25: Chapter 25 Nightmare of the Former Master, Laying Out a Plan

"That old man... what exactly was he..."

Lin Chuan's thoughts continued to churn.

The handprint on his chest made him increasingly uneasy.

He had a faint feeling that the old man's purpose was not simple.

The handprint left by the other party was like a timer; as it continued to expand, Lin Chuan felt himself getting closer and closer to the abyss.

"Forget it..."

"Thinking too much is useless."

Lin Chuan sighed inwardly, suppressing his stray thoughts.

He knew that the only thing he could do now was to continue evolving and raising his Terror Level!

Once he became an S-rank Taboo... or even an SSS-rank Taboo, he might be able to erase the handprint on his chest!

As long as he became terrifying enough, he could deal with even that old man calmly... Meanwhile...

Far away from Rebirth City, under the pitch-black night sky, a mangled head was streaking across the firmament like a meteor.

The head was none other than the remaining half of the Weeping Blood Head.

Under the suppression of the Mysterious Old Man's rules, although it had broken free and escaped, its own rules were nearly crushed... Its taboo sequence continued to drop, and its Terror Level was on the verge of becoming A-rank.

At this moment, the smile on its face had vanished, replaced by a hideous, twisted expression of agony.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!

After passing through a collapsed mountain range, it pounced directly toward a base city controlled by the New Federation.

Its speed was extreme, like a blood-colored meteor carrying a nauseating scent of blood, slamming hard into the most prosperous restaurant in the city center.

Boom!!

With a massive roar, the roof of the restaurant was instantly pierced through.

Debris flew and dust billowed.

Countless high-ranking New Federation officials, who were indulging in wine and pleasure within the restaurant, didn't even have time to scream before being directly melted by the blood-colored rules descending from the sky.

"Ah!!"

"Help! My face... my face is melting!!"

Outside the restaurant, pedestrians on the street were not spared either.

Although that mangled head's Terror Level had dropped to A-rank, it had once been an S-rank Taboo after all, and the pollution rules it emitted were still incredibly terrifying.

Within a radius of several hundred meters, all living people were painfully clawing at their own faces.

Their features began to twist and shift, eventually turning into hideous infant faces with gruesome expressions.

Some New Federation Ghost Controllers tried to contain it, but before they could even get close, they were instantly eroded by its rules.

"Presumptuous."

Just then, a calm and majestic voice came from the direction of the New Federation Headquarters.

Immediately following.

A golden pillar of light soared into the sky, instantly illuminating the entire night sky.

Within the pillar of light, a massive phantom of a golden Scale slowly emerged.

On one side of the Scale lay a heavy codex; the other side was empty, as if waiting for the weight of sin.

A terrifying aura of rules rippled out from the Scale, as if to make time stand still.

This Scale was actually an A-rank Abnormality!

"Under Order, all Chaos shall subside."

"In the name of 'Justice', I shall judge you!!"

The Guardian arrived, walking through the Void Realm with his hands behind his back.

He wore a spotless Daoist robe and his signature mask, looking holy and inviolable.

With a gentle wave of his hand.

The massive golden Scale slowly tilted.

"Guilty, and shall be punished."

The Guardian whispered softly.

Buzz!!

An invisible power of rules instantly descended.

The half-head that had been rampaging was slammed into the ground as if by a massive invisible hand.

It struggled frantically, letting out ear-piercing cries in an attempt to resist.

But under the rule suppression of the Scale, its current rule power was simply unable to compete.

"Oh!? This rule seems to transcend A-rank, yet it is incomplete."

"Interesting, I didn't expect to encounter a crippled S-rank Taboo!"

The Guardian slowly landed amidst the ruins.

He ignored the mutated people wailing in pain around him, his gaze fixed intently on the suppressed, mangled head.

The eyes behind the mask flickered with a light of extreme fanaticism and greed.

"A taboo... a perfect creation..."

"Transcending the boundary between life and death..."

He reached out and carefully cradled the head that was still dripping blood.

The bloodstains from the head stained his hands, but he didn't care at all, even taking an intoxicated deep breath of the nauseating bloody scent.

"Chief! Here... so many people here have been polluted!"

At that moment, a team of fully armed Federation soldiers arrived at the scene.

Looking at the civilians who had turned into bizarre existences, the soldiers' eyes were full of horror.

"It matters not,"

the Guardian said indifferently, his voice still gentle and refined.

"They are not dead; they have simply changed their mode of existence."

He turned around and looked at the civilians who were eroded and polluted, struggling in pain, a hint of compassion for humanity showing in his eyes.

"Take them all away."

"Send them to the Laboratory."

"For the continuation of human civilization, to unlock the ultimate mysteries of life..."

The Guardian spoke euphemistically, but everyone present knew that once they entered the Laboratory, the fate of these civilians would be thousands of times more miserable than being eroded or obliterated!

"Yes! Chief!"

Though the soldiers felt reluctant, under the Guardian's seductive and unquestionable voice, they executed the order without hesitation.

Truck after truck arrived, and those wailing mutated civilians were all stuffed inside.

The Guardian watched this scene and nodded with satisfaction.

Afterward.

Cradling the taboo head, he turned and walked toward the Laboratory.

"With this..."

"I might be able to touch upon that Domain."

"It seems I am one step closer to becoming a True God..."

"Human civilization will once again welcome glory because of my existence!!"

...Half a month passed in the blink of an eye after the Weeping Blood Head incident ended.

In Lin Chuan's perception, the entire world was becoming increasingly bizarre.

It was as if the Void Realm was being distorted by some kind of power.

The once azure sky was now always shrouded in a faint grey haze.

Upon the earth, abnormalities ran rampant.

The lights of human civilization flickered precariously in the darkness.

Inside the Rebirth Temple.

Lin Chuan sat upon the Lotus Pedestal, surrounded by dark red Buddhist light.

Over the past half-month, as the Believers' awe and fear of the "Buddha of Rebirth" deepened daily, his harvest had been plentiful.

On his panel, he had accumulated another thirty thousand fear value, three hundred thousand Power Of Will, and two million evolution points!

"It's still not enough..."

Lin Chuan glanced at the data on the panel, feeling unsatisfied.

To evolve to S-Rank First Order, he needed 30 million evolution points!

As his own Terror Level continued to rise, evolution was becoming increasingly difficult.

During this time, besides harvesting fear value and Power Of Will, Lin Chuan was also fully exploring the surroundings of Rebirth City.

He not only sent out teams of Ghost Controllers from the city but also unhesitatingly consumed thirty thousand fear value to exchange for another Blood Crow Servant.

Under Lin Chuan's mental Control, the Blood Crow Servant flapped its wings without pause, passing through mountains and rivers... Through the blood crow's vision, the information Lin Chuan probed and the scenes he saw... grew more and more numerous.

In the dark sky north of Rebirth City.

A three-hundred-meter-long void rift spanned the firmament.

Behind the rift was an unknown world of churning Chaos.

Vaguely, one could see massive tentacles rising and falling in the Chaos, emitting a suffocatingly terrifying aura.

A thousand miles to the south, at the edge of Qinglong Prefecture.

An ancient wooden building appeared out of thin air.

The building was pitch black and hung with white lanterns.

In front of a window on the second floor stood a bride in a bright red wedding dress.

Though her face was unclear, the blood-red prompt that popped up on the panel gave even Lin Chuan a heart tremor.

[Warning! Detected A-rank Abnormality — Red Fiend Bride!]

Lin Chuan withdrew his gaze and controlled the blood crow to continue flying east.

Soon, the New Federation Base City came into view.

The entire New Federation Base City was heavily guarded, with Ghost Controllers patrolling almost every street.

Lin Chuan did not rashly go deep, only circling over the city once.

Suddenly.

His gaze locked onto a corner of a slum.

There, a ragged, dirt-faced youth was being stepped on by several Ghost Controllers wearing New Federation uniforms.

"Brat! You dare steal my stuff?!"

"Beat him! Beat him to death!!"

The Ghost Controllers cursed while punching and kicking the youth.

The youth curled up on the ground, tightly protecting half a piece of dirty bread in his arms.

He didn't make a sound, but his eyes held a wolf-like ferocity.

"Hmm?"

Lin Chuan's gaze lingered on the youth for a moment.

He was surprised to find that although this youth was an ordinary person without any abnormalities in his body,

there was a trace of extremely special rule power lingering around him.

Though that rule power was very weak, it was still sensed by Lin Chuan.

"Interesting."

"This might be a good chess piece."

Lin Chuan felt that this youth might have utility value!

With that thought, he activated his rule power, using the blood crow as a medium to directly envelop the youth.

"Young man, do you crave power?"

Lin Chuan used a rule illusion to release a magnetic, gentle voice.

The youth, who was being beaten, suddenly stiffened.

He thought he was having auditory hallucinations.

"Do you want to trample those who humiliate you under your feet?"

"Do you want to Control your own destiny?"

Lin Chuan continued to speak, using the illusion to influence the youth's mind.

"I do..."

The youth's consciousness gradually became blurred, and he immediately roared in his heart.

"Then have faith in me."

"I am... the Buddha of Rebirth."

As Lin Chuan's voice fell, a warm current instantly surged through the youth's entire body.

[Consumed 30 evolution points, bestowed upon Believer Chen Feng — Trait: [Strong and Robust]!]

Bang!

The originally weak and emaciated youth suddenly erupted with an astonishing power.

He suddenly flipped up and smashed a fist into a Ghost Controller's face.

That Ghost Controller was caught off guard and was actually sent flying, losing several teeth.

"Wha... what?!"

The other Ghost Controllers were all stunned.

Before they could react.

A cloud of black smoke suddenly billowed out from the nearby sewer.

It was a C-Class Abomination — [Ghostly Smoke]!

It was originally an abnormality wandering in the wild, but now it seemed to have received some kind of summons and charged straight at the youth.

"Ah!!"

The youth let out a painful scream.

But under Lin Chuan's secret Control, the Ghostly Smoke did not devour him; instead, it fused perfectly with him.

A few seconds later.

The youth stood up again.

Faint black smoke lingered around his body, and his eyes were as black as ink.

"From today on... I, Chen Feng... am the Buddha of Rebirth's... Believer..."

The youth's voice was intermittent, and smoke kept rising from his throat.

Immediately, the several New Federation Ghost Controllers were directly enveloped by the smoke, their bodies then festering and turning into a pile of rotten meat.

The E-Class Anomalies inside them were directly devoured and fused by the Ghostly Smoke... becoming Puzzle Pieces.

Watching this scene, Lin Chuan nodded with satisfaction.

A nail had been planted inside the New Federation.

Having done all this.

Lin Chuan controlled the blood crow to leave the New Federation Base City and continue exploring the surroundings.

His vision continued to expand, sweeping across the entire Yanmang Province.

In today's Yanmang Province, besides the New Federation, there were more than thirty large and small forces entrenched.

The civilization and order of the past had long since vanished.

In a Province that once had hundreds of millions of people, not even one in ten survivors remained.

Many villages and towns... had turned into terrifying Forbidden Grounds.

"Hmm?"

Just as Lin Chuan was controlling the Blood Crow Servant to prepare for the return flight, his gaze was suddenly attracted by a building located deep in the wilderness.

It was an ancient Gothic church.

Around the church, the Void Realm was twisted and deformed, and the surroundings were filled with sharp, monotonous, weird sounds similar to nails scratching glass.

And on the square in front of the church.

Thousands of survivors were kneeling on the ground, bowing in worship to a massive statue.

That statue... was actually an indescribable thing with countless tentacles, resembling a snail!

"nightmare old master... nightmare old master..."

Fanatical prayers echoed across the wilderness.

The moment Lin Chuan glanced at the statue, a blood-red warning popped up on the panel deep in his consciousness.

[Warning! Detected the medium statue of SSS-Rank Third Order taboo — [nightmare old master]!]

[taboo Sequence: 97!]

[Description: The Ruler of Rules from the Nightmare Void Realm, it is attempting to descend into this world through the medium!]

"SSS-rank?!"

Lin Chuan was greatly shocked in his heart.

One must know that the Weeping Blood Head was only S-Rank First Order.

And right at that moment.

The statue seemed to sense the Peeping.

Its featureless face suddenly squirmed, turning toward the Blood Crow Servant.

Buzz!!

An invisible mental wave instantly crossed the distance of thousands of miles, following the consciousness connection between the blood crow and Lin Chuan, and fiercely attacked Lin Chuan's main body.

"Crack!!"

Inside the Rebirth Temple.

Lin Chuan's stone Buddha body shook violently, and the Buddha body that had just healed not long ago cracked open once more.

"Seeking death!"

Lin Chuan was enraged.

Although he was wary of an SSS-rank Taboo, this was after all just a medium statue, not the main body.

"Get lost!!"

Lin Chuan mobilized his rule power, and the dark red Buddhist light erupted suddenly, violently colliding with the invading rule power.

Boom!!!

An invisible collision of rules exploded.

Inside Rebirth City.

All the Believers felt an inexplicable heart tremor, as if heaven and earth were about to collapse.

"What's going on?"

"Could it be that the Buddha is angry?!"

Countless people knelt on the ground, trembling in fear.

[Obtained fear value from Believers +100,000!]

[Obtained Power Of Will +100,000!]

Lin Chuan ignored the information on the panel and further expanded his Second-Layer Ghost Domain!

Finally, with the support of the Second-Layer Ghost Domain, he finally dispelled the rule power coming from the statue of the 'nightmare old master'!

"Just a statue, and its rule power can rival an S-Rank First Order taboo..."

"If that thing's main body were to descend..."

Lin Chuan mobilized his 360-degree perspective, looking into the distance with a hint of gravity in his heart.