Chapter 422 - 230: The Truth Beneath the Bizarre Ancient Well!

There was... no water here at all!

And this wasn’t the bottom of a well!

What kind of world was this...?

The sky was a sickening dark red, like congealed blood.

There was no sun, no clouds—only countless twisted, blood-red tendrils squirming slowly across the firmament.

The land was a deathly gray-white, and the plants growing from it were not normal flora.

Instead, there were dark purple vines that pulsed like blood vessels and grotesque trees covered in pained human faces!

The air was thick with a smell that mixed rust, rot, and a cloyingly sweet, metallic stench.

’This... What is this place?!’

Jiang Che was horrified.

Just then, Jiang Che’s gaze suddenly froze.

Not far from him, on the gray-white ground, lay a stark white skeleton.

Though the clothes on the skeleton were decayed beyond recognition, their style was still faintly discernible.

It was the Young Servant from Li Yuanwai’s Mansion, the one he had killed and thrown into the well!

’So that’s what happened...’

’The body disappeared because it fell into this bizarre world!’

’And those footsteps... they must have been some creature from this world, wandering near the mouth of the well. For some reason, the sound penetrated that membrane and reached my world!’

It seemed all the mysteries were solved in an instant!

But an even greater mystery immediately followed.

What exactly *was* this place?

And how had he managed to get here?

Before Jiang Che could think any further, a sudden, scalp-numbing sense of extreme crisis washed over him!

[True: All-Seeing Eye] was blaring a frantic warning!

"HISS... HISS..."

A grating, scraping sound suddenly echoed out.

From the gray mist in the distance, several strange creatures slowly crawled into view.

They resembled some kind of monkey, with long, twisted limbs, but their faces were ashen-white like those of vicious ghosts!

Most bizarrely, they had no fur. Instead, a layer of green, algae-like down floated around their bodies, swaying gently in the air.

’What are these monsters?!’

Jiang Che’s pupils contracted.

These seemingly unremarkable monsters exuded a terrifying pressure, the kind he felt when facing a powerhouse at the Fifth Layer of the True Master Realm!

Even... stronger!

’Run!’

Without a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Che activated [Shadow Escape]!

But in the next second, his expression turned utterly grim!

[Shadow Escape] had failed!

In this bizarre world, his [Shadow Escape] was completely useless!

The creatures seemed very interested in Jiang Che. Greedy, twisted smiles appeared on their ashen faces.

Then, at an impossibly fast speed, they lunged straight for him!

They were so fast you couldn’t even see an afterimage!

There was no way to dodge!

’This is it!’

Gritting his teeth, Jiang Che decisively had his Clone unleash its strongest trump card!

"Transformation! Black Armor Form!"

BOOM!

Menacing Black Armor instantly covered the Clone’s entire body!

As the aura of the Black Armor spread, the lunging creatures came to a sudden halt.

A trace of fear and confusion flickered in their uncanny, glowing eyes.

It was as if they sensed the oppressive might of a superior being.

However, after just a moment, the lead monster twitched its nose, as if it had noticed something.

The fear in its eyes vanished instantly, replaced by the fury of being deceived and an even more frenzied killing intent!

It let out a sharp shriek and once again became a blur, appearing before Jiang Che in an instant!

Its long, blade-like claws swung down with a terrifying force that seemed capable of Tearing Space itself!

SHLICK!

It was just a soft sound.

Jiang Che’s prized Black Armor—durable enough to withstand attacks from a True Master—was ripped apart as easily as thin paper under the monster’s claws!

The body within was instantly sliced into several pieces!

There was simply...

no room to resist at all!

The Clone was destroyed on the spot!

However, since it was only a Clone formed from True Qi and Divine Soul,

it left no corpse or blood upon death. Instead, it dissolved into a wisp of green smoke and dissipated into the strange world.

The monsters, having lunged at nothing, stared at the dissipating smoke with puzzled expressions.

They paced in circles, letting out a few frustrated shrieks, before slowly crawling back into the depths of the mist.

...

On a bustling street in Hengsha City, Jiang Che, who had been strolling with his family, suddenly went rigid.

In that instant, his face turned deathly pale, and a fine sheen of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Although it was only a Clone formed from his Divine Soul that had died,

the experience of death—of his body being instantly ripped apart by claws and his consciousness swallowed by darkness—was fed back to his real body completely and without reservation!

In his two lives, this was the first time he had so vividly...

faced death!

The sheer terror of it made him feel a bone-deep chill, even while standing in the sunlight.

"Che’er? What’s wrong?"

Seeing his state, Mrs. Zhou, who was beside him, was startled and quickly reached out to touch his forehead. "You look so pale. Are you feeling unwell? Did you catch a chill?"

Jiang Che took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the palpitations in his heart.

He circulated his True Qi, and color quickly returned to his face.

He forced a smile and said casually, "I’m fine, Mother. I’m a master of the Martial Dao now. How could I possibly catch a chill?"