Chapter 26 Breaking Through

Perhaps to steady his mind and provide a blessing, "Supervisor Zhou Shengtai" actually began to recite aloud, his voice resonant and carrying a trace of Noble Spirit:

"Before my bed, the moonlight gleams, I think it is frost upon the ground! The beacon fires burn through three months, a letter from home is worth ten thousand pieces of gold! Over a thousand mountains, birds fly no more; along ten thousand paths, human footprints are gone! When life goes well, one must enjoy oneself to the full, never let the golden goblet face the moon in vain!"

These lines of poetry were grand and majestic; heard individually, they were all immortal masterpieces, containing different types of Concept and power. But at this moment, jumbled together haphazardly and chanted in a rush, it seemed extremely abrupt, bizarre, and even... comical! It completely contradicted Supervisor Zhou Shengtai's usual style of quoting classics with rigorous gravity!

'Something's wrong!' Yun Bai's mind was jolted awake as if by a flash of lightning!

It was already strange enough for Supervisor Zhou Shengtai to appear here.

There was no way he would incoherently babble completely unrelated verses at such a critical juncture! This was by no means boosting morale; this was simply... delirium!

This was still an illusion! The illusion created by this toxic mist was actually so cunning!

There was actually a double illusion!

Without the slightest hesitation, Yun Bai's forward momentum ground to a sudden halt.

Spiritual energy surged beneath his feet, and he forced his body to retreat backward rapidly.

At the same time, his thoughts spun like lightning. The twenty-four Thunder Swords surrounding him instantly closed in, turning into a sizzling barrier of Thunder Swords that guarded him tightly!

At the exact instant he retreated—

*Screech!*

The Void Realm at his original position was suddenly torn open by a pale, bone-spur-covered claw! The claw was massive and hideous, carrying all-corroding poison and immense force as it swiped down viciously! Had Yun Bai's reaction not been lightning-fast, he would have been disemboweled by now!

The Thunder Sword barrier collided violently with the claw, erupting in blinding thunderlight and foul-smelling black gas!

"Roar—!"

An angry roar resounded, and the figure of "Supervisor Zhou Shengtai" in front of him distorted and deformed violently like ripples on water. The "Noble Spirit" surrounding him quickly faded, revealing its true form—it was indeed that most robust and cunning Fate-Fallen Demon Monster.

It split its massive maw, its pitch-black eye sockets locking tightly onto Yun Bai, filled with the fury of being exposed!

"Vile beast!" Cold sweat broke out all over Yun Bai. He felt a lingering fear in his heart, which quickly turned into burning rage.

Showing no mercy, he pointed his fingers like a sword, fully mobilizing his Dantian's Black Hole and his Divine Sense's White Hole!

"Five Thunders Dharma, Command!"

*Rumble!*

The nine Flying Swords shone with brilliant thunderlight and instantly merged into one, transforming into a massive thunder lightsword. With the momentum to rip apart all evil, it slashed down violently at the Demon Monster!

The Demon Monster tried to block with its bone claw, but the ultimate Yang thunder was its exact nemesis! The Thunder Sword sliced through like a hot knife through butter, instantly severing the bone claw, and then split its massive body down the middle, exploding it into scorched fragments that filled the air!

However, slaying a single Demon Monster did not improve the situation. Due to the violent energy fluctuations, the surrounding toxic mist actually became denser and more viscous, like a dark green swamp, continuously corroding Yun Bai's protective spiritual light. The glow dimmed rapidly, on the verge of collapsing entirely.

Yun Bai instinctively wanted to retreat toward the previous hall, but the moment he turned around, more roars of approaching Demon Monsters and the sound of claws tearing through the air echoed from the thick mist! The barrier talisman probably wouldn't even last three breaths!

He couldn't turn back!

Gritting his teeth, his gaze swept toward the passage ahead. The passage did not seem to be completely collapsed or blocked, and according to the map provided by Xiao Liu, that was the correct direction.

There was no other choice! Thunder light erupted around Yun Bai once more, and like an arrow released from a bowstring, he dashed into the deep, dark passage!

He sped along, leaving the roars of the Demon Monsters and the toxic mist slightly behind him. Only after he had run a certain distance did the surrounding toxic mist gradually thin out, revealing the original rugged rock walls of the passage.

He stopped, breathing heavily, and warily surveyed his surroundings. This seemed to be a fork in the road. Inlaid in the rock walls were some sort of glowing, deep-blue crystals that outlined the passage, and on the wall of a main passage ahead, a rune mark was carved.

Yun Bai's heart stirred as he quickly recalled the map of the Demon Race's secret chamber structure in his mind.

"This mark... is... a guiding rune leading to the 'Computing Core'?!" After recognizing it, he was initially pleasantly surprised.

But immediately after, a strong sense of strangeness and unease welled up in his heart.

It was too coincidental! That Demon Monster had deliberately lured him here, and then forced him into this passage? This feeling... didn't feel like escaping a desperate situation, but rather like... being intentionally driven here?

In other words, even without the map information received by Xiao Liu, he would likely have been lured here anyway?

Yun Bai even began to doubt the authenticity of the distress signal from the spaceship wreckage that Xiao Liu had received.

However, there was no turning back now.

Forcing down the doubts in his heart, he cautiously walked deeper into the passage. The labyrinthine passages were intricate and complex; without that rune's guidance, it would be extremely easy to get lost.

As he walked, extremely faint yet heartbreaking cries and calls for help drifted through the silent passage, as if struggling to reach him from far behind, through the thick rock walls and toxic mist:

"Save me... Yun Bai... save..."

"Captain... hold on!"

"Old Zhang... where are you..."

The voices were intermittent, filled with despair and pain.

Yun Bai's footsteps came to a sudden halt.

It was an illusion.

Reason held him back firmly.

But the voices seemed capable of stirring emotions, causing Yun Bai's heart to tremble.

[341 meters to the core. It is recommended to turn right to avoid the fault zone.]

A holographic map surfaced in Yun Bai's mind, on which the lines representing the mountain's structure were rapidly distorting.

"What are our chances?"

[Plan A-1 success rate: 82%]

"The success rate actually increased by ten percent compared to before?"

[110 meters to the core]

[80 meters to the core]

[50 meters to the core]

At this moment, the collapse of the mountain grew increasingly violent. Debris fell from above like a torrential rain, each piece carrying the breath of death.

Yet Yun Bai's situation became safer and safer. He discovered that as he drew closer to the core area, the stone walls became more stable, and falling rocks became sparser.

The "shape" of this hall transcended common sense.

The vast majority of the floor, walls, and even a portion of the dome were not flat, but instead presented an extremely smooth and perfect curved surface. This curved surface extended and connected seamlessly, forming a massive spherical inner shell!

It was as if the entire hall had been built and decorated later on (Acquired) inside a standard spherical cavity.

Even more shocking was what lay beneath his feet.

The Materials composing this spherical ground felt hard and cold to the touch, and their color was a deep dark silver-gray, by no means natural rock.

This spherical form, so dense it seemed entirely natural... the scene of him unleashing "Black Hole Evaporation," where the extreme gravitational field instantly collapsed and reshaped the edges of matter, flashed through his mind.

How incredibly similar!

This was by no means carved by human hands; it was more like a product forcibly "squeezed" into shape in an instant by some violent power of time and space!

His gaze finally landed on the very center of the hall.

There, a... coffin was quietly placed.