At the end, there was another hidden door.
Chapter 76, Paragraph 5: Simulation (12)
After the hidden door opened, Ling Yun didn't immediately go inside. Behind it lay not a passageway, but a pitch-black, deep pit. The wall lamps stopped there, and the pit's depth was unknown; a fierce wind seemed to be swirling up from the ground.
Ling Yun glanced at it once, then jumped down without hesitation. The pit was over ten meters deep, and the bottom seemed to be at the center of a cross passageway. It didn't appear to be dangerous.
It landed as lightly as a feather on the ground, which was also paved with black stones. Ling Yun suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, and his blood surged. Blood had reached his throat, but after forcibly enduring it for a long time, Ling Yun finally swallowed it back down.
His blood contained unparalleled energy and heat; every breath he exhaled represented a loss. In this critical moment, Ling Yun dared not waste a single drop of energy. However, his rapidly functioning organs reminded him that his available energy was critically low. He absolutely could not overdraw his life force; otherwise, Ling Yun would weaken and die.
Several deep wrinkles suddenly appeared on Ling Yun's originally flawless forehead, making him look several years older.
Dozens of telekinetic silver threads suddenly wove into a barely perceptible, transparent net, which transformed into four chapters, sealing Lingyun like a cage at the crossroads of the passageway.
A deafening buzzing sound filled the air, like the roar of a helicopter's propellers churning at full power.
Countless palm-sized flying skeletons swiftly approached Ling Yun from four directions of the passageway. Their bodies, also entirely composed of skeletons, resembled those of bees, with two pairs of thin, cicada-wing-like bone wings, each only half the length of an index finger, on either side. Before their long, pointed, diamond-shaped skulls were two pairs of compound eyes emitting an eerie red glow. Sharp bone spikes protruded from their bony mouthparts, which occupied half of their heads; Ling Yun had no doubt that these spikes could pierce a tree trunk of equal thickness.
The flying skeleton creature clearly lacked intelligence, charging fearlessly at the almost transparent silver threads formed from the mental energy field. Soon, its palm-sized body was sliced into countless fragments by the incredibly sharp silver threads. The network of silver threads acted like a cutting machine, simply waiting for its prey to pounce.
This was another new technique Ling Yun had cultivated after entering the fifth stage of the simulation, condensing telekinesis into cutting lines only a fraction of a millimeter in diameter. Only Ling Yun's masterful control could achieve this. Although he hadn't received any further special training in telekinesis, Ling Yun's control had become even more refined without him even realizing it.
Soon, the buzzing sound subsided into a deathly silence. Looking at the scattered bone fragments, Ling Yun stood at the entrance of the cross passageway, gazing blankly in all four directions, hesitating for the first time. Although the ends of the passageways were shrouded in darkness, Ling Yun could clearly see that each passageway stretched for thousands of meters in a straight line, and each led to an identical-looking hidden door.
Which secret door should they enter? This was Ling Yun's question.
Suddenly, countless wails and howls echoed through the passageway. Ling Yun then noticed that the walls on either side of each passageway were not solid. Instead, every few meters along the thick walls, there was a prison-like opening, with an iron fence as thick as an egg standing before it. The iron fence was completely welded shut and had no doors. Inside each opening was a strangely shaped and extremely ferocious creature.
Countless creatures gripped the cold iron bars with their strange, enormous hands, shaking them violently and emitting terrifying roars.
With a whoosh, the large doors at the ends of three passageways opened. Behind the dark doorways, accompanied by heavy footsteps that shook the ground, a colossal figure, easily five meters tall, emerged. Its meter-long, bluish-black feet stomped on the hard black stone, instantly causing it to crack and crumble.
His arms, covered in black hair like a gibbon's, hung down to his knees. His body, as robust as a mountain rock, could barely fit four people walking side by side in the passageway, its broad, dark blue shoulders barely able to accommodate them. The sides of his shoulders scraped against the stone walls of the passageway, instantly producing a trail of bright sparks, and tiny stone chips kept falling from the walls.
Its enormous, shiny bald head was completely hairless, and its hideous, grotesque face was the size of a washbasin. In the center of its face was a high-arched pig-like snout and a toothless mouth that constantly dripped repulsive green saliva. The upper half of its face consisted of a single eye the size of a fist, from which faint purple light emitted concentric halos.
Ling Yun's pupils contracted slightly. A Cyclops? He had never seen such a strange creature before, but it seemed quite formidable.
The Cyclops's snout rattled loudly. All three giants seemed to have short tempers. Hearing the roars from the creatures on both sides, the Cyclops grew impatient. Faced with some creatures that were reckless and unwilling to back down, it simply stood in front of the bars. Its single eye shone brightly with purple light. After flashing a few times, a purple ray suddenly shot out from its single eye, striking the various powerful creatures in the prison. After a series of horrifying screams, the prison quickly fell silent.
Seemingly fearing the power of the Cyclops's single eye, the screams of the imprisoned creatures quickly ceased, replaced by various pitiful whimpers. Many remained silent. However, it was clear the Cyclops were capricious; as they approached Ling Yun, they inexplicably and suddenly tore a piece of iron barn into pieces as easily as paper with their enormous hands, then ripped the trembling, pitiful creature inside into several pieces, stuffing the remains into their mouths and chewing them up.
The secret door of the only passageway where the Cyclops hadn't emerged opened, revealing a completely dark interior. This signified that Ling Yun had only this one path to take.
Ling Yun took a deep breath, and then his body suddenly flew up, rushing towards a one-eyed giant behind him like a cannonball.
He did not choose the secret door in the passageway that was opened specifically for him. Although the Cyclops looked dangerous, it was still visible. The unknown dangers are often the most terrifying. Therefore, choosing any of the three secret doors guarded by the Cyclops was much better than choosing the unguarded one.
Three purple rays, each as thick as a finger, crisscrossed and struck the spot where Ling Yun had just stood, creating three craters, each two meters deep and one meter in diameter, with a loud boom. Ling Yun suddenly groaned. The purple ray that shot from the single eye of the one-eyed giant he was facing had actually pierced through his body. The intense, burning pain almost made Ling Yun faint.
However, Ling Yun did not slow down at all; instead, he sped up even more.
With a muffled thud, like a spear piercing a drum made of oil-soaked old cowhide, Ling Yun, covered in a blurry mess of filthy flesh and bits of internal organs, stumbled and crashed through the heavy hidden door. The instant he passed through the Cyclops, Ling Yun felt dizzy and nearly fainted.
The giant stared in astonishment at the gaping, bloody hole in his belly, which was as hard as steel. Shattered internal organs and flesh continued to fall from the wound. A small figure could even be clearly seen through the front of his belly, disappearing into a hidden door behind him.
The Cyclops roared to the sky, its single eye instantly blazing with purple light. Laser-like rays, like machine gun fire, rained down on the walls and openings of the passageway. Countless creatures perished in the crossfire, screaming as they were reduced to dust by the rays.
With a deafening crash, the log giant, filled with extreme anger and resentment, finally collapsed heavily to the ground, sending countless fragments of stone and dust billowing up.
Chapter 77, Paragraph 5: Simulation (13)
Ling Yun struggled to his feet, a silver light flashing from his spiritual energy field, instantly shaking off the pieces of flesh and blood covering his body. The boy was clean again, but his bloodless lips and wrinkled face betrayed his true condition.
The young man, whose life force had long since run out, could no longer stand steadily. He weakly and slowly sat down on the ground. His smooth and elastic skin became loose and aged at a visible speed. In the blink of an eye, Ling Yun seemed to have aged decades.
Life was slipping away, and the purpose of this journey still seemed elusive. Ling Yun was truly at his breaking point; would the advanced simulation, which involved skipping levels, really be this difficult?
The hidden door slowly closed. Inside, there appeared to be an empty stone house.
Ling Yun seemed to hear heavy breathing and was startled. Suddenly, the room was filled with bright light, and the soft yet bright light from the walls and roof illuminated the entire stone house in an instant.
The stone house wasn't very large, about thirty meters square. It was completely empty, except for a pile of incredibly heavy chains in one corner. The chains looked as thick as a thigh. Thinking of the one-eyed giant outside, Ling Yun seemed to understand something. Perhaps these chains were meant to restrain the one-eyed giant, but for some reason, the giant had broken free.
Slowly standing up, Ling Yun walked towards the hidden door facing the stone house. Clearly, this was a suite, as there was another hidden door on the other side of the stone house wall.
It seemed as if something was beckoning Ling Yun inside with a voice that only the soul could hear. Hearing that dreamlike summons, Ling Yun suddenly found strength from somewhere and kicked open the hidden door.
Behind the hidden door was a spacious and brightly lit area. Countless fireflies, each the size of a plate, were slowly moving at a height of over ten meters, emitting a bright, silvery-white light.
A black pillar, five meters in diameter, stretched infinitely upwards, and even with Ling Yun's keen eyesight, he could not see its end. It seemed to have no end.
A beautiful little girl was bound to a black pillar by silver chains. Ling Yun noticed that the chains passed through the girl's collarbone and crossed over to bind her to the pillar, ensuring she couldn't break free. The girl seemed to have fallen into a state of unconsciousness, with only the slight twitching of her lips indicating she was still alive.
However, her red forehead and dry lips proved that the girl had a high fever. Bloodstains were visible where the silver chain had pierced her shoulder, and purplish-black blood occasionally oozed from the wound.
Beside the girl stood a humanoid creature roughly the same height as Ling Yun. However, both the curved iron horns on its bumpy green head and its gaping maw full of fangs proved that the creature was far from human. Behind its pale green skin were pairs of fleshy wings covered in black periosteum, which flapped menacingly in the air, sending out fierce, cold winds.
demon?
The moment Ling Yun first saw this terrifying creature, the familiar name popped into his mind.
Although compared to terrifying humanoid creatures, the horrible Medusa, and the repulsive giant, the demon's appearance seemed relatively gentle, it was still far from pleasing to the eye. However, after constantly encountering bizarre creatures, Ling Yun had developed a strong ability to adapt to the demon's appearance; at least this one, which seemed to possess human intelligence, didn't seem so intimidating.
"Ling Yun, you've finally come." The demon slowly opened his mouth and said, his magnetic voice sounding so deep and pleasant.
Surprise rose on the boy's face, which was now wrinkled like that of an old man: "You know who I am?"