152: Chapter 152 Even as a chess piece, one must still outmaneuver fate.
And at the moment that Ancient Well's phantom appeared, deep within Lin Chuan's consciousness, lines of shocking blood-red characters frantically refreshed on the panel:
[Warning! Extremely dangerous target detected!]
[Target Name: Heart Spring Taboo (Mutation of Heart Spring Ghost)!]
[Serial Number: 28!]
[Terror Level: SSS-Rank eighth tier · Mid-tier Dominator!]
[Description: Once a well of resentment in Qingquan Village, it has now grown into a terrifying Dominator capable of shaking dimensions! It is a collection of resentment, the entrance to the abyss, and more importantly, a sharp blade in the hands of that mysterious existence...!]
SSS-Rank eighth tier!
Mid-tier Dominator!
Serial Number 28!
Looking at these suffocating prompts, even Lin Chuan, an SSS-Rank Old Master, couldn't help but feel a chill all over his body.
The Mysterious Old Man's methods were truly terrifying!!
The Terror Level of the Heart Spring Ghost was only B-rank back then!
How long has it been? It has actually been raised to SSS-Rank eighth tier!
While Lin Chuan was deep in thought, the Ghost Hair gushing out of that Ancient Well was visibly increasing!
Soon, the dense Ghost Hair turned into a black ocean that blotted out the sky, completely swallowing the torrent of rules released by that oil lamp...
Zizizi!!!
Two completely different terrifying rules collided violently in the Void Realm, eroding each other.
The flame in that oil lamp began to flicker violently, and a hint of solemnity and anger appeared on that indescribable face.
"You... want to stop me?"
A thought filled with majesty and Chaos exploded directly in the old man's mind across infinite dimensions.
"Rules are rules."
The old man was expressionless. He clearly didn't open his mouth, but Lin Chuan faintly heard fragments of obscure whispers.
"The dream has not awakened, the door has not opened."
"You... have crossed the line."
Accompanied by the old man's whispers.
The sky-covering Ghost Hair suddenly tightened, like countless black giant pythons, tightly entangling the oil lamp.
Then, the old man heavily tapped his walking stick into the Void Realm.
Clang!!!
An invisible ripple spread out.
The huge crack spanning the sky actually began to heal rapidly under the impact of this ripple!
"Good! Very good!"
"I shall remember you..."
"I will personally descend to this world..."
"You, too, shall pay the price!!!"
That face let out a final roar and was then forcibly squeezed out of the real world along with the oil lamp.
Soon, the Void Realm crack completely healed.
The sky returned to its former tranquility.
The terrifying pressure weighing on the hearts of all living beings also dissipated.
Lin Chuan breathed a sigh of relief.
The crisis... was temporarily averted.
But his mood did not lighten because of this; instead, it became increasingly heavy.
Because he discovered.
That blood-colored handprint on his chest was becoming more vivid, and its coverage area was slowly expanding.
It was like a blooming blood-colored flower, eerie and fatal.
"This thing..."
Lin Chuan looked at the handprint, a strong sense of unease rising in his heart.
Just then.
The Mysterious Old Man slowly turned around.
He didn't even glance at Lin Chuan, as if saving him just now was merely incidental.
He only took a deep look in the direction of the Kunlun Ruins, a complex expression flashing in his eyes.
Then, carrying the now-calm Ancient Well, he walked step by step into the depths of the Void Realm.
With every step, his figure faded a bit.
Until finally, he disappeared completely.
Only a faint sigh remained, echoing in the wind.
"Time... is running out."
Looking in the direction where the old man vanished, Lin Chuan's heart was filled with confusion and oppression.
Time is running out?
What does it refer to?
The dream awakening?
Or... something else?
Lin Chuan didn't know.
But he had a strong intuition.
He felt as if he were being used as a pawn.
Currently, he was like being pulled by an invisible thread, walking step by step toward an unknown abyss that might be a hundred times more terrifying than the crisis just now!!
While Lin Chuan was deep in thought.
With the end of that world-shaking event just now.
The entire world fell into a brief dead silence once again.
Whether it was the newly awakened Old Masters or the various forces hidden in the shadows, they were all completely deterred by the scenes just now.
No one dared to act rashly at this time.
But Lin Chuan knew.
This was just the calm before the storm.
The real terrifying turmoil was probably just beginning!
"Hear my decree!"
Lin Chuan's voice once again echoed over the Land of Rebirth on the Other Shore.
"Continue the southern advance! Convert the living beings of the Peacock Holy Nation!!"
Lin Chuan thought no more.
No matter what the future held, the most important task at hand was to continue raising his Terror Level!
Rumble!!!
Receiving Lin Chuan's decree, Zhao Linfeng and the others continued their grand southern advance!
Lin Chuan did not personally participate in all this.
He sat in the Rebirth Temple, only sending out the newly converted [Ten-Faced Vajra Protector].
At the same time, he projected a strand of will onto the [Old Master of Death Plague Clone]!!
Lin Chuan planned to build a Second Buddhist Kingdom on the mist-shrouded West Continent!
Only by having enough Believers and a large enough Power Of Will could he stand firm in the coming great changes!
...Meanwhile.
Yanlong Empire, General Base City!
Inside the highest-level top-secret conference room.
Xia Xuanyuan, Dr. Liu, Daoist Tianji, and several other pillar figures of Bureau 749 were sitting around a round table.
The atmosphere on site was suffocatingly oppressive.
"The scene just now... you all saw it, right?"
Xia Xuanyuan spoke in a deep voice.
Everyone nodded silently.
Despite the vast distance, that terrifying fluctuation capable of destroying the world still made their hearts race.
"That old man... who exactly is he?"
Dr. Liu pushed his glasses, his eyes full of doubt and wariness.
"To be able to easily force back an existence of that level..."
"Could he be... a true god!?"
"A god? Where are there any gods in this world..."
Daoist Tianji shook his head, the tortoise shell in his hand already turned to powder.
"I tried to calculate his origin just now..."
"But before I could even start, I suffered a backlash."
He gave a bitter smile, a trace of blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth.
"The information about that old man... is like Chaos, unknowable and unpredictable!"
Hearing this, everyone's expressions became even more solemn.
"No matter who he is."
Xia Xuanyuan took a deep breath, a hint of determination flashing in his eyes.
"At least for now, he has no ill will toward our Yanlong Empire.
"The current priority is to speed up the progress of the 'Deification Project'!"
He looked at Dr. Liu.
"How is Experimental Subject No. 2... doing?"
A hint of fanaticism flashed in Dr. Liu's eyes.
"Everything is going smoothly!"
"If nothing goes wrong... it can be released from the chamber in three days!"
"Good!"
Xia Xuanyuan slammed the table.
"At all costs, we must ensure the success of No. 2!"
"As long as we have it..."
"Our Yanlong Empire will have true confidence!"
...Time passed.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
The Ghost Controller and Taboo Master teams of the Land of Rebirth on the Other Shore had already captured one-third of the Peacock Holy Nation's territory.
In the West Continent, the "Rebirth Cult" established by Lin Chuan's control of the [Old Master of Death Plague Clone] was expanding rapidly.
Some taboos, ghosts, and a few survivors of the West Continent... were all gathered under Lin Chuan's command, becoming his Fanatic Believers!