New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 109 [Shadow Dream Hole]

Driven by curiosity, the Tiger Demon hid in the shadows and chose a small road with few pedestrians. He carefully approached the densely populated void area of the "Dream Hole", wanting to get closer to find out what was going on.

At this moment, it was surprised to discover that the "dream holes" in the air had a mysterious attraction to the tiger demon in the shadows. Wave after wave of calls came from nowhere, urging it to quickly open a "dream hole" in the shadows as well.

It was as if completing this action itself represented a kind of sublimation, a step that all living beings who pursued power and longed to become stronger must go through.

After understanding this information, the Tiger Demon became even more suspicious and ordered, "Fellow Daoist Yu Jingzi, quickly activate [Mind Monitoring Mode]. Observe my mental state carefully. What if I'm unknowingly bewitched and choose to open that damned 'Dream Hole' in the shadow layer? You must stop me in time!"

The snake's tail suddenly leaped over to the tiger's head and nodded in response, "Alright, leave it to me! Give me the permissions, and I'll edit the Soul Firewall and add a new command. But if you're in your right mind and insist on opening the Dream Hole, should I stop you or not?"

The Tiger Demon thought for a moment and said, "If I activate it, it will be a reminder and a final confirmation."

"Okay." Snake Tail thought for a moment and then said, "If you're truly bewitched, then my warning is meaningless."

If the Tiger Demon wanted to break through the [Shadow Dimension] with his strength before entering the 'Downtown', the difficulty level would be 10, and it is estimated that all the blue bars would be used up.

At this moment, amidst waves of faint calls, the difficulty of sensing the dream hole and following this instinctive impulse to open it seemed to have been reduced to 6. It was also unclear whether this was real or an illusion after being hit by an illusion.

"Weird, really weird! Look at my mental state, is there anything wrong?"

Snake Tail: "The data looks normal. And your [Deformed Spiritual Root] has become unusually active at this time, which is indeed a bit unusual."

...

Just as the Tiger Demon was looking confused and looking up at the sky every three steps, one "Dream Hole" after another was frantically sucking in the black smoke rising from the ground.

The closer it got, the stronger the attraction became, and the more wary it became, unwilling to get any closer. But if it moved away from the Dream Holes, it felt unwilling to do so, believing these 'Dream Holes' must be the core of the underground insect city, hiding a great secret.

"Boss, I think those semicircular buildings look like incinerators. Look over there, there's a convoy transporting something in that direction. It's bugs!"

Reminded by the snake's tail, the tiger demon looked into the distance and found that teams of underground residents were pulling baskets of contaminated insects on wooden carts and heading towards the semicircular building that was spewing thick, polluted black smoke.

Unlike the various insect goods it had seen at the Midtown market, these insect corpses had serious signs of contamination, similar to the wild beetles that were attracted after he used illumination magic to detonate the pollution when he first arrived.

According to Xiaohaijie, these insects are worthless pollutants, and when they gather in large numbers, they can form small floods. Killing them is laborious, disposing of them is troublesome, and they are useless. If left untreated, they will rot and pollute otherwise clean areas.

Now, these polluted garbage are collected in batches and transported to the lower area. They should be sent to the semicircular building for incineration. A large amount of polluted black smoke is discharged into the "Dream Hole", indirectly cleaning up the pollution in the underground world and purifying the environment of the [Insect City] ecosystem.

But Yuan Zhu felt that it wasn't that simple. There must be some secret unknown to ordinary residents. And that 'Dream Hole' was definitely not just a sewage channel.

It's clearly a special product of the 'Zerg System', so why is it so attractive to me that it even makes [Shadow Tiger Demon] want to 'open a hole'? I have nothing to do with Zerg in any way.

"Follow!"

The tiger demon moved through the shadows, following behind the civilian delivery team, hoping to sneak into the semicircular building to take a peek. As a result, when it passed a sentry post, it felt uneasy and stopped to go around.

Invisible waves, one after another, swept across the streets outside the hidden "shadow layer." After confirming that there were no abnormalities, these waves gradually dissipated.

The tiger demon breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and chose to move away, waiting for an opportunity to choose a new route to avoid the sentries.

Just as it continued to creep, before it had even reached a distance of 100 meters, invisible strands of Qi suddenly descended from the sky, landing precisely in multiple locations around the shadow layer. Like casting a net to catch fish, they encircled the Tiger Demon in a wider area.

Immediately, more and more Qi threads descended, interweaving with each other in the air, on the ground, and in the underground soil, quickly forming a barrier similar to a field.

A series of insect-shaped runes similar to talismans flickered at the locations where the Qi threads intertwined, and actually formed an effect similar to a magic circle, which really fixed the tiger demon in the shadow layer in place.

If it forced its way through, it would inevitably trigger these "Qi Silk" magic arrays, just like an insect disturbing a spider web, inevitably revealing its whereabouts. If it continued to play dead and wait, the Tiger Demon felt that it could not pretend anymore... Judging from the opponent's posture, it was truly sensing and discovering itself, not just a false bluff.

"[Thousand Threads Forming a Domain. True Qi Barrier]! My perception was correct. There really is something hidden here. Why don't you get out?!"

A slender figure descended from the sky, landing in front of the shadows, his eyes fixed on the deserted street. "Don't hide! I've got you. I've been tracking you all the way and figured out your movements. You're hiding quite well, leaving no trace of your presence. Are you a spy from [Cricket City] or [Earth Dragon City]?"

Now that it had been discovered, the Tiger Demon stopped feigning death and pretending to be nothing. It still had no intention of escaping the shadow layer. Instead, it continuously accumulated shadow power while releasing more shadow perception to envelop the True Qi Barrier that locked onto it, hoping to test its strength.

Then, a large number of wriggling shadows, under the gaze of the other party, blatantly spread out, turning into one pitch-black snake after another, crashing into the tough "Thousand Silk Field". Not only did they fail to break this barrier, but their heads were shot to pieces by the sharp Qi threads.

"Humph! Pointless struggle."

The man was also surprised by the shadow emerging from the ground. In his past combat career, he had seen many warriors who manipulated 'Yin attribute true Qi and shadow true Qi', and he had also encountered spies who were proficient in earth escape techniques, but he had never seen such a strange attack method.

There wasn't even a trace of True Qi in these revived shadows? Even with his mind, he couldn't locate the spy hiding beneath the ground. He could only vaguely sense the intruder's location. He had to use the Thousand Silk Domain to block it, but he couldn't force it out.

After a series of trials, the Tiger Demon discovered that this 'True Qi Barrier' was incredibly strong, surpassing even the 'Sanctuary Force Field Barrier' at full power in human form. Without revealing his true form and attacking with all his might, he truly couldn't escape.

Just as the Tiger Demon was hesitating about whether to start a fight, the Snake Tail suddenly warned: "Oh no, this guy is going to call for help."

The Tiger Demon also discovered that this insect cultivator had tried and explored several times, with countless "Qi threads" penetrating back into the liquid shadow. He spread, searched, and salvaged in vain within the shadow, but he could never reach the Tiger Demon who was wrapped in the "shadow layer".

Then he suddenly burst out with a unique wave of true energy, trying to call on his friends and others to force out the invaders.

Yuan Zhu had seen this kind of fluctuation many times along the way. Although he could not clearly distinguish the content, he understood that this was the "pheromone signal" between insect cultivators. Especially after it was mixed with true Qi, for other cultivators it was like sending a flash flare into the sky, which would inevitably attract siege.

In this state, it is too late to simply fight.

This cultivator's strength was definitely not weak, even surpassing his own 'Holy Light Form', and his strength definitely surpassed that of a 1st Seal. Judging from the number of Qi threads he controlled, he was what Little Sister Xiao had described as an Earth-level expert, the absolute ruling power of Chan City.

The fact that this person had been able to follow him undetected and accurately pinpoint the Tiger Demon's location was a testament to his strength. Furthermore, being on the enemy's home turf, he could always call in more Earth-level warriors. If he failed to decisively defeat them and was surrounded, escaping would be difficult.

In a split second, the Tiger Demon searched through all his magical talents and made a decisive move: @Latiao: "Snake, mobilize all the spatial power of [The Universe in Your Belly] and bless your [Claws]!"

Within the shadowy layer, the tiger demon first activated its magical power, [Claw]. A pale, ferocious exoskeleton armor quickly covered the tiger demon's body, enveloping its head and spine, extending all the way to its skull's tail. From the spine, covered with barbs, it spread downward, clinging to the ribs on both sides of the tiger's back, eventually covering its limbs. Five blade-like claws extended from the outer edges of the tiger's paws.

At the same time, the spatial force contained in [The Universe in the Belly] was also injected into the spatial force field model copied from [Shelter] and wrapped around the skeleton tiger claws. The two magical powers were superimposed, and the power of shadows madly poured into the bone claws.

A pair of blood-red animal eyes stared at the figure outside the shadows; at the same time, he opened his perception to the maximum, completely relaxed his mind, and responded to the waves of invisible and urgent calls.

In the underground Cicada City, the cultivator who had just released pheromones and tried to summon his teammates suddenly felt a chill in his heart, as if he was being targeted by some extremely dangerous and terrifying beast. He felt extremely uneasy and even had the urge to withdraw from the Thousand Silk Domain and run away?
He then suppressed his discomfort and looked at the shadowy mass in disbelief, which kept boiling but never changed. He wondered if this was some kind of 'scare spell'.
"Boss, I want to warn you seriously, do you really want to open the Dream Hole? Are you not acting rashly and desperately seeking a cure?"

The Tiger Demon not only locked onto the Thousand Silk Realm True Qi Barrier that pinned him down, but also locked onto the cultivator standing in real space. He also used his spatial perception to locate the weak point in the Shadow Dimension in front of him, overlaying the three locations on a single line.

It was this malicious gaze that made the monks outside feel uneasy.

"I'm calm and confident! A normal confrontation would never be over in an instant, but [Dream Hole]... maybe we can get an unexpected surprise."

Spicy Tiao: "Are you serious?"

"A strong premonition stemming from instinct." The more the Tiger Demon responded to the call from his heart, the stranger his state became. His mind inexplicably gained a large amount of knowledge, and his distorted spiritual roots generated a strong impulse. "I heard it! This is the call from my bloodline. This is the only way to evolve!"

Completely releasing the restraint of rationality, the Tiger Demon's connection with the [Shadow Dimension] became closer and closer. Following some instinct, it swung its claws towards the 'Shadow Layer/Shadow Dimension' in front of it, towards the 'Thousand Silk Domain' outside, and towards the practitioners outside the True Qi barrier.

The power of the shadow was frantically drained and consumed. With this swing of the claw, space was cut off and the shadow was torn apart. One sword opened the gate of heaven, and one claw ripped open the dream hole.

As the bone claws swung, the spatial force field wrapped around the fingertips turned into a sharp blade, piercing deeply into the [Shadow Dimension], just like a paper cutter piercing through a courier box, cutting along the tape smoothly, and opening a "space crack" in front of it.

As soon as the rift appeared, it connected with the Tiger Demon, anchoring them to each other. Without the Tiger Demon actively expanding, the rift began to draw the shadow power from its body and spontaneously expanded in both directions, rapidly forming a massive, pitch-black circular hole 1.7 meters in diameter, piercing reality and shadow.

This claw was like dropping a drop of oil onto water. Under the influence of the water's surface tension, a perfectly round film of oil spontaneously formed. The volume of the oil droplet was proportional to the amount of shadow force it drew.

As the Tiger Demon opened up the dark circular hole, a message surfaced in his mind: [Dream Shadow Hole: Quantity 1/?. Can be opened (closed)]

As it read this information, it also felt weak and powerless. The shadow power in its body instantly evaporated by two-thirds.

The Tiger Demon took a moment to glance at his mana bar. His shadow mana was only 27%, already below the warning line. He quickly injected it into his body to restore his mana along with the shadow layer.

"Huh... Fortunately, it wasn't an illusion, I wasn't drained!"

The good news was that the invisible call wasn't an illusion; it truly reduced the cost of opening the hole. As the Shadow Dream Hole took shape, more information poured into the Tiger Demon's brain from the Dream Hole, impacting his mind.

The cultivator outside the Thousand Silk Realm, after seeing the shadows on the ground boiling, suddenly saw a dark circle appear before his eyes. His expression also changed drastically, and he cried out in a lost voice, "Meng Kong?"

But this strange 'black circle' was very different from the 'dream holes' he had seen before. Without time to think too much, he subconsciously wanted to withdraw quickly, but it was too late.

As the tiger demon tore through the [Shadow Dimension] with one claw, the cultivators on the same attack line and the True Qi barrier he had opened were anchored by the [Shadow Dream Hole].

The moment the 'Dream Hole' emerged, the large amount of Qi threads extending from his body had already connected with the strangely emerging 'black circle'. No matter how he pulled, withdrew, or even actively dispersed and discarded his Qi threads, he could not break the connection with the circle.

A strong sense of uneasiness surged in his heart, and when he wanted to struggle again, it was too late.

"open!"

The tiger demon, who was still in the shadow layer, directly opened the [Shadow Dream Hole] which was closely connected to himself.

As the dream hole opened, a three-dimensional projection of a shadow space with a volume of about 30m appeared in his mind. This was the world behind the [Shadow Dream Hole].

A very small cubic space, about the size of an ordinary study.

The walls of this shadowy space are not smooth on all sides, and they all show violent fluctuations and instability, like a one-way mirror, through which one can see the bizarre color distortions of the outside world from inside.

It was an indescribable feeling of confusion and dizziness, the images I saw were almost incomprehensible, impossible to even clearly construct in my mind. It was like when you look at a picture and as soon as you try to recall it, the image immediately becomes blurry, a mass of colors that no matter how hard you try, you can't recall it.

Even after reading a passage of text with my eyes, I cannot comprehend it in my brain. Even the outline of each word begins to distort. Every time I read a word, it is so difficult that I cannot recognize it. Then the memory of the related words in my brain becomes fuzzy and chaotic.

hiss!
The [Soul Firewall] sounded its alarm, and the Tiger Demon's spirit felt a pang of pain, then gasped. It couldn't comprehend what lay beyond the shadowy dimension, but it knew it couldn't look directly into the [Nightmare Layer]. As the 'Shadow Dream Hole' opened, more knowledge flooded into its mind.

...

This bubble world is in ruins, having experienced a great catastrophe from the inside out.

If a normal "bubble world" is understood as a sealed, solid "glass eco-bottle" containing a complete ecosystem, then the current world is a broken, cracked, and leaky eco-bottle.

The plant originally planted in the bottle (the fairy tree) has died and been pulled out, but the overall structure of the world has not been damaged, so the soil still exists. The remaining microorganisms drilled into the rotten soil and survived by relying on the roots in the soil.

However, the broken world structure cannot resist the erosion of the "nightmare" and "chaos" outside the bottle.

The surface world has been in a state of apocalypse for many years. The world's ecology has been slow to recover, and a large amount of pollution has flowed back to form a demonic disaster. Although the underground world is prosperous, the world structure is incomplete, and it is easy to break the barriers of the world and sink into the [Nightmare Layer].

The Shadow Dimension of the Underworld was like a layer of plastic wrap, barely separating the Nightmare from the physical world. Therefore, the Tiger Demon had the Shadow Dimension in this world to draw energy from, but no Shadow World to enter.

The [Shadow Dimension] is too weak. If you step into empty space, you will fall into the [Nightmare Layer]...

In other words, the 30m small space opened up by the [Shadow Dream Hole] is the "shadow world" that Yuan Zhu escaped into.

The [Shadow Dream Hole] is the exclusive portal to the 'Shadow Space'. He is now in the bubble world, having achieved a higher realm recognized by the spirit world as the [Gate]!
"I'm at the [door] right now? No, where's the [seed] of the shadow?"

The Tiger Demon felt extremely strange at the moment. His [Holy Light] hadn't even reached the 'Seed (Soul Crystal)', but his [Shadow] inexplicably jumped two levels and broke through to the level of [Gate]?

Moreover, the breakthrough was extremely perfunctory. He only needed a little force to pierce the [Shadow Dimension] and make a hole, which then became his own [door].

(End of this chapter)