Chapter 298: Above Myth? (Combined) (May 6900 Monthly Ticket Bonus Chapter)

A flash of light, Qin Chuan and Lin Yue returned to the Luoyue Guild's base with the random item they had just obtained.

"How did it turn out?" Zefeina and Feng Yin simultaneously cast inquiring glances.

"I haven't used the random item yet." Qin Chuan shook his head slightly, "Let Yue Li open it tomorrow night; that will give us a better chance of obtaining the map."

The two showed an expression of understanding.

"The Formerly Gone Magic Tomb will descend at 7:30 p. m. the day after tomorrow; timing-wise, using it tomorrow is fine." Feng Yin showed a thoughtful expression, "As long as we obtain the map of the Heavenly Stairway, we can determine the descent locations of all dungeons."

"If we can really do that, then by arriving at its descent point before the Formerly Gone Magic Tomb descends, we can immediately enter the passage and slay Sifenjiade."

"Moreover, this would also reduce the risk of S-rank dungeon descents to the minimum." Feng Yin glanced at Qin Chuan, "Going forward, you still need many SS-rank passages to obtain the Legendary Stone; if this goes smoothly, you'll earn even more respect thereafter."

"Hmm." Qin Chuan pondered, then turned to look at Zefeina, "You first came into contact with the ominous aura today during the day; do you feel anything off?"

"There are some." Zefeina nodded slightly, "The ominous aura feels extremely cold and dark to me, and my emotions become sluggish because of it—a very unpleasant feeling."

"Fortunately, upon entering a dungeon, the Avoid Misfortune talent takes effect immediately; I have confirmed that Avoid Misfortune can dispel the negative influence of the ominous aura."

Qin Chuan nodded in understanding.

It now appears that Sifenjiade intends to gradually erode Zefeina with the ominous aura; this erosion won't be too swift, at least before an S-rank dungeon, Zefeina won't face great danger.

"If that's the case, then you should continue to contend with Sifenjiade." Qin Chuan spoke in a low voice, "In two days, it will be time for us to settle things with him."

Sifenjiade's danger is too great; this matter can no longer be delayed. —

Two days passed in a flash.

Sifenjiade, as he said, gave the world's extraordinary individuals plenty of trouble.

During these two days, nearly every hour saw more than three dungeon descents, with a daily total approaching fifty, not lacking A-rank dungeons.

Such high-intensity dungeon descents caused enormous trouble for the world's extraordinary individuals; Qin Chuan and Lin Yue spent almost the entire day on fighter jets, flying worldwide to put out fires.

Fortunately, on the second day, the situation took a turn.

Although the number of dungeon descents did not drop, Lin Yue, in the Dream World, relying on triple luck, successfully obtained the map of the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway from a random item.

Unexpectedly, the so-called "First Level" of the Heavenly Stairway is a complete giant planet, a thousand times larger than Earth.

This map is not a simple drawing on a sheet of paper; it is a sphere that, once activated, produces a spherical projection in mid‑air, accurately reproducing the appearance of the entire First Level of the Heavenly Stairway to scale.

After briefly studying the item upon bringing it back to reality, the Special Affairs Group successfully discovered its correspondence with Blue Star.

They marked the positions of past dungeon descents on the Heavenly Stairway and their corresponding locations on Blue Star after descent, finding that these positions matched perfectly.

It is as if… the Heavenly Stairway is a larger world enveloping Blue Star, with each of its regions able to be projected directly onto Blue Star like a shadow.

Following this pattern, everyone quickly locked onto all impending dungeon descents and successfully predicted their landing sites.

For dungeon descents, the biggest headache is not knowing where they will appear beforehand, so each time one must rush personnel to the site immediately, as if being led by the nose.

Now that we have the map, everything is clear; even when facing a large‑scale descent of dungeons comparable to yesterday's, the Special Affairs Group finally feels it has seized the initiative.

Were it not for the need to avoid arousing Sifenjiade's suspicion, the map's secret could not yet be made public; high‑rank extraordinary individuals could only stand by near the dungeon descent points in advance, rather than wait directly beneath the descent site, which would make everything run more smoothly.

"I will enter the Formerly Gone Magic Tomb first thing tomorrow morning." Inside the Dream World, Zefeina took a sip of tea and spoke calmly.

"According to Sifenjiade's words, he will accompany me with his true form tomorrow to ensure absolute safety."

"Have we finally waited for this day…" Qin Chuan rubbed the rim of his tea cup with his finger, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

Thanks to the map, casualties over these two days have not been as many as on the first day, but this debt still must be charged to Sifenjiade's account.

Such a great sacrifice, all to lure the snake out of its hole.

Now Sifenjiade is finally about to reveal his true form.

After discussing the details, Zefeina bade farewell, taking Aolierjia with her.

Watching the two women's figures swiftly vanish into the sky, Lin Yue took Qin Chuan's hand.

"Actually, you don't intend to go into the dungeon again to deal with Sifenjiade, right?"

"You saw through that?" Qin Chuan showed a look of surprise.

"Mm." Lin Yue's lips curved slightly, "I had only guessed before, but now I can be certain."

"You plan to finish off Sifenjiade before he reveals his true form and before Zefeina enters the dungeon." She gently pinched Qin Chuan's hand, "Those earlier remarks were merely meant to confuse Zefeina."

"Mm." Qin Chuan gave a slight nod, "I trust Zefeina, but I absolutely cannot underestimate the influence of the ominous aura on her."

In the Dream World, the first effect of Avoid Misfortune is that the contracted spirit beast is immune to all negative effects and marks.

But it cannot make Zefeina herself immune to negative effects.

Only the dungeon‑based talent of Avoid Misfortune can let Zefeina avoid the influence of the ominous aura.

Thus, both can clearly sense that Zefeina's emotions now differ markedly from before.

The other party has likely already been more deeply affected by the ominous aura, yet remains unaware of this fact.

Under these circumstances, Qin Chuan naturally cannot lay out his true plan in full; he can only conceal it within a superficial plan.

"Be careful." Lin Yue gently pulled Qin Chuan's hand, her eyes full of worry.

She had already roughly guessed what Qin Chuan intended to do.

But this time, she cannot fight side by side with him.

"Don't worry." Qin Chuan smiled. "If before I had only a fifty percent chance, now that the Abyssal Ring has been upgraded to golden quality, I have a full hundred percent confidence."

"Sifenjiade, you can't escape."—

Real world.

Zefeina slowly opened her eyes; her azure eyes swirled with obvious gray‑black mist, and the former brightness grew somewhat dim.

"It's time." Sifenjiade's voice echoed once more in Zefeina's mind, "Now is the best moment to enter the Formerly Gone Magic Tomb."

"Didn't you say you'd go in with me?" Zefeina spoke slowly.

"Of course, I couldn't pass up this opportunity." Sifenjiade's voice carried a hint of a smile, "I've already arrived."

As his words fell, the door was tapped lightly twice, then slowly pushed open.

A voluptuous woman stepped into the room, her movements stiff and awkward, her face bearing a bizarre smile utterly inappropriate for her age and status.

"Don't worry about appearances." The woman slowly opened her mouth, but her voice was hoarse like an old man's, "This is just a temporary body I inhabit."

"Hm." Ze Feina didn't mind the other's oddity, she slightly nodded, then reached out and brushed her hand across her chest.

A beautiful pendant swayed gently.

In the next instant, upon seeing the figure that suddenly appeared in the room, the woman possessed by Sifengade's expression turned to shock.

"You..." "I found you." Qin Chuan lightly touched the ring in his hand, "A hiding mouse."

"Buzz—"

The whole world instantly fell into a pitch-black darkness, as bloodiness and profundity swept in.

"Abyss, Descent!" "Luo… you actually managed to find this place…" Sifengade let out a low murmur, a black shadow gathered above its body and coalesced into a vague humanoid shape.

The voluptuous woman collapsed softly to the ground, completely losing all signs of life.

Terrifying power erupted from Sifengade, whose body was fully revealed.

Such power made even the Legendary Stage seem like ants before it.

Sifengade, who had been in this world for a long time, had already recovered its peak strength.

"Mythic Stage!" The pitch-black humanoid turned its head to look at Ze Feina beside it, whose expression was equally shocked, its scarlet eyes filled with fierce killing intent, "I never expected you would choose to cooperate with Luo."

"Truly foolish."

"Chosen by the great ominous, you have no possibility of turning back."

"Die!"

With a low growl, Sifengade lunged at Ze Feina without hesitation.

"I say…" Qin Chuan sighed softly in the darkness, "Are you too dismissive of me?"

The moment his words fell, everything around fell into absolute stillness.

The Sifengade lunging in midair silently froze.

"Spirit Descent·Pitch-black Night Hunting Shadow."

Qin Chuan spoke softly, instantly entering Spirit Descent, then slashed with one blade after another at the unable-to-resist Sifengade.

Sifengade's black-mist-like body quickly shattered under the Dragon Slaying Blade; the Mythic Stage body could only endure a little longer.

After the black mist dissipated, what was revealed in Qin Chuan's view was a gray-black crystal surging with an extremely chilling aura.

"It's over."

Qin Chuan spoke softly, and the long blade in his hand thrust unhesitatingly toward the crystal.

"Click—"

A clear ringing sound echoed within the Time Stop Space.

Qin Chuan's pupils contracted sharply, his expression drastically changed.

A gray-black hand emerged from nowhere, gripping the blade of the Dragon Slaying Sword.

With just a light squeeze, the Dragon Slaying Blade of red quality shattered under the opponent's incomparable strength.

That hand consisted only of a palm and half a forearm, but as countless gray-black mists were drawn from Sifengade's broken body and Ze Feina beside, also caught in Time Stop, it was rapidly absorbed and kept extending backward.

In just a moment, the hand had extended to the upper arm and shoulder, then continued spreading upward, growing a neck, lower jaw, and upper jaw.

At this point, the gray-black mist in the surrounding space had been completely absorbed, leaving none, so the opponent's body could no longer continue growing.

Before this, the strongest opponent Qin Chuan had faced was the Spiritual Canine Demon God of the Half Demon Clan.

But the entity before him, though only a small half of its body gathered, already far surpassed the Spiritual Canine Demon God in power, making Qin Chuan feel an indescribable, instinctive dread.

Could it be an even greater Mythic Stage? Or perhaps… beyond Mythic? The entire Time Stop Space fell into absolute silence at this moment; Qin Chuan's gaze unintentionally swept over his own Time Stop, and his eyes then steadied again.

His Time Stop did not continue to decrease as Time Stop persisted.

He abruptly looked at the mysterious entity before him, which possessed only a small half of a body, and showed an expression of disbelief.

Could it be that the Time Stop at this moment was not initiated by him?!

Under Qin Chuan's intensely solemn gaze, the barely formed mouth opened and closed, and the strange voice, indistinguishable as male or female, old or young, echoed throughout the Time Stop Space.

"There is something on you that I dislike."

"Although it is only a part."

"But I will not allow it to continue existing."

When the words fell, the mysterious entity slowly extended its only hand toward Qin Chuan.

Qin Chuan instinctively tried to dodge, but realized he could not break free from the terrifying power that bound his Time-stopped self.

As that hand reached toward Qin Chuan's chest, there a faint light flickered.

As if something were about to emerge.

Qin Chuan's eyes turned cold, and without hesitation he reactivated Time Stop within Time Stop.

"Buzz—"

A low hum resonated throughout the Time Stop Space.

The previously fixed Time Stop decreased by one second at this moment.

At the same time, Qin Chuan sensed that something had subtly changed in the surrounding space.

Although still in Time Stop, some things were no longer the same.

"Have you noticed…?" the mysterious entity said in a somewhat regretful tone.

"Truly a pity…"

In the next instant, the entire Time Stop Space was enveloped by dazzling seven-colored light.

The mysterious entity formed from condensed gray-black mist began to fade from the fingertips upward, gradually vanishing in the light.

Before it completely disappeared, its mouth opened and closed, and its silhouette lingered in the Time Stop Space.

"Everything is not over yet."

"I won't allow the next..."

The light faded, and as he gazed at the mysterious existence that had completely vanished, Qin Chuan's expression was uncertain.

As the mysterious existence appeared, the gray-black crystal that had emerged from Si Fen Jia De's body also vanished completely; looking at Si Fen Jia De, who was torn to pieces yet not completely dead, Qin Chuan unhesitatingly took out Fo La Si's Soul Jade.

A white jade-colored light enveloped the area, instantly swallowing Si Fen Jia De's body whole.

Accompanied by a faint, miserable cry, the Soul Jade turned pitch black, within which an extremely weak soul could faintly be seen.

The soul suppressed by the Soul Jade will be unable to return to its original world.

This is a punishment more terrifying than killing.

(End of chapter)