Chapter 351: The World Is Fake

Blinding white light flared from the bottom of the cliff. Within that brilliance, countless tiny black dots wriggled.

Could this be the legendary source of the nightmares?

Legends claimed the source of the nightmares was sealed within the Abyss, a fact corroborated by the Pope's memories.

Yet... a hint of doubt surfaced in Su Mu's eyes. If this was the source, the Nightmare Creatures should be crawling out of the chasm, not the other way around. Why were they jumping into it?

He followed the radiance deeper down. There seemed to be nothing divine or mystical about this white light; he felt no power radiating from it at all. It looked exactly like the glow of an ordinary incandescent bulb.

As he drew closer, the true nature of the light finally came into view. It was a boundlessly massive screen of light, resembling a floor forged from pure luminescence, resting quietly at the very bottom of the chasm.

And those tiny black dots were not dots at all. They had only appeared that way from afar. Up close, they revealed themselves to be a dense, seething swarm of Nightmare Creatures!

Like moths drawn to a flame, they plastered themselves against the curtain of light, wriggling desperately as if trying to squeeze their way inside.

Most of them were weak Bronze Grade monsters that resembled zombies. Just the ones Su Mu could see numbered over a million, and that was merely a small fraction of the entire chasm.

After all, he was currently hovering over what amounted to the little finger of this handprint-shaped abyss. Nightmare Creatures were diving into the pit from all directions, their numbers impossible to calculate.

While Bronze Grade creatures made up over ninety percent of the swarm, Silver Grade and Gold Grade monsters were readily visible among the remaining ten percent.

Su Mu took a brief tour of the perimeter. In less than five minutes, he spotted nearly a hundred Gold Grade Nightmare Creatures. It was a terrifying sum—a force large enough to wipe out an empire.

Even if a Gold King intervened, the resulting devastation to the empire would be catastrophic.

Beyond the Gold Grade Nightmare Creatures, he also spotted two old acquaintances: the Faceless Angel and the Evil Buddha.

These two towering behemoths stood silently atop the screen of light, completely motionless. A massive void surrounded them; not a single Nightmare Creature dared approach within a radius of a hundred li.

Saint Grade!

Both the Faceless Angel and the Evil Buddha were Saint Grade entities.

Before, Su Mu hadn't been able to gauge their strength, but with the Pope's memories, he saw through their true levels at a single glance.

Just what is beneath this screen of light? he wondered. To think it could even attract Saint Grade Nightmare Creatures...

Su Mu landed on the illuminated surface. He took off his Tinted Glasses, a crystalline blue light washing over his pupils as his deep gaze pierced through the barrier.

Soon, a shocking sight greeted him.

"This is..."

Astonishment filled his eyes. Armed with the Pope's vast knowledge, there were very few things in this world that could still shock him, but this genuinely took his breath away.

Through the barrier of light, he saw a city—a bustling, profoundly modern metropolis.

Seeing a city wouldn't have shocked him on its own, unless... that city was the Chiyan Imperial Capital!

Skyscrapers pierced the heavens like a forest of steel. Glass facades gleamed in the sunlight, while down below, the bustling streets teemed with traffic, the endless stream of cars flowing like a rushing river.

Right in the heart of this city sat the sprawling expanse of the Chiyan Imperial Palace. He spotted the General Law Enforcement Bureau, and even his very own noble estate!

What in the world is going on? he thought. Why is the Real World at the bottom of the Abyss?

Su Mu teleported abruptly, his figure flickering back and forth across the screen of light. He peered down from various vantage points, finding more cities springing into view alongside mountains, rivers, and the famous historical monuments of the Chiyan Empire.

Finally, he came to a halt above one particular city.

Staring down through the barrier at its familiar streets and architecture, he fell into deep thought.

Star City!

He might have mistaken any other city, but he would never misidentify his hometown.

He even spotted the Vipers Gang Headquarters in Star City District 13. As the most imposing building in District 13, it caught his eye immediately.

Resuming his teleportation across the light, his gaze traveled past the borders of the Chiyan Empire and soon landed on the Blood Moon Empire. Down below, the ruins of the Blood Moon Imperial Palace were undergoing frenzied, full-scale reconstruction.

Could it be...?

An unbelievable thought struck him. Perhaps... the Real World didn't exist at all. Perhaps the so-called Real World was just a slightly larger dream!

This barrier of light was undeniably the outer membrane of a dream bubble!

So, the Real World was just a dreamscape, exactly like the nightmares he had traversed before, only on a much grander scale.

It was hidden deep beneath the Abyss. Had that colossal palm print not smashed straight through the bottom of the Abyss, he never would have laid eyes on the Real World, even if he ventured down here.

It turned out that the Heaven the Pope and the others had spoken of was entirely real. It existed, and it wasn't the Real World.

Gradually, Su Mu pieced together a model of the actual world in his mind. The realm above the surface was what the Pope and his followers called Heaven, while everything below the surface was Hell.

And the so-called Real World was tucked away at the very bottom of the Abyss, far beneath Hell itself!

"Hahaha... How fascinating!" Su Mu couldn't hold back his laughter. He had once believed the Pope and the others were products of the Nightmare World, mere phantoms in a dream. Yet they were the real ones. He was the one living in a dream.

The true world was never some modern society filled with skyscrapers; it was this perilous, hellish Nightmare World.

"Hearing that laugh, I knew it had to be you."

A voice echoed out abruptly from behind Su Mu.

Su Mu turned around, only to find a twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy standing quietly behind him. He had no idea when the boy had arrived.

The youth was exceedingly handsome, his fair skin resembling meticulously carved jade. Yet his face was completely devoid of expression, and his large, distinct eyes were thoroughly lifeless, like the eyes of a dead fish.

"Who are you?" Su Mu narrowed his eyes, closely sizing up the boy before him. He was currently in Dreamwalking Mode, his physical form entirely hidden from the outside world. He hadn't expected the boy to be able to detect him.

The youth didn't seem to be among the living. He lacked a physical body altogether; his form was semi-transparent and slightly blurred, like a soul on the verge of dissipating.

"This is no place to talk. Follow me," the boy said expressionlessly.

He turned away. A white vortex, roughly the height of a person, materialized in front of him. He stepped inside and vanished.

The corners of Su Mu's mouth curled upward. Sensing that things were only getting more interesting, he stepped into the vortex after him.

He didn't particularly care that he had suddenly been relegated to a phantom in a dream. Why bother drawing such a rigid line between true and false? The most important thing in life was that it remained... interesting!

Emerging from the white vortex, Su Mu found himself in a vast, empty white space. Aside from him and the boy, there was absolutely nothing else inside.

The boy turned back around, staring expressionlessly at Su Mu. "I have waited many years for you," he said calmly. "You have finally arrived."

Su Mu's gaze shifted slightly. "You know me?"