Projection of the Heavens: I prove my immortality through slaughter.

The divine sense crystal wall moved like a ghost through the twisted architectural labyrinth. Lin Xuan carefully avoided the areas that exuded strong malice and eerie sacrificial fluctuations, following the faint pull of the same origin within his body, and continued to delve deeper.

The further they went, the more terrifying the surroundings became. The buildings were no longer merely distorted; they began to exhibit a living, morbid life force. The fleshy veins on the walls pulsated slightly like breathing, occasionally cracking open to reveal the churning, eye-filled interior walls; the streets became slippery and sticky, as if stepping on the mucous membranes of some enormous creature; the whispers in the air became clearer and more seductive, and even with the barrier of reason, the pervasive madness still tried to seep in.

He even saw some "residents" who had completely lost their human form and become one with this insane city. Some of them were like giant, walking slugs, dragging trails of slime and making "gurgling" sounds; others were clumps of flesh twisted and pieced together from countless human limbs, rolling and writhing unconsciously at street corners; and still others were translucent, ghostly shadows, drifting through alleyways with non-Euclidean geometry, chanting blasphemous poems.

This is a nightmare realm where "rationality" has been completely abandoned and "form" has been wantonly distorted.

Lin Xuan's Dao heart remained steadfast, and he ignored it, only maintaining his rational barrier even more firmly, without slowing down.

However, just as he passed through an archway made up of huge, rib-like, pale bones, the view before him suddenly opened up, causing his divine sense to pause abruptly!

He... "left" that twisted city.

Or rather, he arrived at the "edge" of this chaotic settlement. And beyond the edge lies neither normal wilderness nor ocean.

It was a boundless, viscous "seawater" that appeared sickly dark green.

This seawater wasn't real water; it was more like liquid madness and nightmare. It rose and fell silently, its surface covered with enormous, oily, multicolored bubbles. Each bursting bubble released fragments of chaotic memories that shattered the mind. In the depths, countless twisted shadows could be vaguely seen, emanating a suffocating sense of oppression.

In the center of this boundless green sea, the outline of a city stands there, like a deformed, cancerous tissue suffering from gigantism, half-submerged and half-floating.

The moment Lin Xuan saw it, his divine sense felt as if it were being gripped by countless cold tentacles, and his barrier of reason made a faint "crack" sound as it was overwhelmed!

It is a city that cannot be accurately described in any known language.

It was so enormous that it was less a city and more a terrifying lair built of countless green boulders (not natural stone, but more like some kind of solidified, life-bearing unknown substance) whose structure completely defied the laws of physics.

The megaliths tilted, twisted, and overlapped at insane angles, forming countless irrational geometric shapes—leaning spires pierced the eerie, colorful sky, massive arches connected disparate architectural sections that defied all logic, and winding staircases led to dimensions beyond the comprehension of the naked eye. The entire city exuded an ancient, deathly, yet seemingly slumbering, terrifying aura.

What is most chilling is that, covering, entwining, or rather... growing together with the surface of this green megacity, is a part of a creature's body that is so enormous it is indescribable!

It appeared to be the upper body of some kind of humanoid being, with skin that was a deathly grayish-green, covered in slippery slime and enormous, toad-like warts. Countless thick, python-like tentacles extended from its jaw and the back of its head, some coiling around the city's spires and arches, others drooping lazily, soaking in the green seawater, swaying slightly with the rise and fall of the waves.

Its head hung low, its face obscured by shadows and writhing tentacles, making it indistinct. Only a sense of ancient, despairing madness and deathly stillness could be felt. The mere existence of this being emanated an invisible pressure countless times greater than that of the Heavenly Demon Lord Lin Xuan had previously encountered, or even the incarnation of the Thunder God from the Ancient Realm! It was an absolute difference in the level of life itself, a difference that left no room for any thought of resistance!

The Great Old Ones! The City of R'lyeh! The Sleeping Place of Cthulhu!

Even with Lin Xuan's unbreakable Dao heart, he couldn't help but be shaken when he witnessed this mythical and terrifying scene. The barrier of reason he maintained flickered rapidly, as if it was about to collapse at any moment!

The faint pull within him regarding the "mark of transcendence" became clearer at this moment, pointing directly to the sunken city of R'lyeh, which was covered by the body of the ancient rulers!

The clues... actually pointed to this place?!

This is practically walking into a trap! To infiltrate the lair of a sleeping Great Old One in search of fragments of an imprint that may have been corrupted by its power?

Crazy! Utterly crazy!

However, just as Lin Xuan was beginning to consider retreating due to the extreme danger and preparing to temporarily withdraw and reconsider his options—

"Thump..."

A deep, muffled sound, as if it came from the core of the universe or as if it resounded directly from the depths of the soul, suddenly came from the massive body that covered R'lyeh!

This heartbeat wasn't directed at Lin Xuan; it was more like the unconscious physiological activity of a sleeping person. But its impact was devastating!

"Boom—!"

The entire Green Nightmare Sea boiled over! The viscous water surged into towering waves, and countless twisted shadows lurking within emitted a cacophony of fear and ecstasy!

The geometrically defying architecture of La Leone groans and creaks with the rhythm of this heartbeat, as if the entire city is subtly contracting and expanding in response!

What's most terrifying is that the pervasive, insidious whispers and mental pollution that permeate the entire world suddenly intensified more than tenfold at this moment!

"He is turning over...the great Sovereign..." "The dream...His dream is ending..." "Join...return...to the eternal R'lyeh..."

Countless clearer, more blasphemous, and more insane thoughts crashed against Lin Xuan's barrier of reason like a tsunami!

"Snap!"

With a clear cracking sound, a tiny crack finally appeared on the barrier of reason! A chaotic thought slithered in like a venomous snake, instantly conjuring a terrifying image in Lin Xuan's mind of his own flesh melting and turning into a shapeless monster!

"not good!"

Lin Xuan's expression changed (at the level of divine sense). He immediately activated all his will, and the purple-gold Daoist charm surged wildly, with the intent of annihilation spreading. Only then could he barely erase the chaotic invading intent and repair the cracks in the barrier.

But he knew he couldn't stay any longer! The unconscious heartbeat of an Old One, even just the aftershock, almost killed his projected divine consciousness! If he got any closer, or if he might disturb that slumbering being…

He made a decisive move, and his divine sense crystal body burst forth at its fastest speed, like a startled fish, about to flee in the direction it had come from.

However, in the instant he turned around, out of the corner of his eye (divine perception), he caught a glimpse of the relatively low, green ruins of a building on the edge of R'lyeh, concealed by several enormous tentacles. Deep within those ruins, the pull of his projected origin within him pointed with exceptional clarity toward that place!

At the same time, he vaguely sensed that the space around the ruins seemed to possess an extremely faint stability that was completely out of step with the overall madness of this world.

Opportunity often lies hidden beneath the greatest danger!

Should we flee immediately and preserve this projection? Or... take a gamble and, while the Great Old One is in a deep slumber once more, rush into the ruins to obtain clues?

In a flash, Lin Xuan made a decision.

The direction of the divine sense crystal suddenly changed. Instead of retreating, it transformed into a resolute stream of light, like a moth drawn to a flame, rushing headlong into the green ruins located on the edge of R'lyeh, shrouded in the shadow of a giant tentacle!

Fortune favors the bold! Especially when it comes to an opportunity for "transcendence"!

His adventure entered its most insane phase at this moment!

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