Chapter 441 - 209: Phantom Black Nightmare, A Grand Dream
Chapter 441: Chapter 209: Phantom Black Nightmare, A Grand Dream
PLOP!
With a soft plop, his figure was instantly swallowed by the viscous, dark green liquid. It barely made a splash, and he quickly vanished from sight.
This stunned not only the people from Xinhuo, but the members of Kunlun as well.
’What’s going on?’
’He... he just jumped in like that?’
Both sides were momentarily stunned. Then, an even more intense feeling of anxiety washed over them.
Zhang Daoming was already down there!
Whoever reached the next level first would have the upper hand, and a much greater chance of finding the Ark Fire Seed Source!
But...
Everyone looked at the acid lake, which emanated a sinister aura, and hesitated.
’That’s a corrosive liquid that can melt anything. If they jump in like that, won’t they be dissolved without a trace?’
In the crowd, only Zhang Daoxuan stared intently at the now-calm surface of the lake, his brow furrowed in thought.
He felt that something was off.
’Something has to be wrong.’
A moment later, Zhang Daoxuan’s expression shifted.
Just a moment ago, when Zhang Daoming led his people here and met his gaze, he had given him an almost imperceptible... nod?
It was a gesture of reconciliation.
’How could a look like that possibly appear on *his* face!’
Zhang Daoxuan’s breath caught in his throat.
An utterly absurd, yet perfectly logical idea formed in his mind.
He slowly raised his right hand and tightly pinched his nose shut with his index finger and thumb.
Then, he tried to... inhale.
A clear stream of air flowed into his lungs without any obstruction.
In that instant, a tremor ran through Zhang Daoxuan, and a chill spread through his entire body!
His little experiment completely confirmed his suspicion.
He whipped his head around, strode over to Lin Ye, and leaned in to whisper something urgently in his ear, in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Upon hearing his words, Lin Ye’s pupils contracted sharply.
And at that very moment!
"Enough talk! Kill them!"
Someone roared in fury.
The suppressed anger finally erupted. A member of Xinhuo suddenly drew his blade, and a vicious slash of light came down on a Kunlun member opposite him!
This single strike was the prelude that kicked off a chaotic brawl!
"You’re courting death!"
BOOM!
In an instant, the two groups slammed into each other! Blades flashed and swords flickered as Gang Sha energy erupted!
Lin Ye’s brow furrowed deeply.
An inexplicable irritation and violence surged uncontrollably from the depths of his heart, giving him the urge to tear everything before him to shreds.
’Something’s wrong.’
’Something is very wrong!’
No matter how deep their feud or how fierce the competition, they were all human Martial Artists. In a place like the Celestial Abyss Rift, it was impossible for things to escalate so easily into a bloody, fight-to-the-death melee!
’Their negative emotions... they’re being amplified!’
The sentence Zhang Daoxuan had just whispered in his ear echoed again.
"We’re in a dream! Stop the fighting!"
BZZZ—!
An invisible domain expanded with a roar!
A gravitational force so heavy it felt as if it could crush space itself instantly enveloped the entire battlefield!
Time seemed to freeze as if someone had pressed a pause button.
Everyone, frozen mid-attack or mid-defense, was stuck in place, their faces filled with shock and bewilderment.
The blinding rage that had consumed them was doused as if by a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing most of it.
Lin Ye floated in mid-air, looking down at the battlefield he had forcibly halted. This time, he too felt that something was abnormal.
Zhang Daoxuan walked out from the crowd and into the open space between the two factions. His face was pale, but his eyes were exceptionally clear.
"Everyone, wake up!"
His voice wasn’t loud, yet it reached everyone’s ears clearly.
"Look at yourselves! Does this seem normal? We’ve been set up!"
The crowd exchanged glances. Although they had snapped out of that frenzy, their eyes were still full of vigilance and hostility.
"What do you mean?"
Hu Dahai panted heavily. He had almost lost control of himself just now, and waves of fear washed over him in retrospect.
Zhang Daoxuan didn’t answer, instead looking up at Lin Ye in mid-air.
"If I’m not mistaken, we’re all trapped in a shared dream."
"As for when we fell into it, I’m not sure. I’m even starting to question whether we actually went through the process of mapping, trial and error, and finally arriving at this entrance."
"Perhaps this whole thing has been one big dream from the very beginning!"
Zhang Daoxuan’s words sent a chill down everyone’s spines.
Zhang Daoxuan’s words caused the already tense atmosphere within the cavern to freeze instantly.
’Everyone is in one big dream?’
The claim was so absurd that, at first, no one could accept it.
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
A member of Xinhuo couldn’t help but speak up. He eyed Zhang Daoxuan warily, then glanced at his own companions.
"We fought our way here, so many of our brothers died, and now you’re telling us this is all a dream?"
"That’s right! Is Li Zhe’s injury fake? Are the brothers we lost along the way fake too? You’re saying all our sacrifices and efforts on this journey have just been a dream?!"
Voices of doubt rose one after another.
Even Hu Dahai’s brow was deeply furrowed.
Although Lin Ye had forcibly stopped him from fighting, the nameless fire in his heart hadn’t completely dissipated. Hearing such an unbelievable claim only made his head spin even more.
He looked at Zhang Daoxuan and also demanded, "What proof do you have?"
Zhang Daoxuan looked terrible, but his gaze was exceptionally sharp.
He swept his gaze over everyone present and said slowly, "Pinch your noses right now, and then try to breathe through them."
Everyone exchanged glances, not understanding what he was up to.
But quite a few people subconsciously did as he said.
"It’s no good, I can’t breathe at all."
"Isn’t that obvious? How could you possibly breathe with your nose pinched shut?"
A few people let go of their noses and started complaining irritably.
Zhang Daoxuan froze for a moment.
Then his expression changed as he figured out a crucial point.
Finally, he shook his head. "This is a standard procedure for reality checking in a dream..."
"When you realize you might be in a dream and you perform this action, you’ll find that you can still breathe, because your physical body in reality isn’t pinching its nose."
"But right now, we are in the same dream, and this dream is being controlled by a powerful will."
"When I pointed out that we’re in a dream, and when I told you to test it... the entity that dragged us into this slumber and created this dream must have noticed."
"That’s why it influenced your perception, making you think it’s natural to be unable to breathe when you pinch your nose."
"Because in a dream, logic itself is defined by the dream’s creator."
Zhang Daoxuan’s words were a bit convoluted, but the information they contained shocked everyone who understood them.
Hu Dahai seemed to have figured something out, and his voice trembled slightly. "You mean... we’ve been played like fiddles by some invisible ghost from the very beginning?"
"I’m not sure if it’s a person or a member of the Celestial Abyss Race."
"I’m leaning towards the latter."
"I once read about a type of Celestial Abyss Race in an ancient text. They’re called the Black Nightmare Race. They have no fixed form and can possess intelligent beings, read their emotions and memories, and feed on strong emotions."
"The more powerful individuals among them can even weave an Illusion Realm and construct a Dream World so realistic it’s indistinguishable from reality."
The Black Nightmare Race!
This unfamiliar name made everyone’s skin crawl.
If what Zhang Daoxuan said was true, then their current situation was more perilous than facing any powerful enemy!
"Then... how do we get out of the dream?"
Zhang Daoxuan was silent for a moment. Finally, he forced out a single word through gritted teeth.
"Die."