Chapter 286

The strength and number of the powerful present a pyramid structure.

The stronger the living beings, the fewer their numbers.

This holds true even for the Heavenly Stairway.

Qin Chuan fought his way through the S-rank dungeon, only encountering a handful of opponents who barely reached the Legendary Stage, and he never again encountered a being as powerful as the Lake Bottom Death Demon.

Finally, relying on the second innate ability of the sundial needle, he smoothly found the core of the passage; this S-rank dungeon, the focus of everyone's attention, was completely destroyed in Qin Chuan's hands.

At the moment the dungeon entrance collapsed, Qin Chuan clearly heard the cheers of countless people in the city merge into one.

But for him, things might not be over.

In Qin Chuan's mind, he recalled the expression of the Lake Bottom Death Demon before he killed it, and a sense of heaviness and an ominous premonition welled up in his heart for no reason.

He always felt that what this S-rank dungeon brought was not just the immediate disaster.

Landing slowly, Qin Chuan, sensing something, glanced at the already fully healed Zefina.

While he was destroying the passage, the opponent, having regained consciousness, struggled to enter the passage once.

Then, the opponent's injuries instantly recovered.

Earlier, seeing the traceless Aolierjia accompanying Zefina, Qin Chuan guessed that Zefina might be the ever‑absent Avoid Illness.

Now, the power displayed by the other party confirms this guess.

Recovering all injuries and strength every five minutes is indeed a miraculous talent effect.

I also don't know what the other two talent effects of Avoid Illness are.

Qin Chuan then looked toward the brown‑haired girl beside Zefina.

Her eyes, like a fawn's, were full of playful spirit, and more importantly, whenever they swept over him, she quickly looked away, as if guilty of something.

"Aolierjia?" Qin Chuan's eyes gained a hint of amusement.

"Ah?!" The brown‑haired girl's expression instantly turned fearful: "What Aolierjia? I don't know!"

Zefina couldn't help but rub her forehead.

Isn't this basically asking for trouble?

Qin Chuan blinked, then looked at Zefina again, his expression turning slightly serious: "I suspect there's more to the S-rank dungeon; you'd better stay alert lately."

"More to come?" Zefina's expression tightened: "Okay."

She was about to say something, like thanking Qin Chuan and the Yanhuang Nation on behalf of the Everlasting Nation for their support, but she saw the boy in front of her pull out a beautiful pendant and sway it.

The pendant flickered with a faint light, and in the next instant the boy vanished from the spot.

"Phew~" Aolierjia patted her chest, her ample bosom rising and falling, drawing glances: "Phew, phew, I'm alive."

Zefina couldn't help but tap Aolierjia's head.

"Idiot, he never intended to lay a hand on you."——

Yanhuang Nation, Yan Da.

By the Unnamed Lake, Qin Chuan and Lin Yue sat side by side on a public bench, gazing at the beautiful lake scenery, exchanging words softly.

"So, the opponent you faced this time is someone you knew before?" Lin Yue looked at Qin Chuan, a smile touching her lips: "I couldn't tell, but you're quite popular in the other world."

"I don't want that kind of popularity." Qin Chuan shook his head, laughing and crying: "No matter what, the Lake Bottom Death Demon really died this time."

"I don't know if he might appear again in the future like Dalaisai and Dailai."

"Beings affected by ominous influence and normal beings should have some differences."

"Whether or not, that's for the future." Lin Yue took Qin Chuan's hand: "You just said you think the S-rank dungeon might still have undiscovered effects?"

"Hmm." Qin Chuan nodded, "Mainly, the expression of the lake-bottom death demon before I killed it was too eerie, making me always feel that things aren't that simple."

"Huh..." Lin Yue showed a thoughtful expression, "The lake-bottom death demon had previously appeared outside the C-level dungeon passage, but now it has appeared in the S-level dungeon passage."

"Moreover, the speed of its appearance was very fast."

"This shows that the other side had long been eyeing the dungeon passage, attempting Descent into reality."

"This way, you so easily killed the lake-bottom death demon and destroyed the passage, indeed giving a feeling that it was overly easy."

"You know, even the Dalaisai of old knew to use means to escape when they couldn't beat you, recover to their peak, then strike again; I don't believe the lake-bottom death demon had no means at all."

Qin Chuan's brows furrowed slightly, showing a thoughtful expression.

Sure enough, Lin Yue's thoughts were the same as his.

S-level dungeon passage, there's definitely a problem.

But where the problem lies, Qin Chuan still hasn't figured it out.

"Tell me again about your previous strategy process at the Screaming Demon Lake." Lin Yue leaned against Qin Chuan's shoulder and spoke softly, "Having one more person always yields some new gains."

"Okay." Qin Chuan nodded, after a brief recollection, he recounted the entire process of his encounter with the lake-bottom death demon·Kasakaban in the Screaming Demon Lake and completing the strategy.

After patiently listening to Qin Chuan's account, Lin Yue spoke softly, "Has the crystal core of the lake-bottom death demon already been destroyed?"

"That's right, I can confirm that." Qin Chuan gave a slight nod.

The ability to stop time absolutely suppresses ominous aura.

Qin Chuan had used this method more than once to clear ominous aura.

"Then there's only one possibility." Lin Yue moved her head away from Qin Chuan's shoulder, looked at him, her expression slightly solemn, "We have overlooked a key figure."

"That might be the chieftain of the Nether Ghost Clan that caused the lake-bottom death demon's birth."

Qin Chuan's pupils contracted slightly, his expression quickly turning grave; he took a deep breath and slowly uttered the name that had appeared only once in the secret history fragments of Marxis Territory.

"Sleepless One·Sifengjiade." —

"Zefina, I'm heading back first."

Aolierjia crossed her arms, looking at the spacious indoor training ground where Zefina tirelessly trained with her longsword, and let out a soft sigh, "You work so hard, it really pains me."

Zefina's longsword lashed out instantly, piercing multiple vital points of the dummy before her, "If it truly pains you, you can practice with me."

"Forget it, I suddenly feel my heart isn't that painful anymore." Aolierjia placed a hand on her chest, until her pale, scallion-like fingers sank into a large expanse of soft flesh, she gave a hehe laugh, "After all, I can't touch it."

Ze Feina: "... Get out."

"Alright, alright." Aolierjia patted her butt, turned, and walked out of the training field.

On the vast training field, only Ze Feina remained.

This was originally the exclusive training field prepared for her, the strongest of the Never-setting Sun Nation.

Settling her mind, Ze Feina raised her long sword once more, practicing an exquisite sword technique alone in the training field.

After a moment, Ze Feina slowly lowered her long sword.

"Still far from enough."

She spoke softly, her eyes filled with indescribable regret. Although the S-rank instance channel was finally resolved.

But she did not play a major role in this process.

Whether it was the Lakebottom Death Demon or Luo, their strength differed from hers as heaven and earth.

"You... crave power?"

A voice welled up in Ze Feina's mind, as if possessing some kind of magical power, making her instinctively feel trust and closeness toward it.

"I want to become stronger." She subconsciously muttered.

"Getting stronger is the simplest thing." The voice carried a hint of a smile, "I can sense your goal to surpass is the player named Luo."

"I can help you."

"You only need one month, no, half a month, and you can possess power greater than his."

"How do I obtain such power?" Ze Feina subconsciously spoke.

If someone were now in the training field, they would see the light in Ze Feina's eyes gradually fading.

Yet she herself did not notice this.

"Child, it's very simple." The voice carried comfort and reassurance, "I think you should know the Heavenly Stairway."

"Then do you know what the relationship is between the Dream World and the Heavenly Stairway?"

"What relationship?" Her attention completely captured by the voice's content, Ze Feina sped up her speech slightly as she asked.

"The Dream World is the lowest layer of the Heavenly Stairway, and also part of it." The mysterious voice carried a hint of a smile, "The Heavenly Stairway is a greater Dream World."

"How could this be..." Ze Feina couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"You will have doubts, this is normal, but my child, think carefully." The mysterious voice eased slightly, "After the instance descent forms an instance channel, does your instance talent revert to player talent?"

"The instance channel is a passage connecting the real world and the Heavenly Stairway; it is part of the Heavenly Stairway, and player talent is a power that can exist only in the Dream World."

"Don't you have any thoughts about the reasonableness of this?"

Ze Feina felt a jolt in her heart, as if lightning had flashed through her mind.

"Child, think about it, where does your extraordinary power come from?" The mysterious voice guided patiently.

"The Dream World." Ze Feina subconsciously spoke.

"Yes, extraordinary power comes from the Dream World." The mysterious voice added a hint of a smile, "If so, why can't it come directly from the Heavenly Stairway?"

"If your power comes from the Heavenly Stairway, how could others, relying on power from the Dream World, possibly oppose you?"

"Whether it's Luo or others, they will all become opponents you can easily surpass."

"You will possess immensely great power."

"I..." Ze Feina's voice held a hint of longing and anticipation, "What should I do?"

"You need to come into contact with the Heavenly Stairway and draw power from it." The mysterious voice spoke softly, "Right now, the only way for you to contact the Heavenly Stairway is through the instance channel."

"As long as you enter the instance channel, I can help you absorb new power."

"Believe me, that great power is enough for you to understand the truth of strength."

"I understand, all I need is to participate more in tasks destroying the instance channel to become stronger?" Ze Feina's voice was full of excitement.

"Hmm..." The mysterious voice paused, "I guess so."

At the same time, in a farmer's home within the Never-setting Sun Nation, a middle-aged farmer's eyes surged with strange black flames as he muttered, "Inducing a world's native to open an instance channel is indeed not that easy."

"However, it's fine; rapidly increasing power is addictive." The middle-aged farmer's lips curled with a wry smile, "Just be patient and wait."

"One is not enough for safety; we need more."

Let the ominous aura fill a brand-new material realm; I, the devout believer Sifen Jiade, offer the highest reverence to the omniscient, omnipotent, great ominous one.

The black flames died out, and the middle-aged farmer, as if just waking from a dream, looked around, unable to help muttering, "Strange, I wasn't plowing the field outside? When did I go inside?"

Tens of thousands of meters away from the farmer, a woman standing at the roadside in bold attire suddenly stopped her primping, straightened her body, and the man who had been teasing her casually grabbed her.

"Hey, I'm not unable to pay, don't go!"

The woman turned her head to look at the man; black flames flared in her eyes for an instant, and the man's eyes instantly lost their luster, he woodenly followed close behind her, disappearing as they crossed the street.

"The Imperial Observatory has detected no abnormal energy fluctuations or changes within the Everlasting Nation's borders."

"On the other end of the line, Feng Yin spoke calmly, 'Regarding the S‑level dungeon passage you mentioned, there may be another entity suspected to be of Legendary Stage or even Mythic Stage descending; we will take it seriously and soon strengthen the Imperial Observatory's monitoring.'"

"No matter what they intend to do, I believe their ultimate purpose in descending upon Blue Star is to seize Blue Star's power, just as the previous Dalai Saiyi did."

"The formation capable of seizing power creates a huge disturbance; as soon as any sign appears, the Imperial Observatory will detect it immediately, allowing us to respond in time."

"That's good." Qin Chuan let out a slight breath, "If possible, I hope this is just my illusion."

"Whether it's an illusion or not, being cautious is never wrong." Feng Yin paused, "Moreover, we will certainly give your opinion full consideration."

"Thank you." Qin Chuan and Feng Yin exchanged a few more words, then immediately hung up.

"Nothing found?" Lin Yue took Qin Chuan's hand and spoke softly.

"Mm." Qin Chuan nodded.

After Lin Yue's reminder made him recall the nearly forgotten Insomniac Sifen Jiade, Qin Chuan did not hesitate and immediately notified the Special Affairs Group, hoping to use the Imperial Observatory's power to determine whether any Descents had been missed.

The Imperial Observatory had found nothing for the time being, and his tightly wound heart relaxed a little.

"Maybe we're just being overly suspicious." Qin Chuan chuckled.

"Everything being normal is best." Lin Yue spoke softly, glanced at the time, then opened the dungeon list, "The SS‑level dungeon has refreshed."

"Huh?" Qin Chuan raised an eyebrow, "Has it finally come?"

He opened the dungeon list without hesitation and quickly saw the dungeon ranked first.

【Dungeon: Kaliteli Spirit Hall (SS)】 【Conquerable】

【Suggested Player Level: Epic Tier】

【Participant Limit: 2】

【Lateral Difficulty Rating: ★★】

【Dungeon Remaining Conquest Time: 71:59:42】

"The suggested player level is the same as for an S‑level dungeon," Lin Yue spoke softly, "So that means the dungeon boss's strength is still at the Legendary tier?"

"Possibly." Qin Chuan nodded, looking at the dungeon name, his expression slightly solemn.

Spirit Hall…

Sounds not simple at all.

"Let's go, let's witness an SS‑level dungeon."

(End of chapter)