Chapter 773: The Pale Realm

Amid the heavy, long-unmoved tearing sound of the wooden boards, the large brown door slowly swung outward.

The first thing to meet Lu Mi's eyes was a dim light, unlike the utter darkness of other regions within the Underworld.

It did not come from the golden human-shaped lanterns, but from all the things ahead, collectively emitting it.

Then Lu Mi clearly saw the scene outside.

It was a palace complex half-sunken into the void, featuring a majestic main hall, multiple tall towers, and aerial corridors connecting the various palaces and towers.

The deeper into the complex, the more it seemed to sink into nothingness, while its outer edges stood solidly upon a barren wasteland.

Even so, the main hall at the core remained vastly taller than all other structures in the complex.

Now, most of the buildings had completely collapsed, leaving only broken walls and ruined foundations; the few relatively intact palaces and towers clustered mostly along the edges, while the only structure still visibly towering above the core region was the main hall and its four attached spires.

At this moment, whether the ruined palace complex, the surrounding wasteland, or the high sky, all had shed their other colors, revealing a dim, pallid white—a pale that enveloped and infected the entire world.

It was this pale that brought the light.

In this pale world, a few other colors still remained: gold embedded on the surfaces of the buildings, and black representing the void at the base of the palace complex.

The latter had two additional sources: one was the phantom black Minghe silently falling from high above, cascading like a waterfall into the rear of the main hall; the other was a monster, its body long enough to be measured in hundreds of meters, coiled between the four spires atop the majestic main hall.

It was an exaggerated giant bird, its wings woven from pale flames and mysterious patterns, lying motionless atop the main hall's roof; much of the pale flame on its body had peeled away, revealing black, rotting skin beneath.

Even from a considerable distance, even after only glancing two or three times, even with blurred vision, Lu Mi could not suppress the feeling that his own "death" was accelerating.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands, discovering that his skin—already pale, dim, and dry from becoming an undead—now bore patches of blackish-blue rot.

These patches slowly writhed, deepening steadily.

Moreover, his clothing had been preliminarily "infected" by the world's pale, all its colors dulled.

"What exactly is that monster?" Lu Mi dared not gaze farther at the giant bird, only leveling his sight at the palace complex itself.

After several seconds, the increasingly ethereal voice of the "Sword Knight" Ma Liqi sounded:

"It might be Grejiali's corpse."

Grejiali? The ancestral phoenix of the Eight Ancient Gods of the Second Era, the Ancient Death God? Lu Mi blurted out in shock:

"How could Her corpse be here?"

After asking this, Lu Mi realized it was a meaningless question:

This was the Underworld; any corpse appearing here was unremarkable, and the Ancient Death God, the phoenix ancestor, had perished before the Underworld's transformation.

The more unusual thing was that the corpse of the Eggers family's "Death God" had not appeared—no one knew where it was hidden.

Lu Mi had not expected the "Sword Knight" to actually answer his question:

"It might have been placed here by the Eggers family's ancestor, the former 'Death God.'"

Huh… So the Eggers family's Death God not only acquired Grejiali's transcendental traits but also brought Her corpse back to the Underworld and hid it somewhere in the palace complex? How did it end up atop the palace roof? It's just a corpse! Was it placed like this from the start? Or did the Underworld's transformation result from this ancient god's corpse? Did the corpse mutate after the current "Death God" perished? Lu Mi immediately formed some connections.

At that moment, he heard the "Sword Knight" add:

"Sharon just saw that egg."

That egg? The egg the goat-faced devil wanted? Sharon meant the half-god of Temperance inside my body? Lu Mi felt a surge of joy, then asked:

"Where is that egg?"

"Beneath the belly of the presumed phoenix ancestor's corpse, it has a black shell, burns pale flames, and is about one meter in diameter." The "Sword Knight" described the egg simply.

Protected by the corpse of the Ancient Death God? Lu Mi's scalp prickled.

How could he possibly retrieve it?

It was no different from killing the Demon King Fabuti!

Of course, to higher beings, a living ancient god and a corpse stripped of transcendental traits were worlds apart—the difficulty difference was like heaven versus abyss—but to Lu Mi, they were identical: both fell into the category of "impossible to complete even at the cost of one's life."

Fucking sow, the goat-faced devil really was a devil-turned-undead!

Fine, if I can't complete it, I won't—kill the client and pretend this quest never existed!

As Lu Mi's malice spread through his body, the "Sword Knight" spoke again:

"It's not impossible to retrieve the egg—the phoenix ancestor's corpse is in a strange state."

Strange state of the corpse? A corpse only has two states: eternal slumber or mutation. Lu Mi dared not look directly at the rotting corpse of the Ancient Death God Grejiali, so he asked the only person present who could safely gaze upon an ancient god's body—the half-god of Temperance, Sharon:

"How is it strange?"

Again, it was the "Sword Knight" who answered:

"It is sleeping. A sleep so deep it is nearly impossible to awaken.

"This contradicts the current state of this pale realm."

Sleeping? It's dead, mutated—why does it need to sleep? Lu Mi frowned slightly:

"Why does that contradict the current situation here?"

The "Sword Knight" paused several seconds before explaining:

"From the current situation, one reason for the Underworld's transformation was the phoenix ancestor's mutation—it destroyed the 'Death God's' palace, killed all of the 'Death God's' followers, and turned this place into a pale realm.

"We previously encountered several half-gods of the 'Death God's' path; after the Underworld's transformation, they could still use the Underworld to accomplish certain tasks, even enter it directly—but none dared venture deep into the Underworld to seek the treasures left in the 'Death God's' palace. Their instincts warned them: this place was dangerous, absolutely forbidden to approach.

"But Sharon felt no such danger just now, which is why she agreed to come here."

In other words, for a long time after the Underworld's transformation, the phoenix ancestor's corpse had lingered in this pale realm, deterring higher beings of the 'Death God's' path from approaching—but now, it was sleeping… Lu Mi found the oddity in the "Sword Knight" Ma Liqi's description.

"When was the last time a higher being of the 'Death God's' path approached the depths of the Underworld and sensed danger?" Lu Mi tried to determine the approximate timeframe.

"Unknown." The "Sword Knight" answered quickly.

Unknown… So the phoenix ancestor's corpse must have fallen into slumber only within the last few years; otherwise, higher beings of the 'Death God's' path entering the Underworld would have noticed the diminished danger and attempted exploration, leaving behind traces or rumors… What happened in the last few years? As Lu Mi pondered, he couldn't help complaining:

"Why did the Eggers family's 'Death God' bring back the phoenix ancestor's corpse and leave such a massive hazard? As a true god, He should have been able to destroy the corpse directly!"

The "Sword Knight" responded to Lu Mi's complaint:

"The Underworld was originally created by the Ancient Death God within the Spirit Realm, and as an ancient god, He possessed powers beyond merely the 'Death God' path; the forces used to create the Underworld were not solely from the 'Death God' path.

"The Eggers family's 'Death God' initially found it difficult to control the Underworld and needed to rely on the phoenix ancestor's leftover corpse. By the time He truly gained control, His own state may have already been unstable, and He no longer paid attention to such trivial matters."

So this meant the Eggers family's "Death God" later went mad? The Underworld wasn't naturally formed—it was created by the Ancient Death God Grejiali… This ancient god was truly powerful, no wonder He might have mutated… Lu Mi sighed inwardly.

The "Sword Knight" seemed to sense his sigh and said simply:

"It is said that even among the mad ancient gods, the phoenix ancestor Grejiali was the most fond of stirring up trouble—and she stirred up plenty—similar to the Blood Emperor Aristar Tudo of the Fourth Era."

Now I understand your comparison… Lu Mi's gaze continuously shifted between the pale-stained sky, the wasteland, and the collapsed palace complex, contemplating whether to exploit the Ancient Death God's slumber to steal the black, pale-flame-burning giant egg.

Suddenly, he spotted a figure still in motion.

It was a monster with a human head and a giant bird's body.

Its limbs bent, revealing claws gleaming with cold light; its back bore wings covered in half-pale, half-brown feathers; its head seemed underdeveloped, as if several infant skulls were slowly fusing together.

"Oseto's premature child? It's here too!" Lu Mi recognized the monster's identity.

It was the target he and the Temperance members had been tracking!

At this moment, Oseto's monstrous child flapped its wings, circling and slowly inching closer to the sleeping ancient god's corpse.

Its target was clearly the black giant egg beneath the corpse!

"We must stop it!

"Sharon will curse and control it; we will attack!"

The "Sword Knight's" voice echoed inside Lu Mi's mind.

"Alright." This time, Lu Mi did not hesitate—he sprinted out from the bottom of the black church.

The moment he stepped into that pale realm, his entire body was dyed pale, stripped of all other colors.

It made his body and soul tremble, compelling him to kneel and lie motionless.

Soundlessly, Lu Mi drew the "Sword of Courage."

On the blade, its color eroded by pale, a blazing white-and-blue flame suddenly erupted.

(End of Chapter)