73: Chapter 73 The Road to A-Rank

The pickup truck had been driving on Highway 17 for the entire night.

At daybreak, Chen Mo parked the car in an abandoned rest area.

Calling it a rest area was a stretch; in reality, only a few dilapidated houses and a rusted gas pump remained.

He turned off the engine, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes.

Lin Wei looked at him.

"Not going to sleep?"

"Thinking about some things."

Chen Mo opened his eyes and looked out the window.

The end of Highway 17 was still far away, but the sense of oppression was growing stronger and stronger.

Within his Time Perception, the point fifty kilometers away was clearly visible—large, bright, like a ball of burning flame.

The projection of the will of the ghost realm.

It was moving.

Its speed was not fast, but it was definitely heading in this direction.

Chen Mo opened the System interface.

【Current Shards: 620】

【Sequence Rank: Rank B Peak】

【Evolution Progress: 98%】

【Can initiate Rank A Trial】

【Trial Content: Survive for 72 hours in the Depths of the Strange Realm and find the core of the sequence】

【Trial Reward: Rank A Sequence 【Sequence Controller】 Certification】

【Initiate?】

Chen Mo's finger hovered over the button.

Rank A.

Sequence Controller.

Able to manipulate low-level sequences and influence the rules of the Ghost Realm.

This ability might be able to deal with the projection of the will of the ghost realm.

But the location of the trial was in the Depths of the Strange Realm.

That place, no one had ever been to.

At least, no one had ever returned alive.

Lin Wei looked at his expression.

"Do you want to go?"

Chen Mo nodded.

"When?"

Chen Mo thought for a moment.

"Now."

He clicked confirm.

Instantly, everything around him changed.

The rest area vanished, the pickup truck vanished, and Lin Wei vanished too.

Chen Mo stood in the middle of Chaos.

There was no sky, no ground, no direction.

Only endless gray, and countless floating points of light.

Those points of light flickered, some near, some far. They drifted past him, carrying various strange sounds—some sounded like crying, some like laughing, some like they were calling his name.

【Entering the Depths of the Strange Realm】

【Current Coordinates: Unknown】

【Rule Status: Extremely Chaotic】

【Survival Countdown: 71:59:59】

Chen Mo gripped his cleaver tightly.

He took a step forward.

There was no ground, but he could "walk".

Those points of light swept past him, some suddenly accelerating, some suddenly disappearing. His Time Perception was almost useless here—the rifts were too numerous and dense, making it impossible to distinguish which were real and which were illusions.

He activated the Eye of Sinister Sight.

In his golden vision, the essence of those points of light was clearly visible—

Not Ghost Shadows, not lines of rules, but...

Memories.

Countless people's memories.

Fragmented, messy, twisted memories.

Some belonged to the living, some to the dead, and some did not belong to humans at all.

Chen Mo passed through those points of light.

Those memories surged into his brain.

A man was screaming.

A woman was crying.

A child was calling for help.

An old man was praying.

Countless voices rang out simultaneously, making his head ache as if it were splitting.

He gritted his teeth and continued walking forward.

He did not know how long he had been walking.

Perhaps it was a few minutes, perhaps a few hours.

The points of light suddenly all vanished.

The surroundings fell into a dead silence.

Chen Mo stopped.

In his Eye of Sinister Sight, a huge silhouette was forming ahead.

It was a building.

A building.

The Orphanage building.

Exactly the same as in his memories.

Chen Mo stared at the building.

The door opened.

A person walked out from inside.

The Director.

Wearing a gray Zhongshan suit, hair graying, back slightly hunched.

He stood at the door, looking at Chen Mo.

"You're back?"

Chen Mo did not speak.

The Director took a step forward.

"Come in. It's dangerous outside."

Chen Mo did not move.

He was waiting.

In his 10-second Prediction, the Director's actions would change—he would suddenly turn into a Ghost Shadow and pounce.

But ten seconds passed, and nothing happened.

The Director was still standing there, with the same expression.

Chen Mo took a step forward.

Not walking toward the door, but bypassing the building.

Behind the building was another structure.

The Orphanage canteen.

Then the dormitory, the classroom, the infirmary.

The entire Orphanage appeared in this Chaos.

Chen Mo stood where he was, looking at those familiar buildings.

The Depths of the Strange Realm.

It is said that it reflects the deepest fears in everyone's heart.

But his fear was not the Orphanage.

What was it?

He closed his eyes and let the Eye of Sinister Sight run at full capacity.

His golden vision pierced through those buildings, seeing what was behind them—

A web woven from countless lines of rules.

In the center of that web was a point.

Very small, very bright.

The core of the sequence.

Chen Mo opened his eyes.

He walked forward.

Passing through the Orphanage, passing through those buildings, passing through those points of light.

That point got closer and closer.

Finally, he stood before it.

A fist-sized golden crystal, suspended in mid-air.

Inside, countless tiny points of light drifted, arranged in complex patterns.

The core of the sequence.

The source of all energy in the Ghost Realm.

Chen Mo reached out his hand.

Just as he was about to touch it, a voice rang out in his mind.

"Have you thought it through?"

Chen Mo's hand stopped.

The voice continued.

"Take it, and you will become the new rule. You will lose a part of yourself and become another kind of existence."

"If you don't take it, you will never reach Rank A."

"Make your choice."

Chen Mo was silent for a few seconds.

Then he spoke.

"Who are you?"

The voice laughed.

"I am the last person who took it."

The surrounding Chaos began to change, condensing into a blurry human shape.

An old man.

Wearing tattered clothes, face full of wrinkles, eyes weary.

He looked at Chen Mo, a complex emotion in his eyes.

"My name is Zhang Yuan," he said. "A Chosen One from thirty years ago."

Chen Mo was stunned.

Thirty years ago?

"How long has the Ghost Realm existed?"

"Longer than you can imagine," Zhang Yuan said. "When I came in, I thought it was just a new game. Later, I realized it was a loop."

He pointed at the core of the sequence.

"Everyone who takes it becomes a part of the rules. I am the same."

Chen Mo looked at him.

"Then what are you now?"

"Nothing at all," Zhang Yuan laughed. "Just a lingering memory. When the next person who takes it appears, I will vanish."

He took a step forward.

"Do you still want to take it?"

Chen Mo did not speak.

He looked at the core of the sequence, looking at the points of light inside.

Then he spoke.

"Take it."

Zhang Yuan looked at him, a complex emotion in his eyes.

"Why?"

"Because if I don't take it, I will die," Chen Mo said. "There is something waiting for me outside. If I don't take it, I can't beat it."

Zhang Yuan was silent for a few seconds.

Then he laughed.

The smile was complex—like relief, and also like a blessing.

"Go."

His figure began to fade.

"See for me what the world outside has become."

He vanished.

Chen Mo reached out and grasped the core of the sequence.

Instantly, countless pieces of information surged into his brain.

Those rules, those sequences, the weaknesses of the Ghost Shadows.

All unfolded before his eyes.

【Obtained: core of the sequence】

【Rank A Trial Completed】

【Promoting...】

Everything around him began to collapse.

Those points of light, those buildings, those memories.

All vanished.

Chen Mo opened his eyes.

He stood in the rest area, standing next to the pickup truck.

Lin Wei was beside him, looking at him.

"You're back?"

Chen Mo nodded.

He looked down at his hands.

Those golden lines were denser and deeper than before.

【Promotion Completed】

【Current Sequence: Sequence Controller (Rank A)】

【Core Ability: Sequence Manipulation (Can temporarily strip or grant others sequence abilities)】

【Pupil of the Sequence Evolution: Eye of Sinister Sight → Pupil of the Sequence (Complete Form)】

【Prediction extended to 10 seconds】

【New Ability: Rule Perception (Can predict rule changes)】

Chen Mo looked at those words.

Rank A.

Sequence Controller.

He had done it.

Lin Wei looked at him, a complex emotion in her eyes.

"You've changed."

Chen Mo did not speak.

He just looked into the distance.

That projection was still approaching.

But this time, he was not afraid.