeared.
This time, she was truly gone.
Every trace of her in this world returned to nothingness.
Lin Chuan's evil buddha golden body floated quietly above the sea.
The surrounding waters had been completely cleared by him; not even the smallest eerie thing remained.
There was only a deathly silence.
"A dream..."
Lin Chuan whispered in his heart.
If this world really is a dream.
Then... he wanted to wake up and see reality!
Or... replace the source of the dream!
"Upgrade."
Lin Chuan thought no more.
With a slight thought, the panel opened.
[Consuming 80 taboo value... Upgrading...]
Rumble—!!!
The calm sea boiled once again.
A Rule Power even more vast and terrifying than before erupted from Lin Chuan's body.
SS-rank Fifth Tier!
At this moment.
Lin Chuan felt as if he had touched the essence of some rule.
The entire world became clearer in his eyes, and also... more fragile.
[Current Rank: SS-rank Fifth Tier!]
[Next stage: Promotion to SS-rank Sixth Tier requires 100 taboo value!]
[Current taboo value reserve: 40! (taboo reduction 400)!]
Only 20 points short.
To be promoted again.
But Lin Chuan did not continue to obtain taboo value through devouring.
Because he found.
As his Rank increased, the gains from devouring low-tier taboos were rapidly decreasing.
To quickly obtain taboo value, he either had to hunt SS-Rank high-tier existences, or... harvest faith!!
Enlighten more taboos and transform them into his own Believers and kin!
However, within the territory of the Land of Rebirth on the Other Shore, besides Lin Chuan's Believers, there were no other taboos left.
Lin Chuan's thoughts moved again, and his will, containing Taboo Rules, spread out, piercing through layers of mist and casting toward the direction of the Yanlong Empire.
"amitabha buddha."
A low-pitched Buddhist chant rang out over the East Sea of the Land of Rebirth on the Other Shore.
The next second.
Lin Chuan's evil buddha golden body disappeared from the sea surface... Yanlong Empire, Chuan Prefecture.
This place had completely turned into a land of death.
The once prosperous city now only had broken walls and debris left.
The ground was dyed dark red, and the air was filled with a thick smell of blood and decay.
In the center of the ruins.
A mountain-sized meat-mountain monster, covered in tentacles and eyes, was lying on the ground, greedily devouring the earth.
It was precisely the out-of-control [six taboos of meishan]!
Every time it writhed, it would trigger a small earthquake.
Every time it 'breathed', it would cause cracks in the surrounding space.
And in a temporary command post tens of thousands of kilometers away.
A Captain from the Yanlong Empire's Bureau 749 was looking at the screen with a face full of despair.
"Is there no way?"
His voice was hoarse, and his eyes were bloodshot.
"All the S-rank Taboo Masters have been sent out... all the Taboo Items have been tried..."
"Even those last few national-level taboo objects have been used..."
"The result... still can't be suppressed!"
Beside him.
Several staff officers were pale, lowering their heads, not daring to speak.
"Report!"
Just then, a communicator suddenly rushed in, panicked.
"There's a new energy reaction!"
"In... in the sky above Chuan Prefecture!"
"The Terror Level... the instruments our Branch has cannot calculate it!!"
Cannot calculate?!
That Captain from Bureau 749 abruptly looked up at the big screen.
Only to see in the gray sky.
At some point.
A black sun had appeared.
No... that wasn't a sun.
But a ring of... pitch-black, infinitely majestic Buddha light!
In that Buddha light.
A thousand-zhang tall black Evil Buddha, sitting cross-legged in the void, was slowly descending.
He lowered His eyes, neither sad nor happy.
But that rule-based pressure descending from the sky made the entire earth of Chuan Prefecture tremble.
Even the [six taboos of meishan] that was feeding stopped its movements, raising its countless eyes to stare fixedly at the sky.
It felt a threat.
A fatal threat!
"That is..."
The white-haired Captain of Bureau 749's pupils shrank suddenly, and then, a look of shock erupted in his eyes.
"The one from the Land of Rebirth on the Other Shore?!"
"He... has come?!"
Under the watch of many Bureau 749 members.
"Jie jie jie... na mo amitabha buddha!!!"
A grand and eerie Buddhist sound, like rolling heavenly thunder, resounded through heaven and earth.
Boom!!!
Before the Buddhist sound faded.
A black Buddha palm, condensed from rules and blotting out the sky, crashed down!