Within the vast and ancient great hall.

  Beverly bent down, straining to look deep into the colossal cavern below.

  At an unknown depth—whether it was ten kilometers or twenty thousand meters.

  She saw a gigantic carcass, seven to eight thousand meters tall, possessing an octopus-like head and shoulders adorned with a pair of incomplete, predominantly grey, bat-like wings. It lay twisted seven or eight times over at the bottom of the massive, empty chamber beneath the dark, boundless ground.

  Why was it called a corpse?

  Because looking down from above, the body of this strangely shaped giant carcass was clearly severed in the middle, cut into several massive sections.

  Furthermore, along the edges of these several colossal, mountain-like fragments of the deceased, there were extremely tragic and irregular gashes in the flesh.

  Every moment, torrents of murky green blood plasma continuously poured out from the raw, bloody wound surfaces, pooling into the vast blood-mud marsh beneath where the giant corpse rested.

  What truly astonished her was this:

  This enormous carcass at the grotto floor, clearly devoid of life, was inexplicably sprouting countless pale green tentacles—resembling human blood vessels—from those enormous, gaping wounds.

  These densely packed tentacles, whose exact number was unknown but certainly numbered in the tens of thousands, simultaneously emitted a shimmering, eerie green light, blanketing large sections of the muddy marsh at the cavern's base.

  Moreover, these continuously trembling and rhythmically pulsating tentacles further generated more delicate, eerie green fleshy filaments, which vigorously stretched outwards.

  While crawling in continuous circles along the cavern walls, these clusters of fleshy filaments had already traversed over ten thousand meters, on the verge of climbing up to the floor level of the great hall above.

  But what captivated Beverly’s focus most was not these horrifying appendages.

  What shocked and terrified her was the boundless, glorious presence emanating from this incomplete giant corpse, an aura so immense it felt as if it wanted to completely consume her.

  That grim aura, completely unconcealed.

  "Shining Sun level aura!"

  Mycenae, arriving slowly, stood beside Beverly, gazing down at the several colossal corpse fragments at the bottom of the grotto, more than ten thousand meters deep, and continuously exclaimed in awe.

  "I feel... it's more than that."

  Beverly shook her head and stated, "Even though this unknown alien creature's corpse remains, and it's decayed to this extent, its aura still registers at the Shining Sun level. So... what level would it have attained when it was alive?"

  "Could it be..."

  Mycenae murmured in a deep voice, "Could it have reached the False God level?"

  Beverly pursed her lips and nodded: "It’s a distinct possibility."

  Whoosh—

  Sighing, Mycenae stated solemnly, "Regardless, since we've reached this far, let's proceed downward immediately. We should ascertain if there are any rare treasures."

  "Agreed," Beverly nodded.

  Immediately, the two figures shimmered, transforming into two dark-red light-forms, and spiraled down towards the grotto floor, over ten thousand meters deep.

  Out of caution, as they descended, they maintained a slow, deliberate pace while carefully observing their surroundings for any anomalies.

  It wasn't until several minutes later that they reached the bottom of the subterranean chamber, hovering steadily about ten meters above the edge of the enormous, glimmering green marsh.

  Looking at the colossal corpse fragments, which resembled towering mountain ranges, standing amidst the vast marsh several thousand meters away, Beverly's expression remained composed. She chanted an incantation, and with mana surging, she immediately simulated and created a half-illusory, half-real crimson compass.

  "Blood Witchcraft: Treasure Seeking."

  Buzz—

  Once the Blood Compass materialized, its delicate needle on the dial spun wildly, agitating the air.

  Swish swish swish!

  A few seconds later, the needle stopped, pointing decisively in a certain direction toward the distant giant corpse 'mountain range.'

  Mycenae and Beverly exchanged glances. Their figures instantly became illusory, and they flashed away, cloaked in mana light.

  Whoosh—

  As soon as they entered the 'Corpse Mountain Range' area, the two immediately felt the environment instantly become heavy and oppressively humid. All sorts of sights became hazy and distorted.

  Concurrently, indistinct, viscous, and guttural murmuring sounds echoed in their ears, the words indecipherable.

  The sensory input was akin to thousands of beings, positioned unseen around them, simultaneously praying and chanting in different languages and tones.

  Looking ahead.

  They observed that the colossal grotto entrance that should have been present before had vanished without a trace, replaced by a vast, multi-colored, continuously twisting and throbbing alien framework.

  Moreover, this locale, saturated with rich and dazzling colors, featured a hot firmament that perpetually rained down countless faint, smoke-emitting tiny sparks.

  When these few weak, self-extinguishing sparks slowly drifted to the ground, or onto the towering corpse 'mountains' surrounding them, they immediately vibrated and emitted plumes of sticky, burning smoke, sketching and condensing into thousands upon thousands of phantom human figures.

  These humanoid figures, formed by the ghostly smoke, as soon as they coalesced, spread their arms wide, knelt down and bowed deeply, while their faces continuously swelled and contracted as if uttering prayers.

  "Great Cthulhu!"

  "Great Cthulhu!"

  "Great Cthulhu!"

  ...

  Suppressing the increasingly distinct discomfort, Mycenae turned to Beverly and instructed: "Search quickly. I feel... staying here too long will lead to some terrible danger."

  She nodded: "Understood."

  Immediately, the two swiftly searched under the guidance of Witchcraft.

  This formidable alien entity possessed a total of five corpse fragments, much like five distinct peaks of a corpse mountain range.

  The sheer size of each 'mountain peak' was not particularly immense.

  At least, under their Morningstar level mental perception, they could sweep through the entire area easily.

  But perhaps the residual power of this alien giant was too terrifying, causing this Secret Realm area to feel as if it had been independently carved out by him, and also subjected to some unknown, pervasive interference.

  Consequently, the two faced significant difficulty throughout the entire process of locating rare artifacts.

  Not only was their mental perception severely compromised, but their sense of orientation, vision, and even memory, all experienced incomprehensible chaos and inversion at irregular intervals.

  Thus, it required a full hour for the pair to painstakingly examine every single corpse fragment.

  As soon as the search concluded, the two dared not linger for even a minute. They swiftly flew out of this 'Cracked' zone and rapidly ascended towards the grotto opening that had reappeared above.

  Whoosh! Whoosh!

  Flying out of the grotto with exhausted expressions, the two immediately collapsed into a corner of the gloomy great hall.

  "I feel like if we had lingered any longer..."

  Beverly's beautiful eyes widened as she gasped, "My soul would have been 'crushed' and shattered by that aura."

  Mycenae, sitting back-to-back with her, sighed twice, then immediately grabbed his Witchcraft bag, and scattered various 'items' he had just scavenged onto the ground.

  A quick glance revealed eight objects in total:

  A dark, sooty bone scimitar radiating intense malice, a translucent, colorless liquid sphere inexplicably condensed and floating, enveloped by a layer of greenish-grey blood, an irregularly shaped, burning crimson crystal seemingly containing endless streams of fire, a damaged gem bearing an internal, ink-black vortex, and four thin books of unknown material.

  "Space-time gem."

  Seraphine's eyes flickered as she examined the dark, dilapidated gem. "So that's it; it was obtained within this Secret Realm."

  Having said that, she looked towards Mycenae and Beverly, who were clearly very close, and remarked with a faint smile:

  "Haha, I didn't expect that even a Witch King would fall in love."

  In fact, after that Secret Realm exploration concluded, within a year, Mycenae and Beverly successively participated in several more expeditions.

  Most were devoid of great danger.

  Although their material gains were not abundant, their relationship deepened considerably during their continuous explorations.

  Over the next ten years, it even evolved into a romantic relationship.

  According to Beverly, initially, she merely wanted to recruit a Morningstar-level witch as her subordinate.

  This was also a standard custom for noble offspring of the Resplendent Moon level.

  She never anticipated that through continuous contact, Beverly would discover Mycenae was so compatible with her.

  Thus, through a series of coincidences, their relationship gradually evolved from colleagues, acquaintances, and good friends into true lovers.

  Of course, Mycenae himself was also quite surprised.

  He originally believed that in this life he would always struggle and wander amid endless bloodshed and killing.

  His ultimate outcome would either be becoming a dark overlord or dying forgotten in a corner of the Ansel world.

  But he never expected that his empty and damaged inner self would, hundreds of years later, be filled and completed by Beverly's presence.

  "Perhaps, this is destiny."

  He looked at Beverly, whose features bore a slight resemblance to his mother's. The faint resistance that had existed in his heart, along with the deep-seated resentment, also dissipated considerably.

  "Crescent Blade of Calamity, specifically designed for slaying intelligent beings."

  Mycenae picked up the seemingly ordinary scimitar. After testing it with identification Witchcraft, he observed the test information that appeared like a screen in the air and slowly murmured:

  [After being wounded by this blade, the injured will be subjected to a terrifying malicious curse. Under this curse of unknown principle, the injured's body will continuously deteriorate, their soul will continuously shatter, and their thoughts and will will suffer continuous disorientation and buzzing.]

  "That's a superb weapon."

  Beverly stated with a natural smile, "I estimate my old ancestor wouldn't be able to withstand a single attack from this blade. If one were to forcibly confront it, even a Resplendent Moon level existence might embark on the path of destruction."

  "Hmm," Mycenae nodded, concurring with his lover's assessment.

  He then picked up the palm-sized, irregularly shaped, burning crimson crystal and used identification Witchcraft to test its properties:

  [Molten Crystal Burst: Contains all the energy of 100,000 colossal volcanoes erupting simultaneously.]

  "That is a massive explosive charge."

  Beverly calculated meticulously, "The identification data labels it a 'volcanic activity' of an unknown type. If it references the kind of massive volcano that can poison a thousand-mile radius upon eruption, then the power of 100,000 such volcanoes erupting simultaneously would be sufficient to eliminate a peak Resplendent Moon level entity, and might even impact the Shining Sun level domain."

  "It can function as an ultimate trump card," Mycenae mused briefly, then stated, "This thing, once deployed, clearly discriminates against neither ally nor foe. It is tantamount to a suicidal weapon."

  "That is true," Beverly sighed, "I sincerely hope we never need to use it."

  At this moment, Mycenae carefully touched the greenish-grey liquid layer surrounding the thumb-sized, colorless liquid mass using his mental power.

  He gently pushed aside a corner of it.

  Hiss!

  In an instant, that segment of his invisible and formless mental power was instantly corroded into nothingness by the colorless liquid.

  "Hiss—"

  Mycenae immediately took a deep breath, and said in shock, "What kind of liquid is this? It's so vicious."

  Seeing this, Beverly immediately activated an identification Witchcraft, 'striking' it from a distance onto the surface of the eerie green liquid mass.

  Whoosh—

  That layer of green liquid seemed to be blown away by the wind, revealing a corner of the colorless liquid sphere within.

  Sizzle sizzle!

  She never expected that even the illusory Witchcraft used to identify all things would be instantly corroded into nothingness by the liquid mass.

  But before this Witchcraft was annihilated, the identification information barely appeared in the air:

  [Putrefying Deity Toxin: Once released, it can almost completely corrode all tangible entities and intangible ethereal bodies. If fully unleashed and transformed into a gaseous mist, it can even erode a hundred-thousand-mile continent into a bottomless pit.]

  "Resplendent Moon level instant kill," Beverly concluded, "Even a Shining Sun level entity, if caught off guard and coated, would suffer injury, and the damage would be severe."

  "It must be preserved with extreme care; otherwise, even a minor leak would be suicidal." Mycenae's expression was solemn. He waved his hand, immediately releasing multiple protective Witchcrafts to tightly envelop the greenish-grey liquid mass.

  After finishing, he immediately opened one of the four flimsy books—neither made of gold nor wood—and used identification Witchcraft to inspect them.

  The first book, 《Movement in Absolute Zero》:

  [A one-time alien rune. Once activated, no matter what kind of damage one suffers, the body and soul can be maintained in a 'near-death, yet not deceased' shattered crystalline state.

  After enduring the calamity, one can choose any moment to revert to normal. At that time, regardless of the severity of the body or soul damage sustained, it can be restored by half.

  However, the user's inherent strength will significantly decline, and even their life essence will drop to the level of an ordinary mortal.]

  Beverly slightly furrowed her beautiful brows: "Near-death, yet not dead... The identification information uses this phrase, which is rather peculiar."

  "I suppose it means half-dead, half-alive," Mycenae shrugged and joked, "I cannot imagine what kind of circumstances one would need to utilize this method to prolong life. Hmm, perhaps I will never use it in my lifetime."

  The second book, 《Book of Doom》:

  [The boundless world is filled with countless calamities; it is the impermanence of fate, the inherent malice of the mundane world.

  Be grateful for the encroaching malice, as it will make one fertile; curse the successive malice, for it is fate's mockery.

  Possessing this book allows one to sense and predict approaching calamity at an unpredictable moment.

  But unfortunately, it can only predict and offers no solutions.

  So, is this a prophecy of disaster, or a declaration of doom leading one into confusion?

  Unknown.]

  "An active omen of impending disaster," Beverly mused for a moment and added, "but its accuracy remains questionable."

  "Hmm," Mycenae nodded, "Useful, yet its practical effectiveness seems limited."

  The third book, 《Swamp Heresy》:

  [The vast world resembles a boundless swamp; every rock and every person is deeply mired within the mire.

  However, the content recorded in this strange scripture allows practitioners to possess unparalleled adaptability, capable of integrating into various worlds to the greatest extent.

  But the cost is a massive 'otherization' of the practitioner's body and soul.

  People of light will become pretentious and hypocritical, brave people will become fanatics, calm people will turn cold and cruel.

  And people of darkness will become even more deeply entrenched in shadow.

  Just like this book, it will irrevocably cause one to fall into endless distortion.]

  Mycenae frowned tightly, examining the identification data for the 《Swamp Heresy》 before him, and stated in a deep voice: "The so-called ability to adapt to any environment is indeed a powerful efficacy.

  If one were to travel to wicked worlds and confront the curses spawned there, this ability would certainly be greatly beneficial; however... this arcane text fundamentally 'otherizes' one's innate nature after cultivation. Tsk, the side effects are far too severe."

  "Indeed," Beverly frowned, "Even the path of Blood Sacrifice and the path of Slaughter are only intense in their application and do not alter one's core personality, but this arcane text..."

  Beverly frowned further, "The most critical element is 'the self.' Any arcane text that fundamentally changes the practitioner's 'self' is an utterly evil art. Keeping this evil art serves no positive purpose; I believe... we should simply destroy it."

  "No."

  Mycenae shook his head, rejecting her suggestion, "This is, after all, a relic left by an alien being suspected to be of False God level. To destroy it rashly would be too great a loss. Let us preserve it; perhaps it will prove useful in the future, who can say."

  "I will defer to your judgment," Beverly smiled beautifully.

  Next, the two turned their attention toward the identification data for the fourth alien book.

  The identification details regarding this book were notably concise, consisting of only a few sentences.

  But within those few sentences, many concepts remained incomprehensible.

  《Bewildering Light and Shadow》:

  [After consuming some space-time energy, there is a certain probability of summoning a branch of the Creeping Sea flowing deep within the endless void, thereby bypassing the rules' restrictions in the underworld, and directly traversing into many wicked worlds and other void regions.]

  "Space-time energy? A branch of the Creeping Sea? Traversing into many wicked worlds?"

  Mycenae and Beverly exchanged glances.

  "These concepts, why have I never heard of them?"

  Beverly was confused, "Space-time energy can probably be understood as related to time and space, but what is a branch of the Creeping Sea? And what are the wicked worlds?"

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "I know what the Wicked Worlds are, but I've only vaguely heard of the Creeping Sea."

  Mycenae thought for a moment, then immediately recounted to her all the concepts about the 'Wicked Worlds' that Vassago had once explained to him.

  Since establishing their bond with Beverly, Mycenae had gradually let down his intense guard, intermittently revealing much of the information and secrets he knew to her.

  However, regarding the Creeping Sea, Vassago had only briefly mentioned it twice, stating that such a rare anomaly was extremely difficult to witness in the endless void, and even he himself had only encountered it two or three times countless years ago, yet dared not enter it.

  "Creeping Sea..."

  Seraphine, standing beside him, suddenly recalled the fragmented information and visuals revealed in Mycenae's memory entity earlier.

  Among them was an image of the latter riding a Void Whale, traversing within a Colorful River of Light rich in space-time energy.

  That river, in terms of its space-time 'level,' seemed vastly more extensive and profound than that black-gold Phoenix.

  "Could it be that that river of light is the so-called branch of the Creeping Sea?"

  Lost in thought, Seraphine looked up, and with a single glance, she thoroughly scrutinized the 《Bewildering Light and Shadow》 before Mycenae, examining it from inside out.

  In an instant, all the processes and sequences within the book regarding how to consume space-time energy to summon a branch of the Creeping Sea completely unfolded in her mind.

  At the same time, all the related information in that book, along with the vague definitions and data about the Creeping Sea contained within, provided ample 'fuel' for the Eye of True Revelation and Chaos Calculation's deductions.

  Instantly, the Eye of True Revelation and Chaos Calculation began to operate in tandem.

  Buzz—

  Within the Cosmic Intellect, the stars also glittered brightly.

  Soon, a relatively clear piece of intelligence appeared in 'space':

  [The Colorful River of Light is a branch of the Creeping Sea. It connects existence with nothingness, traverses reality with emptiness, crosses tangibility with the intangible, like endless, countless vines, spreading across infinite space-time, intertwining to form rivers, and rivers merging to form seas.]

  "Theoretically..."

  Seraphine's eyes flickered with a hint of interest, "This is a natural super-space-time pathway existing deep within the Realm of Phantasm, flowing between endless parallel universes."

  In a flash, she thought of her own Space-Time Traversal skill, which was restricted by some mysterious cosmic law.

  Previously, after extreme deduction, Seraphine knew that that space-time skill also required the consumption of so-called space-time energy to achieve arbitrary traversal between various space-times.

  In a sense, that space-time skill shared a similar marvel with the Creeping Sea traversal.

  However, the difference was that the activation conditions for the 【Space-Time Traversal】 skill were more stringent.

  It required solidified crystalline space-time energy to activate normally.

  That is, one needed to possess a space-time gem.

  The conditions for summoning a branch of the Creeping Sea were much more relaxed; any space-time energy would suffice, regardless of its carrier or form.

  "Phantom Crystal, Regret Potion, both contain space-time energy."

  Seraphine pondered meticulously, "However, if truly compared, the former's 'energy' density and quality are clearly far, far inferior to the latter, but the method of acquisition and difficulty are also much easier.

  Just break a section of the Sentience Realm Hallway, or shatter a Void Secret Realm, and you can obtain a lot.

  The latter, however, possesses more powerful functions compared to the former... it can reverse time, but each use means one less."

  At this moment, Mycenae picked up that damaged space-time gem.

  Clink... Clink... Clink...

  His lean finger gently tapped this incomplete crystal, which was not much bigger than a quail's egg. Staring at the faintly visible black vortex within, he softly murmured:

  "This is no ordinary gem. To appear deep within the Shattered Secret Realm of the endless void... it cannot be a mundane object."

  Beverly slowly walked over, her beautiful eyes fixed on the gem, pondering: "I can feel an extremely vast and profound energy contained within this gem... What exactly is it?"

  She thought for a moment, then continued: "How about, inject some mana to test it?"

  Mycenae glanced at his lover and nodded: "Alright, let's try it then."

  Having said that, he swelled his entire body with mana, condensed a trace of ink-black magical light, and suddenly plunged it into the incomplete gem in his palm.

  Buzz—

  Instantly, the gem began to vibrate with a hum, as if activated.

  Following this vibration, the surrounding environment also suddenly changed dramatically.

  In a flash, Mycenae and Beverly appeared within a several-hundred-meter long, copper-lined chamber.

  "Where is this place?"

  Beverly's eyes were filled with awe as she looked around.

  She saw that on the copper walls of the surrounding chamber, using a material similar to gold leaf, intricate yet somewhat crude murals had been meticulously carved.

  "Is this some kind of projection Witchcraft?" Mycenae also looked around, frowning in suspicion, "Or spatial teleportation? Or a domain display?"

  The two focused their attention on the copper chamber murals.

  They saw that the murals depicted people, mountains, and water.

  But the characters within were represented only by circles and curves, and the landscapes were merely roughly sketched.

  These murals seemed to be telling a story.

  The opening painting depicted a smiling little person born in a dilapidated house. His mother held him, her face beaming. His father, returning home from farm work with a hoe, saw his newborn son and also wore a wide, smiling face.

  In subsequent murals, the child gradually grew up. Although his family was poor in the village, everyone who saw him wore a smile.

  A few paintings later, the little person had matured into a smiling youth.

  One day, while working in the fields, he encountered an elderly, long-bearded witch wearing a long robe.

  This old witch recognized his latent talent and brought him back to a mountain range floating offshore, where she began to instruct him in various Witchcrafts.

  Many of these Sword Witchcrafts were related to blades.

  And the numerous witches in that offshore mountain range, when traveling, often merged with their swords, transforming into illusory light that traversed the sky and burrowed through the earth.

  Among them, the various applications of swords by these witches truly astonished Mycenae and Beverly.

  Swords summoning thunder and fire, a single sword splitting the sea, swords multiplying into ten thousand, the soul transforming into a sword, swords condensing the sun and moon, swords cleaving endless earth.

  Beverly exclaimed in shock: "From their display of power, these Sword Witches in the murals, the strongest among them, even surpassed the Shining Sun level!"

  Mycenae, besides being shaken, also sighed: "This could be a world extremely remote from here. Their Sword Witchcraft system is clearly more potent than that of the Ansel world."

  They continued observing.

  In the murals, the youth was diligent and intelligent. He eventually distinguished himself within that Witchcraft organization dedicated to studying swords, earning the high regard of his mentors.

  But when he grew into a young man and fell in love with another female witch in the organization, everything shifted.

  In short, what followed was a classic, somewhat melodramatic love triangle narrative.

  From then on, the style of the murals changed dramatically. The youth's smiling countenance vanished, replaced by an expression of deep pain.

  He betrayed and fled the witch organization, commencing a life of theft and causing havoc throughout the world.

  Finally, he even infiltrated the original organization, pilfering all its numerous precious treasures, committing grave offenses.

  In the subsequent murals, the youth, pursued for many years by a collective of witches, arrived in an extra-dimensional desolate Secret Realm. There, he forcibly conscripted numerous craftsmen to construct a tomb. After its completion, he ruthlessly executed them all, one by one.

  He himself, in an instant, became old and decrepit, sitting quietly in the deepest recess of the tomb... and passed away.

  Looking up, at the highest point of the copper chamber, a line of unfamiliar large characters suddenly manifested.

  Upon seeing these characters, Mycenae and Beverly inexplicably understood their meaning:

  【Do not commit minor errors or major evils】

  "Committing so many misdeeds, only to regret them at the point of death, without achieving thorough resolution." Mycenae shook his head and scoffed.

  Thud!

  Suddenly, the far end of the copper chamber inexplicably collapsed inward, revealing a spiraling staircase leading downwards.

  Beverly glanced toward the entrance of the passage in the distance, and immediately instructed her lover: "This floor holds nothing of value. Let's proceed to the next level and investigate."

  Mycenae nodded: "Agreed."

  Immediately, the two quickly walked toward the far end of the copper chamber.

  Not long after, they vanished from this copper chamber.

  Just then, the line of text on the top floor of the copper chamber suddenly erupted with cracks, and with a crash, detached from the ceiling, falling to the ground and shattering into pieces.

  A new line of text appeared on the ceiling:

  【The traveler is quite pleased (Smiling Face)】

  "Do not commit minor errors or major evils, The traveler is very pleased, ha ha ha." Seraphine shook her head and chuckled, "What a remarkable entity."

  "However, sword-riding flight, soul transforming into a sword—this sequence of murals clearly depicts a Xianxia world."

  She stroked her chin, musing: "It is truly wondrous. The worlds currently manifesting within the Realm of Phantasm are predominantly 'concepts' that have appeared in Earth's cultural narratives. Why is this so?"

  After continuously gathering various data points, based on the calculations performed by Eye of True Revelation and Chaos Calculation, she had largely grasped the true nature of the Realm of Phantasm.

  Seraphine theorized that the Realm of Phantasm, which exists and connects countless parallel three-dimensional realities, is very likely the collective materialized entity formed from the imaginations of all intelligent life across all space-times.

  The so-called imagination is a 'concept' that resides between sensibility and rationality.

  The foundational rules of the material world cannot hold sway here.

  This wondrous realm, infinite in scale, was akin to an infinitely expansive blank canvas.

  And the combined imagination of beings from endless space-times, acting like an ultimate paintbrush, strokes across this colossal canvas, painting myriad colors and hues.

  It simultaneously overrides the fundamental reality of that space-time domain and establishes the governing principles for that domain.

  At the same time, the numerous strange and peculiar dream constructs of the Projected Layer are also highly likely to be formed by the scattered informational echoes emanating from the endless Secret Realms within the Realm of Phantasm.

  Because the sheer volume of so-called dream collectives in the Projected Layer was demonstrably excessive. They could not possibly be sustained and generated solely by the relatively small population of intelligent life forms in a single region of real space.

  For instance, the Solar System.

  Before the true recovery of Ether, the total number of intelligent life entities across the entire Solar System was only a few billion.

  Yet, the number of corresponding dream collectives in the Projected Layer for the Solar System region was disproportionately vast.

  Furthermore, every time these collectives were destroyed, they regenerated rapidly.

  Therefore, these dream collectives should more accurately be termed 【Secret Realm Information Projection Collectives】.

  "Myth, myth."

  Seraphine vocalized the word 'myth,' slowly pacing, and proceeded toward the spiral staircase.

  According to her analysis:

  The definition of a myth is something non-scientific yet containing partial scientific underpinnings, invariably incorporating some form of primitive, fantastical narrative.

  Primitive in its construction.

  Perhaps this explains why these worlds within the Realm of Phantasm often manifest with concepts like square earth and round heaven.

  Because during periods of civilizational ignorance, limited by underdeveloped technology, the majority of intelligent species, particularly humans in this region, conceptualized the world as flat-earth-round-sky, rather than a sphere.

  Thus, they generated world clusters like the Gendaya nation and flat continents suspended in the void, such as the Ansel world.

  As for why these worlds, and the intelligent species within them, share such extensive parallels with Earth's civilization—which exists in what seems like 'remote valleys'—in terms of their physical structures and systems.

  Seraphine had not yet fully researched and comprehended that connection.

  But she was certain that some world-altering secret must lie within.

  At this moment, Mycenae and Beverly had also followed the spiral staircase to the second copper chamber.

  As soon as they entered, they were immediately blinded by a dazzling, illusory light.

  "This is..."

  Mycenae looked at the significant number of treasures scattered nearby—some familiar, some completely strange.

  Even with his practiced self-control, he couldn't help but be momentarily stunned.

  Treasures, vast quantities of treasures.

  As far as the eye could see, this colossal crystal copper chamber, nearly a thousand meters long on each side, was more than half-filled with a multitude of diverse and irregularly shaped rare items and spiritual materials.

  Among them, an unknown number of thousands or tens of thousands of palm-sized, bread-shaped refined gold ingots were artificially stacked into several 'gold mountains' tens to over a hundred meters high.

  Furthermore, there were hundreds, even thousands, of heavy statues, either animal-shaped or human-shaped, cast from sparkling large chunks of dark silver, leaning against the four walls in various poses.

  In addition, there were square 'jade' tiles the size of dining tables, made from precious arcane materials such as starlight stone, ice crystal, clear qi copper, mist jade, and burning essence, paving the ground, allowing people to walk all over them.

  At the same time, countless fingernail-sized Hermes Thunderstones, dragon's blood profound crystals, nine-aperture colorful pearls, along with irregularly sized Pio amber, purple pupil glaze, and heart-colored gems, were all casually scattered on the ground like trash, mixed with dust, dirt, and mud.

  Beyond that, there were hundreds or thousands of times more flashing strange objects than these previous precious materials, all casually piled up in various locations throughout this vast copper chamber.

  These numerous strange and unfamiliar objects, completely unrecognizable to Mycenae, almost every single one of them was constantly emitting waves of immense and divine aura.

  Morningstar, Resplendent Moon, Shining Sun, and even bewildering and dizzying False God-level auras were not a minority among these alien strange objects, shaped like blades, spears, hammers, lances, and cauldrons.

  There were even dozens of sword-shaped objects radiating near-False God-level auras, like swimming fish, slowly wandering and circling in the large space at the top of the copper chamber.

  Upon first witnessing this dazzling and magnificent scene.

  Not only was Mycenae completely shaken, but even Beverly, who was born into a prominent family and had seen various precious arcane profound materials since childhood, was equally stunned and mesmerized.

  She couldn't help but widen her beautiful eyes, looking at all this before her, and murmured to herself: "This... This is simply a grand treasury!"

  But at this moment, Seraphine, behind the two, calmly looked up at the ceiling of the copper chamber.

  There, just like the upper copper chamber, a line of large, palm-sized ancient characters was carved, their meaning also inexplicably clear upon sight:

  [I am ashamed in this life for stealing too much, I regret wasting so many years coveting stuff.]

  Seraphine, upon seeing this line of text, and then recalling the 'The traveler is quite pleased' line that finally appeared on the ceiling of the first copper chamber, couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Ha ha ha, interesting, this is purely an actor."

  Mycenae also saw the ancient text on the ceiling. After understanding its meaning, he couldn't help but scoff with a mocking expression: "Truly a pretentious fellow."

  Then, he looked at Beverly, who was somewhat mesmerized and had subconsciously taken a few steps forward, almost touching a leaning dark silver statue. He immediately stepped forward and grasped her wrist, while pressing close and softly shouting: "Don't touch it!"

  "Huh?" Beverly's body stiffened as if waking from a dream, and she turned to look at him, stunned.

  "Perhaps, my soul is relatively special."

  Mycenae turned his head and glanced at the large areas of dazzling 'gold and silver mountains' ahead, and said to her seriously, "I have an extremely strong premonition; that premonition warns me that if I carelessly touch any of these treasures, no matter what kind, whether with my physical body or spirit... I will fall into ruin."

  "Is that so? Could it be coated in deadly poison, or some unknown curse?" Beverly's expression also became serious after hearing her lover's words this time. "Then let's try it."

  Immediately, she pulled out a dark brown Witchcraft bag.

  Reaching out, she pulled the drawstring that tightened the bag's opening. The bag immediately flew without wind, released from Beverly's delicate hand, and remained floating several meters in mid-air. At the same time, an exaggeratedly large hole, nearly 5-6 meters in diameter, opened at the front of the bag.

  Next, over a dozen burly men, whose faces were tattooed with complex patterns resembling runes, walked out of the bag in neat steps, lining up in front of Beverly.

  Each of these burly men had dull, empty eyes, as if soulless puppets.

  "Let the Witchcraft slaves try it," Beverly said coldly, "Aside from their severely abnormal souls, they don't differ much from normal humans anyway. If they can touch it safely, then we will have no problem either."

  "Agreed," Mycenae nodded, "It's a sound method."

  Seraphine, standing on the side, saw Beverly's actions and couldn't help but laugh: "Witchcraft version D-class personnel, huh? Interesting."

  Immediately, she couldn't help but murmur: "The Realm of Phantasm is the collective materialized imagination of countless sentient beings across the infinite parallel space-times of the Grand Universe, and it also inexplicably has some connection with Earth's (old world) culture, based on unknown principles. For example, the witch world, and the Gendaya nation. So, could there possibly exist an SCP world somewhere in the endless void?"

  Ignoring Seraphine's wild thoughts.

  The more than a dozen Witchcraft slaves, now under Beverly's command, were lining up and heading towards the treasures and rare items piled high on the ground ahead.

  Their footsteps were quick, their movements smooth. In the blink of an eye, they dispersed, fearlessly climbing those 'gold mountains'.

  Moving about, they even pulled out canvas bags, deftly filling them with refined gold and dark silver.

  Mycenae and Beverly, standing silently at the edge of the copper chamber, stared intently at these busy burly men, constantly watching for any signs of dangerous changes in them.

  In this quiet and eerie atmosphere, ten minutes silently passed.

  "Hoo—"

  Beverly let out a slight sigh, and smiled: "At least for now, these things seem safe."

  No sooner had she spoken than the sound of something falling to the ground came from ahead.

  Mycenae immediately focused his gaze.

  He saw that the first Witchcraft slave who had rushed onto the 'gold mountain' and touched the refined gold, had his forearm suddenly sever at the elbow, falling powerlessly to the ground.

  No drop of fresh blood flowed from the severed arm; instead, faint eerie green lights emanated from it.

  He looked at the other Witchcraft slaves' dazed, blank eyes, and Mycenae and Beverly's solemn, grave gazes in the distance. Just as he was about to say something, in the next instant, he silently collapsed and shattered into large patches of shimmering green light.

  The remaining dozen or so burly slaves in the copper chamber had no time to panic. Each silently exploded into dense green light points.

  The countless Adamant, Mithril, gems, pearls, and even more numerous strange alien profound materials and powerful, awe-inspiring strange objects, all as if receiving a command, simultaneously cracked, shattered, and exploded, transforming into vast, swirling masses of brilliant green mist, formed from countless shimmering green light fragments.

  Next, these endless light points, drifting and suspended, automatically gathered together like fireflies, condensing into a line of ancient alien text:

  [I wish none of my gold to be with you; destroy it all.]

  Mycenae and Beverly now looked troubled.

  Seraphine, however, grinned broadly: "Ha ha ha, what an interesting person, oh dear, I really want to find this person."

  "Crazy! Psychotic!"

  Beverly clenched her teeth, whispering, "Simply unreasonable!"

  "Alright." Mycenae glanced at the end of the copper chamber, at the staircase that appeared after the large pile of treasures vanished, and said in a deep voice, "To the next floor then."

  Having said that, he took the lead, striding towards the entrance of the staircase.

  "Hoo—" Beverly let out a frustrated sigh, nodded, and also followed behind her lover towards the staircase entrance.

  Entering the staircase, the interior was a long, narrow hallway.

  This hallway was not straight, but somewhat winding.

  After continuously passing several turns and reaching the lengthy, crystalline staircase, the two entered the third level of this alien tomb, materialized from a mysterious gem.

  This was an even vaster chamber, more like a colossal palace than a mere room.

  This underground palace, nearly ten thousand meters long on each side, was empty, devoid of anything.

  Only at its very center, an ancient stone platform stood silently.

  Behind the old stone platform, a slender, half-transparent humanoid stone carving, not tall in stature, sat cross-legged.

  Ah, it didn't seem to be a stone carving.

  Mycenae focused his senses, and vaguely felt a powerful life aura, which he had never encountered in his life, emanating from within this hazy humanoid body.

  This aura was vast, immense, lofty, and profound.

  Like a setting sun, it lay quietly in slumber, yet without a trace of life.

  "This wouldn't be the..."

  Beverly's beautiful brows furrowed tightly as she speculated, "the body of that mad tomb owner transformed?"

  "It's plausible, no, it is highly probable," Mycenae stared at the thin book resting on the stone platform in the center of the underground palace, and stated in a deep voice, "Perhaps, this is the true artifact we seek."

  Having said that, he strode forward.

  His trajectory was set towards that ancient stone platform several thousand meters away.

  Not long after, the two arrived at the platform.

  Upon closer inspection, Mycenae noticed that this book on the platform was incomplete and severely tattered.

  However, his extremely keen soul detected no immediate danger whatsoever.

  Thus, Mycenae, without hesitation, activated his mental power to envelop the book, lifting it into mid-air. He then slowly turned to the hopelessly damaged cover of this volume.

  Swish—

  As if triggered, lines of flickering ancient characters suddenly flew out from the book, hanging suspended in the air, automatically forming several rows of blazing text:

  [If you take this volume, may you transmit it forward.

  I had no parental guidance, growing up in the wilderness competing with beasts for sustenance. At the age of nine, I was captured by grave robbers, forced to excavate tombs until death loomed.

  Thankfully, I survived seven tomb incursions, and six years later, I managed to slay those bandits.

  A year later, within an ancient mausoleum, I discovered this incomplete tome. I followed its teachings meticulously, cultivating unparalleled arts, using them to dominate the vast world, spanning from north to south, across the starry cosmos.

  This book is titled the Tome of the Wind Sword; it is a compilation of ten thousand unparalleled sword doctrines gathered when the Sword Sect was at its zenith, during the illustrious Aethelgard Dynasty Hundred Territories era.

  The complete work consists of six volumes—Wind, Fire, Mountain, Forest, Thunder, and Yin—and this current volume is merely a fragment of the Wind Volume.

  My entire life, I received no nurturing parent, no master's tutelage. I had no allies to offer support, no beloved to embrace. Only vicious, insidious, or poisonous adversaries relentlessly pursued me.

  Gold and treasures are dead earth to me; the affections of the mundane world are merely a laughingstock.

  I am Aether, yet I have been blessed by this volume.

  My life now concludes; I depart.]

  After absorbing this message, Mycenae suddenly let out an inexplicable sigh, his emotions somewhat complex.

  "This unknown foreign expert, who likely lived for countless years and potentially reached the False God level, ultimately left behind nothing but a few hundred words as his final testament.

  Alas, in the face of insurmountable mortality, wealth, power, and authority are all fleeting clouds, dissipated by the winds of time."

  Beverly on the side also couldn't help but exclaim: "Never joining any faction, relying solely on his own strength to ascend to the position of an independent False God-level witch—truly remarkable."

  "Aether? Sword Sect? Aethelgard Dynasty?!"

  Seraphine, standing behind, upon reading this segment of flickering text, couldn't help but be astonished by its content.

  She vaguely recalled that this 'Aether' seemed to be a master thief in 《Criplcz Legends》, and also possessed a twin brother named Jingr.

  Both were characters of the ancient Sword Immortal archetype who could emit sword qi from their mouths.

  But according to this final will, this 'Aether's' life experience was notably different.

  This 'Aether' never had a twin brother; from birth to death, he existed in solitude. Moreover, his combat prowess, compared to the 'Aether' in Criplcz Legends, was clearly much superior.

  And that so-called Sword Sect carried a flavor of both wuxia and xianxia.

  However, with just one-sixth of the incomplete volume of their sect's peerless art, one could cultivate a False God level, or perhaps, a Stage Ten Milky Way Overlord.

  Then, what pinnacle might the complete cultivation method reach?

  And the Sword Sect, possessing that complete six-volume sword doctrine set, how many Overlords, or even Sages, must have existed within its ranks?

  All remained unanswered.

  But such a powerful Sword Immortal sect, even in its prime, could only achieve widespread renown, not suppress or dominate the entire world.

  So, how formidable must the so-called Aethelgard Dynasty have been?

  "However, precisely where is this so-called Aethelgard Dynasty located...?"

  At this moment, Mycenae had also activated his mental power to slowly turn the pages of that incomplete book.

  The first page of the volume was hopelessly damaged, retaining only a few lines of ancient script:

  [Preface: The Book of Wind Sword primarily focuses on illusion, the Book of Fire Sword primarily concerns life-taking, the Book of Mountain Sword primarily concerns might, the Book of Forest Sword primarily concerns vitality, the Book of Thunder Sword primarily concerns dominance, and the Book of Yin Sword primarily concerns mystery.

  Moreover, each volume can directly lead to the War Immortal Secret Realm.]

  "War Immortal... What power level is that? Is it a cultivation system directly related to the path of battle and warfare?"

  This page was only partially intact; what followed afterward remained unknown. Turning the page revealed the incomplete Wind Volume, detailing a large compendium of martial arts and arcane techniques.

  However, Mycenae and Beverly, gazing upon this unknown arcane script, were fundamentally perplexed, unable to even decipher the meanings of what they were witnessing.

  This was a difference in cultural context.

  Yet, Seraphine, standing beside them, comprehended the specific cultivation methodologies within this partial volume with effortless ease.