182: Chapter 182 Kunlun Ruins, A Door That Doesn't Exist
"True Realm..."
Deep within Lin Chuan's consciousness, these three words were like a giant rock dropped into a deep pool, rippling outwards.
The Nightmare World is divided into four layers.
The fourth layer is the "Real World" he is currently in.
And beyond the nightmare, theoretically, is... eternal, indestructible reality!
But true and false, illusion and reality, in this pathological world, the boundaries have long been blurred.
Lin Chuan did not delve further.
At his current horror level, it was too early to touch those ultimate secrets.
Thump!!
The Void Realm vibrated slightly.
Lin Chuan's massive buddhas shadow, projected onto the third layer of the Nightmare World, slowly dissipated like a reflection in water.
The grand Buddhist Chant faded, leaving only the Old Master of the Skeleton, who had been completely converted, prostrating before the Void Realm.
...
Real World, Land of Rebirth on the Other Shore.
Inside the temple's main hall.
Lin Chuan projected a wisp of his will onto the Idfu Continent and continued to observe Qin Yao.
Through Qin Yao's perspective, Lin Chuan saw the surrounding scene clearly.
The place Qin Yao was currently in was inside that very Pyramid!
Looking around, the surroundings were dark and confined, exuding a desperate stillness.
Thump, thump, thump...
Heavy footsteps echoed continuously in the empty tomb passage.
Qin Yao gasped for breath, his monk's robes already tattered beyond recognition.
Behind him was an empty darkness.
All the Believers who had fanatically followed him had died here.
Not even a complete piece of flesh remained.
Only one person was still alive.
That was the taboo studies expert of the Idfu Continent... Song Changye.
This usually gentle, refined, and meticulous scholar was now in an extremely disheveled state.
One lens of his reading glasses was shattered, and his red robe was torn into strips of rags.
But his eyes, hidden behind the broken lens, still maintained a nearly cold-blooded rationality and logic.
"Qin Yao, slow your heart rate. Your fear is attracting things in the darkness."
Song Changye pushed his broken glasses, his voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
"The rules of this place... are too terrifying."
Qin Yao gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with solemnity and vigilance.
Just as the two were cautiously observing their surroundings, trying to find a way out,
a change quietly descended!
Hiss... Hiss...
A dull friction sound, like rough cloth dragging on the ground, came from the end of the deep tomb passage.
Accompanying it was a terrifying sense of oppression that made one's heart tremble!
This oppressive feeling surpassed any SS-Rank Taboo Qin Yao had ever seen, as if it could directly crush one's Soul.
The stone walls of the surrounding tomb passage rapidly weathered, blackened, and grew layers of ghastly white mold at this moment.
Even Song Changye's pupils constricted, staring intently into the depths of the darkness.
Slowly.
A strange outline gradually emerged.
It was a figure similar to a human.
Its entire body was tightly wrapped in yellowish, blackened, rough bandages.
Nauseating black embalming fluid constantly seeped from the gaps in the bandages.
It walked out of the darkness.
It had no facial features, no breath, only a stillness and decay that had accumulated over countless epochs.
Like a mummy!
However, to Qin Yao's surprise,
this monster, exuding monstrous terrifying aura, did not immediately attack them.
It stopped ten steps away from the two.
The malice that could instantly crush them both was strangely restrained by it.
"Strange... visitors..."
A dry, hoarse, distorted voice, like sandpaper rubbing against bone, suddenly echoed in the tomb passage.
"My name is... Pharaoh..."
It spoke to itself, its tone revealing an ancient indifference and aloofness.
"I am... the The Gatekeeper of the old era..."
"Once guarded... a forgotten epoch..."
Pharaoh slightly raised its bandage-wrapped head, as if recalling some ancient time.
"Slept for too long... so long that even decay itself... is rotting..."
"I... have just awakened..."
It rambled on.
With every word that fell, the space within the tomb passage underwent extremely terrifying rule distortions.
Qin Yao and Song Changye felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave, their blood almost ceasing to flow.
They were like fish on a chopping board, not daring to interrupt the terrifying entity's monologue.
After a long time.
Pharaoh's hollow face, wrapped in bandages, suddenly stopped turning.
It stared directly at Qin Yao.
More precisely, it was Peeping at Lin Chuan behind Qin Yao!
"On your body... there is the mark of a high-ranking being..."
Pharaoh's voice suddenly turned cold, imbued with an undeniable authority.
It no longer paid attention to Qin Yao and Song Changye, who were like ants.
Instead, it activated some supreme rule and directly initiated a dialogue with Lin Chuan!
"I sense it..."
"You are in the East... that continent called Dongsheng Continent..."
Pharaoh's bandages wriggled slightly, emitting even more terrifying rule fluctuations than before, seemingly probing.
"Great Unknown... I represent the 'The Unrotting Outer Court'... and salute you."
The Unrotting Outer Court!
Lin Chuan, far away in the Rebirth Temple in the Dongsheng Continent, paused slightly.
This was an extremely ancient demigod ancient domain deep within the third layer of the Nightmare World!
Its master was a true demigod!
This Pharaoh was clearly a subordinate or proxy of that demigod.
"We... want to make a deal with you."
Pharaoh's distorted voice transcended the dimensions of reality, echoing directly in Lin Chuan's mind.
"Do one thing for us."
"After it's done... the The Unrotting Outer Court will take you..."
"Together to... the Land of Truth!"
Land of Truth!
Hearing the word 'truth' again, Lin Chuan's heart couldn't help but ripple slightly.
【Old Master of the Skeleton】had just mentioned that the depths of the Nightmare World were contending for secrets related to the True Realm.
Now, the representative of this demigod power directly used the "Land of Truth" as a bargaining chip to trade with him!
There was clearly some connection and a secret he couldn't know!
Inside the Rebirth Temple.
After a moment of thought, Lin Chuan replied to the entity that called itself 'Pharaoh'.
"What is it?"
Lin Chuan's grand, cold, and extremely evil rule voice directly exploded in the Pyramid's tomb passage.
Hearing this heavenly Buddhist Chant, Pharaoh's bandages trembled violently.
It seemed to have sensed Lin Chuan's terrifying nature, and a hint of apprehension arose.
"It's simple..."
Pharaoh slowly raised its shriveled arm.
In its palm, an eerie key covered in green verdigris had appeared at some point.
"Take this key..."
"Go to the Kunlun Ruins in the Dongsheng Continent..."
"And open a... non-existent door!"
Kunlun Ruins? A non-existent door?
Lin Chuan was slightly stunned upon hearing this.
The Kunlun Ruins of the Yanlong Empire had just gone out of control, and three ancient taboos from the painting had emerged.
Now, the demigod ancient domain of the third layer of the Nightmare World suddenly set its sights on it.
All of this was no coincidence.
However, according to previous plans, Lin Chuan had already intended to explore the Kunlun Ruins again.
Now that the The Unrotting Outer Court had come knocking, he could use this opportunity to obtain more information and secrets about the 'Nightmare World'.
As for the other promises from the The Unrotting Outer Court?
Lin Chuan would not naively believe them.
"Agreed."
Lin Chuan did not waste words, directly giving a short and cold reply with his rule voice.
Upon hearing Lin Chuan's reply, a strange satisfaction seemed to appear on Pharaoh's hollow face.
"A wise... choice..."
Pharaoh's hoarse voice echoed in the tomb passage.
The next moment.
It suddenly plunged the verdigris-covered key in its hand into Qin Yao's chest!
Pfft!
A strange scene occurred.
The key did not pierce flesh and blood; instead, it transformed into a green, ethereal light and directly merged into Qin Yao's body!
Qin Yao grunted, feeling a cold, dead foreign sensation in his heart.
"The key... has been given to your Believer..."
"When that door... is found..."
"The will of the The Unrotting Outer Court... will journey with you..."
Before its voice faded, Pharaoh's bandage-wrapped body began to rapidly dissipate like weathering stone.
It transformed into swirling yellow sand and black ashes, merging into the darkness of the tomb passage.
In just a few seconds, the suffocating rule fluctuations completely vanished.
Inside the Pyramid, silence returned.
Qin Yao clutched his chest, gasping violently, cold sweat already soaking his entire body.
He couldn't understand the deeper meaning of the cross-dimensional dialogue between Pharaoh and the great Evil Buddha.
But he could genuinely feel that he had been drawn into a taboo game beyond imagination!