Chapter 55: The Ominous Land

The soul beasts hunting down Gu Chen varied in strength; some were ten years old, some a hundred, some a thousand, and the highest did not exceed ten thousand years.

Upon entering this place, Gu Chen's state of mind also underwent a transformation. Although he could temporarily control his emotions and avoid losing his sanity, the oppressive and irritable feelings in his heart gradually grew more intense.

"Xuanxin Technique."

Gu Chen circulated the Xuanxin Technique, attempting to slow down the generation of these emotions.

However, to his utter astonishment, the Xuanxin Technique's first realm—the Qi-Guiding Realm, which had previously been able to draw in myriad energies to cultivate one's mind—could now only draw in the vexing emotions, failing to circulate and purge them through his heart.

This drove Gu Chen increasingly mad, and a bloodthirsty demonic nature began to manifest bit by bit.

He summoned the Starry Sky Ancient Sword, and the starlight radiating from it attracted the nearby soul beasts.

Fiery red light burst from their eyes as they rapidly lunged and pounced toward Gu Chen.

"Squish, squish, squish..." The sounds of chopping vegetables echoed through the air.

Soul beast blood stained the sky, and their corpses collapsed like small mountains.

The soul beasts sought to tear Gu Chen to pieces, and Gu Chen himself became immersed in the slaughter.

Gradually, he began to lose himself.

Tirelessly, he struck down soul beast after soul beast.

A thick and suffocating stench of blood permeated the air.

Just as Gu Chen was about to completely lose his sense of self, the Flaming Golden-Haired Mouse within the pet space squeaked, "Squeak, squeak, squeak...", causing Gu Chen's consciousness to regain a shred of clarity.

"Little Jin, you're saying there's a treasure ahead and telling me to go over?" Gu Chen's voice was already hoarse, and his eyes were somewhat blurred by the scabs formed from the blood of the soul beasts.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

"In which direction?"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

"You're saying I need to go further inward?"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

"Squish, squish, squish..." Gu Chen hacked and slashed down dozens more soul beasts.

The Starry Sky Ancient Sword drained them dry of their blood, and Gu Chen released his inner mini-demon.

"Mini-demon, help me absorb some of the evil Qi here first. There's a treasure ahead, we'll split it evenly if we find it."

"Fine, but I want half-ownership of this Starry Sky Ancient Sword. Hand the sword over to me, and I'll clear the path for you."

Without a moment of hesitation, Gu Chen tossed the Starry Sky Ancient Sword to the mini-demon.

Upon receiving the Starry Sky Ancient Sword, the mini-demon appeared rather excited.

Earlier within Gu Chen's mind, she had witnessed Gu Chen's craving for battle, his craving for slaughter.

This had also ignited her own craving for slaughter, and it felt as though a raging fire was burning within her body.

That was the inherent demonic nature burning deep within her bones.

After taking the Starry Sky Ancient Sword, the mini-demon transformed into a hellish Asura.

She charged into the pack of soul beasts and unleashed a massacre.

The soul beasts here had already been contaminated by the Qi of evil, completely degenerating into beasts that knew only how to kill.

When Gu Chen killed them, he still felt a tiny trace of guilt.

The mini-demon, however, felt not the slightest bit of guilt; in her eyes, soul beasts that had lost their sanity were no different from the dead!

Killing them and sending them off to be reincarnated early could even be considered a virtuous deed!

She was more than happy to do so.

With the mini-demon clearing the way in front, Gu Chen circulated the Great Sun Heart Scripture to resist the invasion of the evil Qi.

He advanced cautiously step by step.

The white numbers before his eyes had changed to 2396:56:56 and were still continuously shifting.

After several hours of research, Gu Chen had finally figured out what this string of numbers represented.

This sequence of numbers represented time, and moreover, the flow of time would speed up whenever he engaged in slaughter.

Gu Chen had a premonition that the moment this string of numbers stopped changing would be the exact moment he left this dream world.

To be able to enter the dream world, Lu Zhaoran had evidently paid a heavy price.

She hadn't mentioned it, and Gu Chen hadn't asked, but he silently etched this debt of gratitude into his heart, intending to repay her only after his strength grew greater in the future.

"Have we arrived? Is this the place?"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

The Flaming Golden-Haired Mouse pointed toward a blood-red lake ahead and let out excited cries.

Gu Chen frowned. "You're not going to tell me the treasure is right underneath this, are you?"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

Gu Chen's face turned green!

Although there was no pungent stench of blood near the lakeshore, this color was eerily, bizarrely crimson.

To make him jump in himself—he truly felt rather panicked.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

"Little Jin, what are you doing?"

While Gu Chen was hesitating, Little Jin plunged headfirst into the blood-red lake and vanished from sight.

Startled, Gu Chen called out loudly.

"Glug, glug, glug..." Bubbles broke the surface of the lake.

A moment later, an adorable golden-haired little boy of around five or six years old poked his head out from the bottom of the lake.

He smiled and said to Gu Chen, "Master, this lake water itself is the treasure."

"This is the Lake of Life. According to my ancestral memories, the Lake of Life was transformed from the tears of a heavenly god. It can cleanse a person's inner self, making their mind as clear and flawless as a bright mirror."

"You are Little Jin?" Gu Chen asked, looking somewhat in disbelief at Little Jin who had taken on a human form.

"Yes, I'm just temporarily borrowing the Lake of Life to manifest a human form."

"This lake really has such miraculous effects?"

"Mn, this lake was transformed from the tears of a heavenly god. Heavenly gods are divine beings, and divine beings possess the ability to transform into a thousand forms; naturally, their tears also possess numerous wondrous uses!"

"Morphing into human form is merely one of the simplest uses. Purifying the soul is the second, increasing lifespan is the third, assisting in cultivation is the fourth, watering immortal herbs is the fifth, and the sixth..."

The Flaming Golden-Haired Mouse rattled off one heart-pounding benefit after another, as if naming items from a family treasure inventory.

The more Gu Chen listened, the more alarmed he became. Such a miraculous treasure, left right here, had actually never been taken away by anyone.

There had to be something bizarre about this.

"Not good!" Gu Chen suddenly cried out in shock.

His Chameleon martial soul transformed into an Owl martial soul, flying at blinding speed toward the Flaming Golden-Haired Mouse.

He grabbed the mouse by the shoulders and hoisted him into the air.

The instant they reached the air, several arm-thick, blood-red vines burst out from the lake water, whipping toward the spot where the Flaming Golden-Haired Mouse and Gu Chen were located.

"Great Sun True Fire." Gu Chen let out a low roar, and three clusters of flames appeared above the head of the Owl martial soul.

This was a soul skill Gu Chen had comprehended after mastering the Great Sun Heart Scripture. When paired with the agility of the Owl martial soul, it yielded miraculous results in battle.

Blistering heat emanated from the flames, warping the air itself. Carrying an overwhelming incinerating might, the fire smashed fiercely toward the blood-red vines.

When the Great Sun True Fire struck the blood-red vines, they merely quivered slightly before the raging, scorching flames were extinguished by an invisible force.

"So strong!" Seeing his unleashed Great Sun True Fire so easily extinguished by the adversary, Gu Chen could not help feeling a jolt of shock.

Could this vine have attained sentience, possessing its own thoughts and actively attacking enemies... Gu Chen muttered inwardly to himself.

"Little Jin, quickly get into the pet space. If we want to obtain this Lake of Life, it seems we must first deal with the monster in this lake!"

"Mn." Without the slightest hesitation, the Flaming Golden-Haired Mouse knew this monster was simply beyond anything he could handle; staying behind would only cause trouble for his master!

It would be much better to hide in the pet space first, observe the situation, and brainstorm strategies for his master.

Realizing this, the Flaming Golden-Haired Mouse transformed back into a tiny golden mouse and darted into the pet space.

Once the Flaming Golden-Haired Mouse entered the storage space, Gu Chen unhesitatingly summoned the divine artifact, the Luo Umbrella.

He summoned the Octopus Demon Spirit, the Great Black Snake Demon Spirit, and the Beautiful Woman Demon Spirit all at once.

Furthermore, he decisively activated the first layer of the divine artifact Luo Umbrella—The Domain.