Chapter 168: Temple on the Mountain Top

Words : 1402 Updated : Oct 3rd, 2025

In the stone cave, Ludwig Reagan gazed at the black skeletons scattered on the ground. Although these bones were temporarily constructed by the Grape, they possessed the texture of being over a hundred years old, With his ultra-high “Perception” and as a Prototype Master by profession, he could envision an extremely evil black wizard in his mind, When he reached out to touch the black skeletons that were disintegrating, the image in his mind became more concrete, and even eyeballs emitting black smoke seemed to want to crawl up Reagan’s arm, corroding his flesh. Zzt! A surge of electromagnetic fluctuations caused the eyeballs on his arm to shrivel and fall off. “William, your pet has great potential,” ... “Grape is indeed an important product of the Seven-Day Graveyard; without it, I would have died in the cemetery long ago. Let’s keep moving! We should be close to the real pathway by now.” The squad maneuvered out of the stone cave and continued upward along the rugged mountain path. The altitude they were at now made it apparent that the concentration of the Grey Zone was changing—the higher they climbed, the thicker the concentration… It was almost certain that the “pathway” lay at the peak. When there was no mountain path ahead, the group chose to climb the rocks, which was a piece of cake for Jin, with his astonishing body technique, and even proved to be much faster than taking the mountain path. Yi Chen, with the assistance of plants, found rock climbing equally effortless, Just when they thought the slightly overweight Reagan would have a hard time, whoosh! Six soft, drill-bit-equipped metal appendages sprouted from the exoskeleton spine on his back, carrying him up the rocks swiftly. Reagan also took out his “happy water” from his backpack, guzzling it down in large gulps, a fraction of the sugar entering his body converted into reserve electrical energy for the exoskeleton spine. Within just half an hour, the edge of the mountain top was already in sight All three of them climbed to the top almost simultaneously, expecting a desolate and extraordinary scene… But instead, they felt as though they had broken into some kind of sealed space. Hum! A buzzing in their ears disturbed their thoughts as their gentleman’s clothes writhed to enhance the protection of their flesh. Their vision grew dim. The grassy peaks and open skies that should have been there no longer existed, only a ground covered in gray dust and a grey dome enveloping the summit. “The environment here has undergone a qualitative change! This is… a middle Grey Zone!” Unlike the gray mist that had pervaded the mountains before, the gray matter, as a carrier of Pathological, had turned from a gaseous state into clear grains of sand underfoot and into a membrane that completely isolated the outside world. Without the protection of the gentleman’s clothes, the sand beneath their feet would have penetrated directly into their bodies through the pores, stimulating and inducing various possible deep pathologies. At that moment, Lorrian’s voice came through: “William, grab some of the sand with your right hand—let me feel it.” Yi Chen did not refuse, pretending to inspect the environment, he bent down and picked up a handful of the gray dust to observe in his hand. Since the right side of his body was part of Moon Scar, this gray dust posed no threat in his right hand, Although it appeared the grains were penetrating his skin, they were quickly expelled from the body. Lorrian, sensing the essence of these dust grains, whispered, “There’s no mistake, although I’ve never been to the Old World, this structure of dust grains feels incredibly familiar; the Old World must also be filled with such gray dust. Ɽ₳ℕŏꞖÈṣ I’m getting more and more excited—hurry and take me there. By the way, I’ve already vaguely sensed the aura of a powerful being, so I will be sealing off the sickroom and won’t communicate for the time being.” “Understood.” The group walked on the sandy land without encountering any dangers, or perhaps all the dangers here had already been cleared by the true Watcher. Upon reaching the center of the mountain summit, there lay a Stone Temple. Due to the special experience at the Monastery earlier, Yi Chen remained on guard, immediately calling out Grape to provide Visual Enhancement… perhaps due to absorbing the Eye of the Pilgrim. With Grape’s visual access, the capture of details about things instantly rose to another level. Each grain of gray sand moved in an orderly fashion under Vision’s observation, resembling both some kind of activated pathological carrier and a swarm of rule particles revolving around the passage. The Stone Temple was also composed of these sand grains, a ‘special structure’ intrinsic to the Gray Domain. Once confirmed, Yi Chen was the first to step into the temple, carrying a suitcase, Jin almost stepped in simultaneously, his mask lowered, Reagan, with electric arcs flashing between his pupils, was the last to walk in, hands in pockets, fully alert. Almost at the same time, Yi Chen’s gaze caught a flicker of dark light, Jin sensed an unimaginable physical fluctuation, and Reagan detected a more concrete powerful entity. “Dodge!” Yi Chen and Reagan rolled away to the left and right in a standard gentleman’s dodge, Jin used the Red Lotus Explosion in his calf muscles to leap several meters high, just brushing the top of the temple. Humm! A massive, heavy black halberd with battle scars on its surface swept across, its tremendous force causing the very space to tremble. The black halberd lay across where they had just stood, so large and exaggerated it seemed impossible for humans to wield, Its shaft extended into the depths of the temple, three meters up decorated with dragon scale ring seals, also giving off the impression of a heft not meant for human hands. At that moment, Jin, who had leapt up to dodge, landed on the black halberd, Stepping on the sturdy shaft, the Red Lotus Mark on his calves bursting with extreme speed as he charged toward the wielder of the black halberd and drew his sword. Bang! A dull thud echoed, Jin, with his back bulging, flew rapidly out of the darkness. Yi Chen, highly focused, extended his arms and fired a net of plants, using all his strength just to barely catch Jin. Jin, with his ribs partly shattered and his abdomen severely hit, wore a crazed smile, As he injected the flesh juice syringe into his neck, muttering while his internal organs healed: “Really strong indeed… Beili instructor wasn’t wrong; those chosen as Watchers are all freakishly strong loners.” Then, the sound of heavy metal boot hooves came from the dark, A Watcher appeared before them, nearly three meters tall, wearing a human-faced cast iron helmet, his skin overgrown with ‘metal armor’, donned in black iron dragon pattern metal shoes. Most exaggerated of all, he wielded a four-meter-long, massive black halberd single-handedly. Rather than a gentleman, he resembled an ancient knight. Such an image gave Yi Chen a deeper understanding of what it meant to breach human limits, a sense of oppression true to a Watcher, incomparable to the previous Disguisers. The human face within the cast iron helmet conveyed a solemn aura as he looked at the three before him, “Zion can still produce such high-quality young people; have you cleared the most troublesome Gathering Eye Disease, by the looks of it?” “Yes~ But on the way to clearing the eyes, we also encountered some troubles. Gathering Eye Disease is connected to another illness; I wonder if you’re aware, Watcher?” S~eaʀᴄh the nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. “What illness?” Yi Chen took out a genuine leather envelope from his pocket, barely opening a gap to prevent the yellow fabric inside from escaping. As the Watcher observed the hidden yellow substance, his expression changed. “An unknown skin disease, at least something I’ve never seen in my experience, could be a new form of skin illness… or perhaps a product of the Old World that ran out of the passage before I arrived. Keep it. Any skin-related illnesses taken back to Zion for an audience with the First Gentleman will yield answers.” “Alright.”

Chapter 168: Temple on the Mountain Top

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