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This feeling was not new...

Multiple times had Chen Qing experienced this feeling of possibly having a memory disorder, and many of the things that appeared in this world had not yet been available online.

Some things were not only missing online but were still only in the design drawings, or even just concepts in his mind, yet this world already had them.

This made Chen Qing sometimes wonder if everything he was experiencing now was just a dream?

Like in some melodramatic plot where one gets hit by a car, becomes a vegetable, and everything now is just a figment of imagination.

But subconsciously, Chen Qing dismissed this thought, not to mention how unreliable it is for a comatose person to form their own world, and subjectively, he didn’t think such a clichéd and discarded storyline from novels could happen to him.

But if it wasn’t that sort of melodramatic life, then how could he explain everything before his eyes?

Chen Qing strangely looked around, the palace entrance, with the wind flowing through seemed to lead into an endless abyss, the air continually sunk, with no bubbles rising, and the end of the wind was never reached.

"Haven’t we arrived yet?" Murong Yunji frowned and asked.

She was also a top-class Wind Sorcerer and could clearly feel the speed at which the wind controlled by Chen Qing was sinking very fast.

But even so, for nearly half an hour, they still hadn’t reached the bottom?

This place was several times deeper than the abyss she had hidden herself in!

And more importantly, the visibility.

Whether it was due to an overly dense concentration of Water Element, one could only see up to three meters. Even with her eyesight, she couldn’t see beyond that distance.

Her body was that of a Super First Rank Warrior proficient in both sorcery and martial arts, able to see tens of thousands of zhang away in the dead of night, but here, not to mention not seeing past three meters, even her spiritual power couldn’t sense beyond three meters.

For someone who could sense movements within a ten-mile radius at any time, this was very uncomfortable, even more insecure than an ordinary person suddenly going blind.

Especially in such a ghostly place, not being able to see one’s surroundings always made one feel as though there was something around...

Zi Yue seemed to sense something next to her, her hand’s stardust flashed, dim and weak, but in this suffocating darkness, that light was as warm as a candle in the harsh winter.

Murong and Bai Yu subconsciously followed that faint light, instinctively looking around, trying to find that comforting feeling.

But almost instantly, Zi Yue extinguished the stardust in her hand, strong as she was, having lived for thousands of years, she too snuffed out her light out of instinctual fear at that moment.

And Murong and Bai Yu behind her were even more petrified on the spot.

They hadn’t misperceived, there really was something around, and it was far more horrifying than imagined!

"What are those?"

Bai Yu asked with a pale face.

"Test subjects..." Chen Qing said, lowering his head and calming his heart.

Since entering this abyss of the original design, he had some idea of what was around him, but knowing and seeing with his own eyes were two very different things.

To be honest, he had not stopped Zi Yue earlier because he had somewhat wanted to experience it for himself, and at this moment, he realized that the design of this abyss was definitely something that would not be approved.

On either side of the darkness were glass-like walls, countless pairs of huge eyes staring in this direction, as if they themselves were the species being observed in a fish tank.

And yet, the entities separated by the transparent crystal walls, both their appearance and aura, felt extremely horrific.

For example, the first thing Chen Qing saw was a massive, floating jellyfish, its body milky white, seeming as if there was liquid flowing inside. A closer look revealed a dense mass of humanoid creatures writhing and crawling within the jellyfish.

Struggling in pain, yet bearing an eerie presence more ferocious than zombies.

Such creatures, whether in appearance or aura, felt incredibly dangerous. The sheer number of them was enough to make one’s scalp tingle. They had only taken a brief look, and it left them silent, not daring to utter a sound for a good quarter of an hour.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Chen Qing finally spoke up, "They can’t get out from there."

"Are you sure?" The three of them looked at Chen Qing, because they had clearly felt that Chen Qing was scared too!

Chen Qing: "..."

He really couldn’t be sure!

Because in the original version, beneath the Dragon Palace was just a laboratory; all the biological weapons were merely embryos sealed in various forms of Ice Jade.

When players first entered here, they could even take these embryos away directly, but once the Ice Jade melted, the contents would leak out, easily causing a great crisis.

This was also part of the initial design of the gameplay.

But now it was completely different...

The abyss model designed for later on had been launched ahead of schedule, and the biological weapons, which were supposed to be embryos, had mostly evolved to maturity and were now staring ominously at the invaders through the Abyss Barrier.

This visually shocking and horrific sight was one of the original design concepts, and Chen Qing had never expected to see the full effect of his initial designs.

"They can’t come out," Chen Qing took a deep breath and, after calming himself, continued.

As long as it was still based on his designs, even if the version hadn’t been launched, there wouldn’t be a problem!

"They can’t come out?"

Murong frowned, "What is sealing them... Is it glazed glass? Are you sure that can contain them?"

"It’s the Abyss Barrier," Chen Qing explained while continuing to walk forward: "An array made of a special substance."

"Special substance?"

The three of them frowned. What kind of special substance? How could it contain so many horrific things?

But seeing that Chen Qing did not want to elaborate, they felt discontent for a moment and were about to voice their concerns when Zi Yue spoke first.

"Is Lord Chen’s true purpose really biological weapons?"

Chen Qing paused mid-step and without turning his head, asked in a puzzled tone, "What are you trying to say, Senior Zi Yue?"

"I just feel something isn’t quite right.

.." Zi Yue said expressionlessly, looking up, "Lord Chen clearly possesses a power where military strength can be rapidly enhanced through faith in the divine, and from my observations, Lord Chen’s power is neither sinister nor perverse.

The system is quite mature, and at least for now, it seems to be thriving. "

"With such a power in hand, do you really need to research those uncontrollable biological weapons like the Ancient Sorcerers did?"

As these words came out, the other two also realized the oddity and looked at Chen Qing with confusion.

They themselves could be considered types of biological weapons; they knew best how controllable they were.

The fact that he was not leveraging his greatest advantage, yet focusing intently on these things in the Dragon Palace. ..

It really didn’t seem reasonable.

Chen Qing stopped walking and said with a gentle smile, "What Senior Zi Yue is saying... A strong weapon is never spurned. Walking multiple paths is the true strategy, right?"

"I don’t quite agree," Zi Yue said in a deep voice, looking towards Chen Qing, "From my impression of you, Lord Chen, you don’t seem to be someone who would dabble in these things."

"Oh?" Chen Qing turned his head with a smile that was not quite a smile, "It seems like Senior understands me quite well?"

"It’s not about understanding," Zi Yue shook her head but boldly stepped out of Chen Qing’s Wind Technique safe zone and approached the massive transparency barrier.

"It’s just a feeling that Lord Chen, like me, is somewhat meticulous," Zi Yue continued.

As her words fell, to the surprise of the other two, Zi Yue extended her tender white hand, as delicate as a lotus stem, and pressed it against the transparent wall that separated them from countless horrors.

"Have you gone mad?"

This time, the Straw Man Puppet hiding inside Zi Yue couldn’t hold back and shouted out loud.

Chen Qing glanced at the Straw Man Puppet. He wasn’t at all surprised by its arrival—leaving it out would have been the abnormal thing.

What Chen Qing was more interested in now was Zi Yue; she was truly smarter than he had anticipated. She had quickly perceived his true purpose!

In the next instant, after Zi Yue touched the transparent barrier, which was cold like ice, a pure purple light spread from where her hand contacted, radiating out like dye dispersing in water!

"What is this?"

Everyone, including the Straw Man Puppet, was stunned.

"So that’s it!" Zi Yue looked coldly at Chen Qing, "This is your real purpose for staying in the so-called Core Palace!"