My skills have mutated again!

Chapter 442 The Chaos of the Beginning, The Call of the Past

The Immortal Venerable of Binding Spirits was indeed quite fast in slipping away.

After being forced back by Zhang Hai's needle, the Binding Spirit Immortal Venerable immediately ventured into the bottomless abyss and reunited with the Wang family members several days ahead of Xia Lin. He just happened to appear in front of Xia Lin now.

Xia Lin's new identity, Chu Chen, is an old acquaintance of the Bound Spirit Immortal Venerable—Chu Chen was previously an undercover agent for the Heavenly Dao Creator, and now he has become Wang Laowu's man along with the Bound Spirit Immortal Venerable.

They seem to be getting along quite well.

"Fellow Daoist Bound Spirit".

After bowing respectfully, Fu Ling stepped forward with a loud laugh and patted Xia Lin's shoulder heavily.

"It's just in time, Fellow Daoist Chu Chen has arrived at the right time, as there are orders from above."

As he spoke, he pulled Xia Lin's hand and sped deeper into the area.

This situation actually suited Xia Lin's wishes perfectly.

Because he didn't want to use a fake identity to face Wang Laowu.

Wang Laowu, the master of ten thousand armies.

The professional goal of a military leader is control!

Especially the control over one's subordinates!

Xia Lin believed that even with Zhang Hai's help, her disguise would hardly fool Wang Laowu, so avoiding meeting him was the best option.

But outwardly, Xia Lin wore a puzzled expression.

“Fellow Daoist Fuling, I have just arrived. It would be a bit unreasonable not to pay my respects to the Fifth Prince, wouldn’t it?”

The spirit did not offer an explanation, but spoke mysteriously.

"Don't worry, you won't see the Fifth Prince even if you go. He has much more to deal with right now than we servants."

After saying that, he raised his hand and pointed to the huge crack below.

"Look over there, do you know what that is?"

Such a striking fissure, along with the constantly gushing purple energy beams, naturally had long attracted Xia Lin's attention.

But to be honest... Xia Lin really didn't know what that was.

At this moment, the spirit-binding creature asked a question. Xia Lin thought for a moment and gave his guess: "A passage leading to a deeper level?"

Fu Ling stroked his beard and smiled: "You guessed it! That's the passage to the deeper levels!"

After saying that, the spirit-binder's smile faded: "But it's not comprehensive enough."

"The full name should be: the passage leading to the location of the original dark side, and the energy outlet!"

……

The entire Dark Realm is roughly divided into three layers.

First level: The past reappears, the place where the fake immortal and demon emperors fought to the death.

The second layer: the bottomless abyss, a place where fragments of the subconscious are stored.

And finally, the third layer: the Origin of Darkness, the place where the original dark side resides!
Therefore, it's actually quite simple to understand this: once you pass through that rift, like a sore in the world, the eye of a giant, you will be able to see the primordial dark side...

As for how you should resist the power of the Primordial Darkness after you encounter it, and how you should plunder the six pillar positions of the Primordial Darkness, that is your own business.

But no matter what, seeing the original dark side through this passage is the prerequisite for everything.

"But right now, this passage is impassable..."

The Bound Spirit Immortal pointed to the passage and sighed.

The reason is actually quite obvious.

That ever-bursting column of purple energy, just like the magma erupting from a volcano, kept all visitors at bay!
"Actually, this energy is closely related to the birth of the primordial ruler."

Xia Lin understood immediately.

This is still a legacy issue from before.

When the Immortal Emperor's plan to usurp power failed, the primordial dark side gave birth to consciousness and cooperated with the ancient ruler, thus the primordial ruler was born.

The primordial dark side is inherently opposed to the birth of any intelligence—it relentlessly pursues and kills the primordial ruler!

The pursuit unfolds through long-range energy projection.

Back in the Luo Tian Starfield, Xia Lin saw the sky above the Primordial Ruler shatter, with purple energy constantly pouring down, attempting to obliterate the Primordial Dark Will within the Primordial Ruler's body.

Here, this energy pours out in the form of a purple pillar of light... but unexpectedly blocks everyone's path downwards.

"So now, anyone who wants to continue downwards either has to carry the power of the primordial dark side and charge in."

The difficulty of this... is something that neither Wumian nor Lü Zhao can withstand.

Never, ever underestimate the power of the primordial dark side.

He's just not smart, not incompetent.

In terms of pure total energy, the Primordial Dark Side may be the most important of the six pillars!

"Either we have to think of other ways."

Xia Lin's gaze swept around.

They saw that the flags here were of various shapes and colors, but upon closer inspection, there were far fewer factions than in the first level of the Dark Realm.

It was Fuling who spoke: "Lu and Zhao, the Second Prince, the Fifth Prince, the Seventh Prince... this is a new alliance."

Back in the first level of the Dark Realm, Wang Lao Er's old alliance had already collapsed. Now that we've entered the second level, everyone should fight their own battles.

Unfortunately, they were unaware of the situation here and didn't know that the place had become a volcanic crater, making it impossible to enter.

Forced by circumstances, a new alliance was passively formed—that is, the forces that the spirit-binder just mentioned.

"According to the agreement, the five parties will work together to set up an unparalleled formation to suppress the power of the primordial dark side."

Xia Lin: "???"

"That's the power of six pillars!"

Do you think you can just bet on this whenever you want?
The Bound Spirit Immortal Venerable glanced at Xia Lin: "Fellow Daoist Chu Chen, who said it was a complete suppression? Even if we borrowed ten more Lord Lü and Lord Zhao, we still couldn't do it."

"But it is always possible to create a brief gap by using the power of the formation, and what you gentlemen need is this brief gap."

After saying that, the Bound Spirit Immortal Venerable put his arm around Xia Lin's shoulder and sighed, "To be honest, we won't get anything from here on out. We servants are just destined to do odd jobs."

Those brief intervals were created for adults; naturally, little Karami like the Bound Spirit Immortal Venerable were not qualified to enjoy them.

Therefore, given the limited time and rare opportunity in this round, Xia Lin, with his true identity, has absolutely no chance of entering the lower level and will be directly squeezed out of the competition.

And now, he's borrowed Chu Chen's identity...

The opportunity suddenly became much greater... although it may not seem that great, it's the difference between having it and not having it at all.

Xia Lin concealed his ambition and nodded heavily: "Then what do you need me to do?"

The spirit-binding creature rolled its eyes: "Setting traps, what else can I use you for?"

Let me say it again, Chu Chen, a professional trap master...

They specialize in setting traps and laying landmines.

With a wave of his hand, Fu Ling said, "As one of only two Immortal Venerables present, Saint Confucian Venerable has been summoned to lead that peerless grand formation."

"My level is far inferior to that of the Sage Confucian Immortal Venerable, but I am still a legitimate Immortal Venerable. The Fifth Prince has already instructed me to set up a defensive array in the nearby area to block external risks!"

He patted Xia Lin's chest and said, "This is the last line of defense! You and I, brothers, will join forces and try to do this job perfectly, so as not to disappoint the Fifth Prince's expectations."

Xia Lin had a lot of complaints he didn't know where to begin.

Others may not know what kind of person you are, but do you think I, Xia Lin, don't know?

You've already sided with the Primordial Ruler, for Wang Laowu to entrust such an important task to you is truly a sign that his house is haunted...

Looking at the Bound Spirit Immortal Venerable, one could not see any other emotions in his eyes.

His eyes were remarkably clear, revealing a deep loyalty that seemed to be willing to sacrifice everything for the Fifth Prince…

Xia Lin cupped his hands and said heavily, "I will certainly live up to the Fifth Prince's expectations!"

Xia Lin now understands the situation.

They don't even need to do anything themselves.

Some people willingly become the fuse that detonates landmines.

……

Far away on the horizon, in the dimensional rift.

Wang Yanshan and Wang Yankong reside in the divine realm, monitoring the outside world.

The twelve different forms of evil gods, including Hunger, Abyss, Degeneration, and Nothingness, stood scattered behind the two.

Poor Cheng Lin is no longer the only subordinate of the original ruler. He stands pitifully in an inconspicuous position, giving off the feeling of a stray cat or dog abandoned by its owner.

Of course, this was just a joke... Cheng Lin himself was not aware of this, and he would not do anything to fight for power.

All that could be heard was a heated discussion going on ahead.

"The current situation is different from that of the first level of the Dark Realm. The two false immortal and demon emperors in the first level of the Dark Realm are living beings and cannot be controlled. But this formation is a man-made inanimate object and can be completely controlled. In that case, with the abilities and caution of my brothers, I'm afraid there is little room for trickery. Third brother, what are your thoughts on this situation?"

"Heh... No, big brother, I just want to know, even though you arrived at the second floor earlier than the second and fifth brothers, why did they get the first move?"

"You'll have to ask the guys behind me about that."

The tone of Wang Laoda and Wang Laosan became increasingly heated, indicating that they were starting to have disagreements.

—The collapse of the alliance refers not only to Wang Lao Er's alliance, but also to Wang Lao Da's alliance.

The two discussed it for a long time but couldn't reach a conclusion.

As Wang Yanshan said, the situation on the second floor is indeed different from that on the first floor, making it much more difficult to take advantage of the chaos.

"Why don't we wait for our two uncles and brothers to go inside first, and then borrow their formation to follow closely behind?"

"No, absolutely no... I don't believe that the second brother and his team are so kind as to leave a way out for later competitors. Use and destroy, that's the right way."

"Then we have no choice but to act as soon as possible..."

"That's not good either, still not good. Our strength is still inferior, and the best outcome of a fight would only be mutual destruction. Don't forget that there are still Fourth Brother, Eighth Brother, and outsiders watching us covetously. If we're not careful, we might end up doing all the work for someone else..."

"So, it's like this isn't right and that isn't right?"

"Cough cough cough..." In the midst of the argument, Hunger suddenly coughed twice, successfully attracting the attention of Wang Yanshan and Wang Yankong.

He cupped his hands and slowly said, "I do have a plan. However, this plan cannot isolate the primordial power; it is only enough to destroy the peerless array set up by those people outside."

In other words, this is a lose-lose strategy where neither I nor you can get down.

But Wang Laoda became interested: "It's better for both sides to lose than for one to win, so you might as well tell me in detail."

Hunger slowly said, "It seems Your Highness has forgotten that our greatest skill lies not in reality, but in the shadows."

"By exerting our influence in the shadows, we can incite infighting among the two princes' rivals and create discord."

"When the time is right, the two princes will make their move, and that way the disadvantage can be reversed."

The two Wang brothers exchanged a glance, and after asking them in detail, they both nodded: "Then go ahead and do it."

The figures of the evil gods, such as Hunger, gradually disappeared and quickly merged into the dark dimension.

Meanwhile, in the shadows, the hungry group met again, all beaming with pride.

In the shadows, their plan is gradually taking shape.

In reality, the royal family dominates the overall situation. This perfectly reflects the emphasis placed on the two pillars: the King of Kings and the Primordial Ruler.

In reality, the slower the Wang family members are, the greater the advantage that Hunger and others in the shadows can create.

Until the threshold is reached, the balance is ultimately disrupted!
This is a race against time.

……

Beneath the calm surface of the lake, undercurrents surged.

Chu Chen, hidden in the shadows, was the first to notice the actions of Hungry and the others.

Chu Chen's company, Qinglin Investment, is located in Kyoto, one of the world's three major cities and one of the world's three super-first-tier cities.

Recently, both in the news and through Chu Chen's own channels, it has become clear that the crime rate in Kyoto has risen sharply and business battles have occurred frequently.

There were also problems within Qinglin Investment Company.

The company's two vice presidents—who are said to be close confidants of the fifth and seventh sons of the Wang family conglomerate—completely broke off relations.

When Vice President Yin Pa came home, he caught Vice President Two and his wife in bed together.

The people involved are not good people, and this matter is not a criminal issue, but at most a matter of private morality.

The investment world is incredibly chaotic, and such incidents are commonplace, but there's no doubt that the two vice presidents have started a feud.

There's a tense atmosphere in our daily work.

This is just a microcosm of the larger situation.

An eerie atmosphere permeated the entire company, and a jumble of trivial matters left everyone inside Qinglin Company overwhelmed.

The incident was caused by people, and in a very short time, the relationships between people plummeted into an abyss.

Xia Lin knew exactly what this situation meant.

The eight adopted sons and generals of the Wang family are protected by the King of Kings, and their connection between the real world and the dark side is not close. Even if they have symbolic figures in the dark side, they will only be similar to each other, but will not interfere with each other, just like Zhang Hai.

But their subordinates did not receive the same treatment.

The distortion of relationships in the shadows will inevitably be reflected in reality.

"The ruler of ten thousand armies rises and falls because of power."

In the dark dimension, Hunger sat in his office with his men, laughing as he spoke.

"The strength of a military leader lies in every aspect. This profession seems to have no weaknesses, but it does have one weakness that is not exactly a weakness. That is, their control over their subordinates is not perfect."

"The military leader's control over his subordinates is not brainwashing, but a kind of subjugation, a kind of influence through personal charisma, and a kind of exchange of benefits. In short, it is soft control."

"This also means that the Lord of All Armies' subordinates are not absolutely obedient puppets. They have their own thoughts, their own loves and hates, and their own cognitive logic."

"And the dark side is best at distorting other people's cognitive logic and changing their interpersonal relationships."

Beside him, Slaanesh's eyes lit up: "Could it be that you, Boss, can directly sever the subordinate relationship between the military leader and his subordinates?"

Hunger shook its head: "The Primordial Ruler could do it, but I can't... However, dealing with these royal scions doesn't need to be so complicated."

As he spoke, he lit a cigarette, took a satisfying drag, and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"Subordination is mutual."

"If your subordinates are willing to risk their lives for you, then you, as the commander, must stand up for them. This is why I say that a commander's rise and fall are both due to power."

My younger brother is in trouble. As his older brother, you should at least offer your support, right?

A ruler who only knows how to take and not how to give will never reach level twelve.

Because this kind of military leader has long lost the hearts of the people.

When people are united, even Mount Tai can be moved.

The source of a military leader's power is just one thing—a large number of people!
Most powerful military commander skills rely on subordinates.

If people are not united, then many people are useless!

"This means that the military commander's decisions are subject to the influence and coercion of his subordinates."

Hungry, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, he approached the French windows, gazing at the street scene outside. He murmured, “The Wang family’s sons are unaffected by the dark dimension… but so what? What constitutes their power are ultimately military generals, strategists, and commanders! And as long as these people appear in reality, they will be incorporated into the dark dimension, condensing into symbols here.”

"Then, we only need to do a simple provocation, for example: incite the generals under Wang Lao Er to hate the commanders under Wang Lao Wu... Maybe once or twice, Wang Lao Er and his men can suppress it, but a hundred or a thousand times, I don't believe they can still suppress it!"

"It's like a spring; the harder you compress it, the stronger the rebound."

"And now..."

Hunger stubbed out his cigarette and slowly raised his hands.

"The time for a rebound has come."

Just as those words were spoken, a violent explosion suddenly rang out in an office building in the distance!
The floor-to-ceiling window was destroyed by the shockwave, and a burning, twisted figure fell through the broken window, plummeting from the 35th floor and crashing to the ground, leaving a large bloody stain.

Hungry, yet his eyes were fixed on the thirty-fifth floor.

Then it became clear that through the broken window, a man engulfed in blazing white flames was panting heavily, his eyes gleaming with the satisfaction of revenge.

The killer was Chen An, the top military officer under Wang Yanlin, also known as Wang Laowu.

The deceased was Zhuge Ling, the chief strategist under Wang Yanqing, also known as Wang Laoqi.

……

Xia Lin sensed the turbulent undercurrents and the unfolding events in reality, but remained unmoved.

He really just wanted to be a spectator...

Whether it was Wang Lao Er's gang or Wang Lao Da and the starving gang, they had nothing to do with Xia Lin.

Given the current situation, Xia Lin should simply observe and wait for an opportunity; there's no reason for him to get involved in these people's open and covert struggles.

In reality, a week has already passed.

"Seventh Prince! Chen An killed Zhuge Ling! He killed my elder brother! You must do justice for us!!"

When angry shouts rang out from the outside, Xia Lin ignored them. In a secluded place, Xia Lin put away the wisp of six pillars of power that he had refined from the Spirit Realm Book, and then looked at the item description of the Spirit Realm Book.

As time goes by, the overlapping realm of illusions continues to expand, and the primordial dark power drawn in the opposite direction has successfully pushed the completion rate of the old dark side of the Spirit World Book to 60.3%!

The third stage of the Dark Side of the Past: Call of the Past, has already been activated.

[The third stage of the Dark Side ability has been activated: Call of the Ancients!]
Call of the Past: In the Dark Dimension, the maximum skill level you can master is increased by two levels, and you can master up to S-rank skills! At the same time, you can consume 10% of Dark Dimension Completion to summon projections in both the real world and the Dark Dimension.

In reality, when you summon a projection from the Dark Side, your Dark Side projection will transform into a clone with the same power as you, assisting you in battle! The clone possesses all your skills, but has no items and cannot stray too far from your original body.

In the Dark Side, when you summon a projection from reality, your projection will merge with you, granting you doubled attributes and temporarily raising all your skills by one level (up to the highest level, racial foundation).

Note: Regardless of which dimension you activate this ability, it will consume 10% of the Dark Side Completion Points upfront, and the longer the projection persists, the more Dark Side Completion Points will be consumed!

[Note: When you increase the completion rate of the Dark Side of the Past to 100%, the final stage ability of the Dark Side of the Past will be activated: Two Sides United!]

"Well, not bad, not bad."

In reality, activating this ability is equivalent to summoning another version of yourself.

Activating this ability in the dark can greatly enhance one's combat power.

Whether in the real world or the dark side, this ability is quite powerful, and Xia Lin has nothing to complain about.

Of course, compared to the improvement in the completion of the original dark side, the benefits of the six pillars' power are the biggest – this place is too close to the original dark side, and the Spirit World Book directly benefited greatly.

However, in order to conceal his true identity, Xia Lin only dared to let the Spirit World Book devour him when no one was around, and dared not do anything when others were present.

That refers to the Spirit-Binding Immortal Venerable.

That kid is a real nuisance.

Said that Cao Cao Cao Cao arrived.

Amidst the distant swirling immortal energy, the bound spirit descended from the sky and landed beside Xia Lin.

"Fellow Daoist Chu Chen, is the work here finished?"

Xia Lin nodded: "It's done."

It's just setting traps... Although Xia Lin doesn't have Chu Chen's skill set, she can easily fool laymen by randomly combining a few similar skills from the recipe book.

Upon hearing this, Fu Ling grabbed Xia Lin's hand and said with a smile.

"Let's go, to the next place."

Xia Lin, unsuspecting, followed Fu Ling away from the place.

……

As Xia Lin followed the Spirit-Binding Immortal Venerable away from this array-based dimensional space, the commotion outside continued.

"Seventh Prince! Seventh Prince, you must do justice for us!"

Chen An and Zhuge Ling were actually just one part of a series of events, only Chen An was of a relatively higher status.

Seven days in reality can feel like several months in the dark!
This much time is enough for the hungry people to do a lot of things.

The affair between Chen An and Zhuge Ling became the first fuse that ignited the powder keg.

Wang Yanqing's helpless voice echoed in the air.

"I will definitely give the Zhuge family an explanation for this matter, but right now, Second Brother Zhuge, please calm down and trust me, I will definitely give you an explanation!"

Whether or not the task is done is another matter; promises must be made first to reassure people.

Wang Yanqing is pure and virtuous and always handles matters thoroughly, but thoroughness can also be seen as indecisiveness.

Zhuge Ling's younger brother, Zhuge Dan, had tears of blood in his eyes, and his teeth were even clenched to pieces, but in the end, loyalty was paramount. He wiped away his tears and obeyed his lord's orders.

Just then, Xia Lin and Fu Ling arrived at their target location.

Standing at the dimensional entrance, the spirit suddenly looked back, a smile that was hard to describe suddenly appearing on its lips.

The next second, the light flashed.

One of Wang Yanlin's main warships suddenly turned its cannon and fired a shot at Zhuge Dan.

This was an execution in full view of everyone! It also shattered the carefully maintained facade that Wang Laoqi had been so diligently cultivating!
Before Wang Laowu and Wang Laoqi could say anything more, countless energy fluctuations had already spread out from all directions!

In the darker dimension, sowing discord among Wang Jiazi's subordinates is only one aspect.

There are quite a few individuals like the Bound Spirit who secretly lure, recruit, and control others!
Just as they were about to exert force with both hands, chaos erupted unexpectedly.

Before Xia Lin could take any other action, Fu Ling had already pulled Xia Lin's hand and entered the dimensional barrier.

With a sudden change in light and shadow, several figures appeared before Xia Lin.

"Are you familiar with it?"

The cold laughter of the spirit-binding creature rang in my ears.

Xia Lin squinted at it and sighed deeply.

“Well…”

These are all level twelve abandoned generals of the Heavenly Dao Creator.

Blue Witch, Fist Demon, Soul Singer, Flame Demon.

Fu Ling gently patted Xia Lin's shoulder and calmly said, "I still need a level twelve sacrifice for this mission. After thinking it over, you, Chu Chen, are truly the most suitable."

"Although our failure has little to do with you, it is a fact that you are a spy."

"You have betrayed our loyalty, and you must compensate us. Paying with your life is perfectly reasonable, don't you think?"

Xia Lin thought for a moment, then shook her head: "I don't think this will work..."

(End of this chapter)