Chapter 638: Which Is Real? Discovering the Ultimate Secret

Jiang Chen, in the course of his growth, encountered things that differed from those of other practitioners.

After passing his first college entrance exam, he was noticed by Hong Jishi, and thereafter everything he came into contact with was somewhat high‑end.

Later, as his level rose, the information he learned grew increasingly profound and complex, and mysteries arrived one after another.

Often, just as he learned an answer, several new riddles would surface.

Even now, what he encounters far exceeds the understanding of Hong Jishi and Li Xueru.

Across the world, only he can converse with Antares on equal footing.

He alone is qualified to enter the Dragon King Hall.

No one else has seen the elemental dragon and the Dragon God.

Only he managed to obtain two Primordial Runes, preserve both, and acquire the source skill.

Jiang Chen knows that his path differs from anyone else's.

He is destined to untangle the various mysteries and discern the essence of this world.

What truly occurred in this world in bygone eras, and why these events happened.

Jiang Chen feels all the changes are unnatural, surely there is a deeper cause.

Antares once let a slip of the tongue, though it was only a fragment of words.

Yet it gave Jiang Chen a clue.

Afterwards both parties tacitly refrained from mentioning it further, and Jiang Chen became even clearer that this world is odd.

Now standing on the Tianshan Main Peak, Jiang Chen is 99% certain that the peak within the Instance is the true Tianshan Main Peak, the one bearing countless legends.

The Tianshan Main Peak outside the Instance, however, is false.

"Swapping the two peaks is not something an ordinary deity can accomplish."

"But why would it do so?"

Jiang Chen walks while pondering the question.

A horde of monsters surged from the mountain and its flanks; the Undead Legion responded in kind, slaying them all.

The monsters in the Instance are mostly Level 75 to 77, utterly powerless against the Undead Legion.

Jiang Chen suddenly looked up toward the palace on the peak, a spark flashing in his eyes.

He seemed to have grasped something.

To verify, his soul force lunged toward the palace.

But just as he neared the palace, a formation abruptly materialized, blocking Jiang Chen's soul force.

Jiang Chen clenched his fist, a hint of excitement, "Exactly, that's it."

The formation that blocks soul force shares the same origin as the formation outside the Instance that Absorbs life force.

It is evident that both formations were crafted by the same hand.

The earlier mystery received its answer, and everything brightened.

"A false peak is placed in the outside world, with a formation inside the peak that Absorbs the life force of countless beings at an extremely slow rate."

"By exploiting the wind and snow of the Tianshan Mountains and the pressure test of the Divine Palace Instance, it remains completely undetectable."

"Even an ordinary Level 90 strongman would not notice it here without close inspection."

"All the Absorbed life force is funneled into the Instance, merging into the true Tianshan Divine Palace."

"What seems like a small amount of life force, accumulated over days and months, becomes a staggering figure."

"If I'm not mistaken, a powerful deity must be sleeping."

A deity severely wounded chooses to slumber, using the passage of time for self‑recovery.

That deity also added a safeguard: while it sleeps, it continues to Absorb the life force of countless beings.

Thus its sleep period will be greatly shortened.

Jiang Chen feels his conjecture is likely correct; this must be it.

Although he trusts his speculation, speculation remains speculation; if possible, he still intends to go into the Divine Palace to see with his own eyes.

As for entering the Divine Palace, either he force his way in or go through the Instance.

Jiang Chen believes that, since the other side created such a trial Instance, a passage must have been left.

Ahead, a sudden brightness emerged, and a sun‑like Light Orb appeared in the sky.

The light darted through the wind and snow, scattering dazzling glimmers.

Tiny rainbows sprouted in the air, like multicolored Auras, breathtakingly beautiful.

If these designs all stem from that deity's hand, one can only say its appreciation of beauty is extraordinary!

Jiang Chen's gaze fell on the sun‑like Light Orb; it merely glowed, without heat.

The Light Orb is only a surface phenomenon; its core is, astonishingly, a formation.

The formation gathers a massive amount of Light Element, radiating a blinding brilliance.

The Light Orb flickered briefly, and the snowflakes across the sky instantly glittered.

They too became coated with abundant Light Element, and the snowflakes transformed into fist‑sized snowmen.

The snowmen brandished tiny Light Swords, lunging at Jiang Chen.

Though the snowmen are small, their strength is not lacking; via soul detection, each small snowman's power reaches Level 77.

Detection Technique launched.

"Light Snowman"

"Level: 77"

"Power: 300000"

"Agility: 250000"

Spirit: 250,000

Physique: 200,000

Skill: Light Element Attack

Trait: Rebirth

Total attributes are only 1,000,000, weaker than monsters of the same level in a Hell Difficulty Instance.

In an Instance of this difficulty at the Heavenly Mountain Shrine, the monsters that appear should not have these attributes.

Jiang Chen was not careless; he noticed the Light Snowman's trait.

"The trait is Rebirth, but I don't know how it manifests."

The Undead Legion has already surged forward.

Even the smallest Skeleton Great Mage in the Undead Legion stands over two meters tall.

The Headless Knight, together with its horse, exceeds five meters.

These Light Snowmen are only fist-sized, truly tiny.

The Skeleton Great Mage initiates the attack first.

For them, once locked on, size doesn't matter; they attack the same way.

Elemental roars, and the surrounding elements instantly become chaotic.

The Light Snowmen are shattered into fragments by the intense Explosion.

But immediately afterward, the fragments turn back into Snowmen.

Their size is slightly smaller than before, their aura also weakened, but their numbers increase dramatically.

One Snowman is blown into seven or eight pieces, which then become seven or eight smaller Snowmen that rush to attack again.

In Jiang Chen's eyes, their weapons are no larger than embroidered needles.

But their power cannot be measured by size; these smaller Light Snowmen are not weak—each sword thrust can be lethal.

They are constantly blown apart, then turn into even smaller Snowmen.

Their numbers increase sharply, while their strength likewise diminishes.

However, no matter how many there are, the Skeleton Great Mage's Skill is an Area Attack; each Explosion blankets a sizable area.

Under the dense bombardment, the small Snowmen cannot break through.

"Is this Rebirth?" Jiang Chen watches, finding it somewhat laughable.

No matter how many times one can Rebirth, there will always be a limit.

For example, the number of Rebirths, or the diminishing power level after each Rebirth.

After reaching the limit, it will inevitably collapse.

Sure enough, after being slain ten times in a row, only finger-sized small Snowmen remain, completely collapsing and no longer able to complete the important part of a new round.

Just as Jiang Chen thought, the Rebirth ends here.

At this moment, the light sphere in the sky flickers again, emitting an even brighter light.

This time, a larger swath of snowflakes turns into Light Snowmen, charging forward with a fierce momentum.

This is the Second Stage of a high-level Instance.

After passing the four Elemental Fortresses of the First Stage, one must face the Second Stage here.

Most parties fail here and are forced to withdraw.

Snowflakes flutter endlessly across the sky, countless in number.

The Light Snowmen formed from the snowflakes are equally countless.

The number of the second wave of Snowmen already exceeds the first wave by several times.

The Skeleton Great Mage explodes with glee.

Jiang Chen looks at the light sphere in the sky; the sphere is the core.

As long as the light sphere is not dealt with, the Light Snowmen will be endless.

The essence of the light sphere is a formation; either break the formation or crush it with overwhelming force.

A thought sparks in Jiang Chen's mind, and the Headless Knight immediately charges toward the light sphere.

The charge Skill activates, and the Headless Knight's squad rushes toward the light sphere like a long dragon.

The light sphere hovers over a kilometer above the ground; it looks small but is actually not.

Jiang Chen's gaze stays fixed on the light sphere; just as the Headless Knight is about to arrive, a multitude of Runes appear on the sphere.

The formation activates, and a shield covered with Runes materializes around the light sphere.

The Headless Knight collides with the shield and is blasted away.

Tens of thousands of Headless Knights follow, taking turns attacking the shield.

The shield twists continuously; under the Headless Knights' fierce assault, it holds for two minutes before finally cracking.

Then the Headless Knights surge to the light sphere's front, and the formation inside the sphere activates again.

A multitude of light swords protrude from the sphere, turning it instantly into a hedgehog that blasts all nearby Headless Knights away.

The Headless Knights press the attack on the sphere, cutting off each extending light sword.

Both the shield and the light swords, the dual defenses, are breached in an instant.

Afterward, the Headless Knights surround the light sphere and hammer it fiercely.

Their bone‑white swords strike the sphere, clanging loudly.

The formation's Runes flash continuously, finally exploding with a boom.

As the light sphere shatters, the Light Snowmen also vanish.

Instance Second Stage: Passed!