Chapter 134: Hell of the Trypophobia Certificate

As Chen Shicheng drew nearer to the island, the surrounding mist gradually faded.

Soon, when he could see the shoreline beach with the naked eye, the fishing boat also sailed out of the mist zone.

Looking back, the mist seemed to have a very clear boundary with the island, forming a fog wall that surrounded the island behind him.

After confirming he had left the maze's range, Chen Shicheng did not immediately set foot on the island but instead sailed around the coastline, observing any movement on the island.

After only a few hundred meters of circling the island, Chen Shicheng could determine that the island was definitely abnormal; although he did not know exactly how, he was certain the island was not naturally formed.

After all, he had never seen an island that was a perfectly regular oval, with no reefs along the shore—just sand everywhere.

The strangest thing was that the island was shaded by green trees and covered with vegetation, which should have been a picture of thriving life, yet there was no sign of any creature activity; the trees looked more like corpses frozen in the posture they had in life!

To verify his judgment, Chen Shicheng deliberately approached the shore for a closer look.

He chillingly discovered that the beach was not sandy but composed of bone fragments reduced to the finest particles.

Because the fragments were so thoroughly broken, Chen Shicheng could not tell what creatures the bones belonged to, but whether human or animal, a "beach" of such bone encircling the tiny island proves that a massive biological extinction had occurred here.

"If I don't act, I won't die!"

Chen Shicheng, just as when he met Hui Siye, immediately abandoned the idea of landing and anchored the fishing boat near where the turtle head had appeared.

After confirming the position was correct, he put on the stolen underwater breathing mask and plunged straight into the sea.

The seabed here was deeper than he imagined; after descending for over ten minutes he had not reached the bottom, and the surrounding light faded as he went deeper, forcing Chen Shicheng to use Divine Perception to monitor his surroundings.

Moreover, the water pressure grew stronger; had he not boosted his Attribute before descending, he might have been crushed into a pulp at this depth.

Yet even the enhanced Attribute could not hold for long; if he could not reach the bottom, he might have to invoke the Golden Light Spell for protection.

But in the darkness, turning himself into a dazzling golden light would make him a conspicuous target, likely to be swallowed whole by the yet‑unseen turtle head in an instant.

Fortunately, a few minutes later, just as Chen Shicheng was about to lose the resolve to cast the Golden Light Spell, his foot suddenly struck something solid.

Looking down, it turned out to be a skull encrusted with seaweed.

It wasn't a mere coincidence that he landed atop a skull; within his Divine Perception radius of 76.2 meters, beneath the seabed mud, everything he could see was densely packed fish bones and human bones.

Chen Shicheng could only step shallowly, advancing by treading on those bones.

Yet before he could go far, the cracking of the bones beneath his feet seemed to become a signal; ghostly silhouettes glowing green appeared around him, their area expanding in concentric circles until they covered the entire seabed.

These were the unlucky souls who, over thousands of years, had inadvertently strayed here; their bodies were corroded by seawater into skeletons, while their souls were trapped on the spot as ghosts.

Moreover, it wasn't only human ghosts; Chen Shicheng even saw countless fish and seabird spirits. While he was observing these spirits, his living human aura was sensed, and the spirits nearest to him gradually fell into madness.

One spirit that resembled a swordfish moved the fastest; with just a flick of its body it turned into a green beam that entered Chen Shicheng's body before he could react.

Chen Shicheng instantly felt his internal qi and blood weaken slightly, and True Essence began to circulate automatically; the spirit was extinguished in the blink of an eye, and the True Essence he had lost was immediately replenished by Blood Killing Pearl.

Although he eliminated a ghost without lifting a finger, Chen Shicheng did not become complacent.

The countless ghost army here, even a single one that attacked would drain a bit, exhausting the already scarce True Essence stored in the Blood Killing Pearl.

Without replenishment, he would be completely devoured by these ghosts, achieving the "first death after entering the game" milestone; fortunately, he still has a countermeasure against spirit monsters—the Taiyin Cold Ice Curse obtained from the prefect's mansion, whose underworld yin energy is a lethal blow to these ghosts, far surpassing its Attack Power against living beings.

Chen Shicheng released a burst of cold, the yin energy rolling through, freezing portions of the seawater into ice while instantly extinguishing the surrounding ghosts.

Yet these ghosts had existed on the seabed for countless ages; the prolonged torment had eroded all their humanity, leaving only a grudge to attack the living.

Therefore, the cleared void was quickly filled, and countless ghosts lunged at him with gnashing claws.

"Whoa, did I just poke a hornet's nest!" Chen Shicheng's complexion changed instantly.

On the way here by boat, he had encountered several storms and had witnessed the force of waves over ten meters high crashing down.

The ghosts before him piled atop one another, reaching dozens of meters high; in scale and force they completely dwarfed those waves, surging down onto him.

"I'm out, I'm out."

Seeing himself about to be drowned by the ghostly wave, Chen Shicheng decisively used the mask's ability, activating the Five Ghosts Transport Technique to instantly teleport several hundred meters upward.

Suddenly bereft of living human aura, the ghosts, after a brief turmoil, slowly calmed, aimlessly turning in place as if searching for the fresh life they had just lost.

Chen Shicheng kept thrashing continuously to prevent himself from sinking.

Watching the hordes below, the ghost army nearly filling the entire seabed, he felt a chill down his spine; having once endured the trial of the underground palace spider, he could remain so composed.

Someone with a poorer mental fortitude would probably be knocked out by fear.

Shaking his head, Chen Shicheng snuffed out the idea of grinding levels here before it could take root, and turned his gaze toward the distant seabed.

Though these ghosts were troublesome, they weren't without benefit; the green light they emitted illuminated the area, revealing in the far distance what seemed to be a colossal pillar reaching from the heavens to the earth.

One end was anchored to the seabed, while the other connected to a massive black object floating in the deep sea.

(End of Chapter)