405: Chapter 405 Curiosity

A fire flickered to life, illuminating the enclosed space and Zhou Yan's face.

"*Cough, cough*... This damn place, why is it so suffocating?"

Zhou Yan waved his hand to disperse the dust and continued walking deeper inside.

When Zhou Yan first pushed open the main door, he had already noticed a problem.

The interference with Divine Sense here was extreme; both the five senses and Divine Sense were completely useless.

In this pitch-black environment, it was truly so dark that one couldn't see their own hand in front of their face.

Although he could see the terrain using the mini-map, the map was two-dimensional; if there were a pit, he would fall straight in, which would be a real disaster.

Deciding to give it a try, Zhou Yan had yuanwu xielü transform into a small torch, releasing a combination of Good Fire and Really Good Fire.

The originally narrow and eerie path finally lit up.

After confirming that this primitive method worked, Zhou Yan took one last look outside, took a deep breath, and squeezed inside.

The interior was both narrow and decaying, filled everywhere with dust and a musty smell, completely out of place with the rest of this Secret Realm.

Further in, the passage became even narrower, barely wide enough for one person to pass; combined with the surroundings, it felt quite oppressive.

"Damn it, why is it so long?"

"Don't tell me this leads to some Peach Blossom Spring; with my literary skills, I certainly couldn't write a 'Record of the Peach Blossom Spring'."

By his mental calculation, Zhou Yan had already advanced three hundred and thirty meters.

At this point, Zhou Yan was forced to turn sideways, holding the torch out in front.

"Luckily I specifically made a small-sized torch back then, so it's not in the way now. But if it's a dead end further ahead, that'll be trouble."

"Could this door be a trap?"

Looking at the path ahead—still pitch black and constantly narrowing—Zhou Yan thought to himself that it was fortunate he didn't have claustrophobia, or he'd be in a mess.

He took a few more steps; now the walls were pressing against his sides.

At this rate, Zhou Yan would be exactly stuck between the walls at around three hundred and eighty meters.

"If there's still no result soon, I really should head back."

Sensing his current situation, Zhou Yan finally cast his newly learned Cangming Dharma Seal, shrinking his body slightly and manifesting a water orb behind him.

Although Zhou Yan could become even smaller, or even turn into a slime to crawl through the cracks, he didn't do so.

If it really became a narrow crack later and he entered in that state, he might be instantly killed if he encountered a problem; if he then resurrected while stuck inside a wall, the consequences would be obvious.

Zhou Yan continued calculating in his head.

Three hundred and forty meters... three hundred and fifty... three hundred and sixty... three hundred and seventy... three hundred and seventy-two meters— "Holy crap?"

Just as Zhou Yan counted to three hundred and seventy-two meters, an indescribable sensation washed over him, like being soaked in a hot spring or massaged by a massage chair.

A tingling numbness accompanied by warmth enveloped his entire body. All the previous gloom and oppression vanished instantly; it felt so good that Zhou Yan couldn't help but close his eyes.

"Ah~"

Zhou Yan let out a sigh of comfort.

He then opened his eyes and saw a clear sky, felt the gentle sunlight, and the warm current of water cradling him from below.

This was the familiar style of this Secret Realm—that feeling of vibrant life and all things flourishing was right before his eyes.

Feeling the rustling sound of water beside him and the gentle breeze, Zhou Yan couldn't help but close his eyes again.

After a long while, Zhou Yan suddenly opened his eyes, stood up, and stretched comfortably.

Water slid slowly off his body, as if trying to make him stay.

Now Zhou Yan could see the place clearly.

He was in the middle of a waist-deep small pool. Beside him was a stone tablet covered in unintelligible characters. Ahead was a broad road, with ginkgo trees planted on both sides.

Zhou Yan stepped out of the pool, casually withdrawing the part of yuanwu xielü whose flame had gone out in the water, and also withdrew the portion of water his body had transformed into, returning his size to normal.

"This pool is indeed miraculous."

"The water only envelops rather than soaking in like normal water elements; it's not a hot spring yet it's so warm, and it can even easily extinguish Tier 4 flames."

Zhou Yan really wanted to take this pool with him, but the pleasantness it had just brought him made him unable to feel such greed.

"Forget it, I've already gained plenty; I don't need this too. If anyone else manages to come here in the future, I'll leave it for those who follow."

Zhou Yan withdrew his gaze and looked at the stone tablet beside him.

The style and script of this tablet were exactly the same as the one on the snowy mountain, though the size was vastly different.

The tablet in front of him was only about two meters high, not counting the base.

With his previous experience, Zhou Yan directly placed his hand on it and sent in his Divine Sense.

And so, Zhou Yan fell spectacularly asleep.

With a "plop," Zhou Yan fell back into the small pool.

Perhaps due to the pool's mystical properties, Zhou Yan wasn't seriously harmed; he was only dizzy for a while before waking up.

"Hiss— Ow, my head... is it still there?"

Zhou Yan clutched his head and sat up, grimacing.

Having realized the pool's practical function, Zhou Yan didn't bother getting up; he just leaned against the edge of the pool, slowly sorting out the situation.

Zhou Yan first checked his health bar.

"Good grief, just touching the tablet once wiped out eight hundred thousand of my HP."

"It's lucky it was me; if an ordinary Nascent Soul came here, let alone waking up instantly, they'd be lucky not to drop dead on the spot."

"If it were Bai Ling, one touch might have accidentally triggered a 'cleared' state for the Eastern Extreme Secret Realm."

"Ah~ ya."

Zhou Yan forced his body to shift slightly to make his sitting position more comfortable.

But even that small movement brought back the headache, making him let out a pained groan.

At the same time, the information in his mind finally seemed to finish decoding; a voice accompanied by subtitles echoed in Zhou Yan's head.

The voice was very ethereal, neither clearly male nor female, only feeling sacred.

"Sometimes, information is power."

"Those who are too curious naturally bear more."

"The information you have just obtained is a translation from ancient script; it carries immense Karma and a massive amount of data."

"I left these behind, firstly as a warning, and secondly as a filter."

"My name is Meng Zhang."

"Latecomer, if you receive this message, it proves that I am already dead."

"For you to know how to use this stone tablet, you must either have good luck or have already visited 'that place'."

"Whichever it is, that you could reach this point means you possess both luck and strength. I shall treat you with impartiality and grant you my recognition."

"Now, I shall give you a choice."

"Send your Divine Sense into the tablet again, and you will receive more information, but the damage you suffer will be more than five times what you just felt."

"If you refuse, you may continue forward."

"On the road ahead, there are some Opportunities I have left behind; you may take them and contemplate them well—it may lead to a great destiny."

"But if you choose to accept, you must be prepared to bear everything."

"Even if you possess the strength to bear the information, you may not necessarily have the ability to bear the Karma."

"However, if you can receive it all, the Opportunities will naturally be greater."

"Latecomer, consider carefully."

"Will you be like those who know nothing, moving forward to take your own share, or will you let your curiosity explore further, to obtain the share of those who bear the burdens of others?"

The information cut off abruptly, as if waiting for a response.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yan continued to lean by the water, rubbing his temples.

"Is this the true purpose Senior Yu Kou had for sending me here?"

"This is thinking a bit too highly of me."

The last time Zhou Yan felt something like this was with Cang Tian, but unlike Cang Tian's gradual approach, he had only felt a bit uncomfortable afterward.

This was a mental attack that could truly cause massive damage.

Logically, most who could reach here would be at the Late Nascent Soul Stage, or someone with Heaven-Defying luck like Long Tianxing.

Plus, with this small pool conveniently placed by the tablet, even if Bai Ling really touched this thing, as long as he fell in the right spot and didn't unluckily circle around to touch it from behind, he wouldn't die—he'd just feel terrible and need a long time to recover.

So, this Meng Zhang who set up the tablet was quite lenient.

Basically, anyone who could come here and activate the tablet could survive while being given a choice.

But this choice was also incredibly harsh.

"More than five times? So around six times then."

Zhou Yan calculated; if that touch evaporated eight hundred thousand HP, then continuing would mean over four million, maybe even five million damage.

He might not actually be able to withstand it; he'd probably have to wait until Wang Yao reached the Nascent Soul stage, or until Xuanyuan Qingyao came along.

He sensed his current state again.

His health bar was naturally recovering quickly, but his mental state was very unstable; it had only barely recovered thanks to the pool's buff, yet he still had a bit of a headache.

"Tsk."

Zhou Yan gritted his teeth and stood up again, then released his female body and Room Sun Rabbit.

Then he took a step out of the pool, but his body wobbled, and he fell face-first back in.

He had to give up on looking cool and used both hands and feet to steady himself, finally standing before the stone tablet once more.

"You little bitch of a tablet, you're not big, but you're pretty ruthless."

"I'm going to give it a try, so what?"

After his tough talk, Zhou Yan pressed his palm onto the tablet.

In an instant, Zhou Yan's body went limp, and he fell into the water again. The female body's eyes were bright, but at the same time, she also went limp and fell into the water.

As for Room Sun Rabbit, it only managed to cast one support skill before dissipating into starlight due to the lack of mana to maintain it.

At this moment, a man and a woman floated quietly in the small pool; if an outsider saw this, they might think some couple had committed suicide together.