67: Chapter 67 The Mysterious True Form in the Mirror

At the peak of the soul suppressing pagoda, the faint blue eyeball composed of pure soul power shed dark red tears of blood. Against the pitch-black backdrop of the pagoda's body, they appeared exceptionally eye-piercing and eerie.

The blood-tears did not drip. Instead, as if possessed of a life of their own, they meandered across the spire, outlining several twisted, ominous symbols of ancient nether script. An indescribable aura—a mixture of ultimate sorrow, warning, and omens of destruction—diffused as the symbols formed, enveloping the entire Fortress.

The slight boost in morale and sense of security that had just arisen from the completion of the soul suppressing pagoda was instantly shattered by this sudden anomaly! On the square, whether it was the Yin Soldiers or the survivors, everyone felt a throb and a chill originating from the depths of their souls, as if they were being watched by some incomprehensible, massive horror, making even breathing difficult.

Su Qingyu's face turned pale as she looked up at the eyeball shedding blood-tears, her heart feeling as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand. Zhang Hao's legs trembled even more, and he almost collapsed to the ground, muttering unconsciously, "It's over... it's over... this pagoda... it's crying... what did it see?"

Even the phantom image of bai qi, who had been standing by Lin Chen's side as if indifferent to everything, slightly shifted his blood-colored eyes toward the symbols outlined by the blood-tears at the top of the pagoda. The condensed killing intent surrounding him seemed to fluctuate for a moment.

Lin Chen floated in mid-air, his brow furrowed as he stared at the nether script symbols formed by the blood-tears. The system interface automatically popped up with a translation and analysis:

【Ultimate Warning: Detected a significant acceleration in the awakening process of the "Lord of the Ultimate End"!】

【Target Energy Level Assessment: Far exceeds the current world's carrying capacity!】

【Estimated Full Awakening Time: 7 natural days (Original estimate: 90 natural days).】

【Threat Level: World-Ending (Highest)】

【Associated Information Fragments: "Source of the Ancient Netherworld's Shattering", "The Rule Resetter", "Symbol of the End of All Things"...】

【Suggestion: Immediately abandon this plane and initiate the highest authority flight protocol... (Protocol missing)】

"Lord of the Ultimate End..." Lin Chen whispered the name, his gaze becoming incredibly sharp. Was this the ultimate horror that the soul suppressing pagoda would go so far as to shed blood-tears to warn him about? The awakening time had been shortened from ninety days to seven!

He closed the system prompts. His face showed none of the fear or panic an ordinary person would display when facing an extinction-level disaster; there was only an extreme calmness and... a hint of anger at being provoked.

"So noisy," he said coldly to the eyeball of the soul suppressing pagoda that was still shedding blood-tears. "What are you crying for? The sky hasn't fallen yet."

His voice wasn't loud, yet it possessed a strange penetrating power that broke through the suffocating atmosphere of panic.

The panicked crowd below couldn't help but quiet down, and countless gazes focused on him.

Lin Chen slowly descended onto the command platform, his gaze sweeping over the terrified faces below, finally resting on Su Qingyu and Zhang Hao.

"What's everyone panicking for?" His tone was flat, yet it carried an unquestionable power. "It's just a big fellow who's confused from sleeping and wants to wake up early."

A big fellow? Confused from sleeping? Zhang Hao's mouth twitched, and he almost thought he had misheard. That was a world-ending existence that made the soul suppressing pagoda shed blood-tears! In the Master's mouth, how did it sound like a bratty neighbor kid who refused to get out of bed?

Su Qingyu also forced herself to calm down. She knew Lin Chen must have a plan.

"Su Qingyu." Lin Chen called her name.

"Present!" Su Qingyu immediately straightened her back.

"Activate the Fortress's highest state of combat readiness. Run all defensive runes at maximum power and prioritize energy reserves for the defense systems. Organize personnel to reinforce all potentially weak nodes."

"Yes!" Su Qingyu took the order and immediately turned around, beginning to issue commands with vigor and speed. Having clear goals and instructions, she quickly shook off her previous panic and regained her efficiency.

"Zhang Hao."

"Mas... Master!" Zhang Hao scrambled over.

"Take your people and cooperate with the Yin Soldier patrols to completely clear out all Bizarre Monsters and anomaly points within fifty li of the Fortress! I don't want flies buzzing around when it's time to eat."

"Understood! I guarantee not even a ghost mosquito will be left!" Zhang Hao responded loudly. Although his legs were still a bit weak, Lin Chen's composure undoubtedly gave him immense courage.

As Lin Chen issued one clear, calm command after another, the entire Fortress began to operate efficiently like a precision war machine. Though panic still existed, it was forcibly suppressed and transformed into the tension and order of a last-ditch battle.

Lin Chen then opened the system interface again, pulling up the resource list and building menu.

The nether talisman balance had plummeted due to the construction of the soul suppressing pagoda, but there was still a significant surplus from the previous battlefield cleanup and resource recovery. Combined with the daily nether talisman production of the Fortress itself (from Yin Soldier patrol kills, resource point collection, etc.), there were still over two million.

He looked at the glaring "World-Ending" threat assessment, his gaze cold.

"Seven days... is enough."

He directly selected the upgrade option for the Yin Soldier Camp.

【Do you wish to consume 1,000,000 nether talismans to upgrade the "Yin Soldier Camp" to the "Ghost General Temple"?】

【After upgrading, higher-level Ghost General summoning permissions will be unlocked, Yin Soldier training and recruitment efficiency will increase by 500%, and Yin Soldier base attributes will increase by 100%.】

"Confirm upgrade!"

One million nether talismans vanished.

In a corner of the Fortress, the originally gloomy barracks area erupted with a soaring ghostly light. The phantom image of a more magnificent temple, exuding an aura of ancient conquest, slowly condensed and took shape!

Immediately following that, he began a massive troop expansion!

【Consume 500,000 nether talismans to recruit 5,000 Yin Soldiers!】

【Consume 300,000 nether talismans to enhance existing Yin Soldier equipment!】

【Consume 200,000 nether talismans to construct 20 "Bone-Eroding Arrow Towers" as subsidiary defensive structures!】

With the massive investment of resources, the entire Fortress underwent earth-shattering changes visible to the naked eye! Squads of Yin Soldiers with more refined equipment and more vigorous soul fires marched out from the newly built Ghost General Temple, exuding an aura several times stronger than before. Ferocious, auto-targeting arrow towers rose from the ground at key nodes along the city walls!

In a short period, the Fortress's military power had nearly quadrupled! The nether talisman balance also shrank rapidly like water from an open sluice gate, soon hitting bottom.

Watching this troop expansion speed that could be called a miracle, Zhang Hao's mouth almost split to his ears. His previous fear was replaced by a fanatical excitement: "Master! With this kind of lineup, what do we have to be afraid of?"

Su Qingyu felt much more at ease seeing all this during her busy intervals. Although she didn't know if it would be enough to face the "Lord of the Ultimate End," at least they now possessed the power to resist.

Lin Chen looked at the refreshed, armed-to-the-teeth Fortress, but there was no joy on his face. He knew this wasn't enough. When facing an existence of that level, numbers sometimes had little meaning.

He clicked on an extremely special contact in the system address book that was flashing with dark golden light—labeled as: 【Greedy Ghost (Intelligence Merchant)】.

He sent a message:

"Give me a price for detailed intelligence on the 'Lord of the Ultimate End,' especially its weaknesses."

The reply was almost instantaneous.

【Greedy Ghost: Tsk tsk, starting with such an ultimate topic right away? Your appetite is getting bigger and bigger, customer.】

【The relevant intelligence involves the highest level of rule secrets. The price... I'm afraid you can't afford it.】

Lin Chen directly sent a screenshot of his nether talisman balance—although it was nearly exhausted from the troop expansion, the nine-digit number representing his "Credit Limit" on the system interface shone brightly.

【(Three seconds of silence)】

【Greedy Ghost: ...It seems I have been rude.】

【The intelligence can be sold to you.】

【Price: One billion nether talismans. Or... an equivalent collateral.】

One billion!

Even though Lin Chen was mentally prepared, he was still startled by this astronomical figure. This Greedy Ghost truly lived up to its name!

He glanced at his nearly empty nether talisman balance and that massive credit limit, his eyes flickering.

"Deal. But I need to inspect the goods first."

【Greedy Ghost: I know the rules. Here's a sample.】

An encrypted stream of information entered Lin Chen's mind, consisting of just one short sentence:

【The "Lord of the Ultimate End" is not a complete entity; its power core is divided into three, and all three must be destroyed simultaneously to truly kill it. The positions of the three cores are in dynamic change, requiring a special method to track... (Information truncated)】

The information ended there, but Lin Chen's eyes suddenly lit up!

The core is divided into three! Must be destroyed simultaneously!

That was the key!