Bi Mo Zhi Jian

Chapter 138 Our Mentor Wishes to Speak With You Personally

"… We have been waiting for you for a long time."

A faint voice echoed from within the black stone tower.

An Jianyou's eyes widened. She had the remaining small black masses shield her as a slender figure emerged from the large entrance at the base of the stone tower.

The newcomer's form resembled that of a human. She was clad in a black cloak, her hood pulled up, revealing a hint of long silver hair. Beneath the cloak, she wore silver boots that trod across the cracked ground, approaching step by step.

"Humans from worlds not yet devoured, you need not fear."

"My name is Yi Yueluxi, a noble and great World Guide. I have been waiting for you."

She slowly pulled down her hood, revealing a delicate, flawless face.

Paired with her lustrous silver hair, she appeared like a doll stepped out of a painting.

An Jianyou puffed out her cheeks, her gaze wary.

Looking good didn't mean anything; she hadn't forgotten that the maggots her mentor had killed earlier could shapeshift into human forms.

Besides, this was the Grim World!

In this world of desolation, a tall tower and a human appearing were highly suspicious!

The silver-haired woman, 'Yi Yueluxi,' did not seem surprised by the scene before her.

"You have a good level of vigilance."

"If you lacked sufficient caution, you wouldn't have been able to reach this point."

"After all, every world has gone through this."

"Let me think, where should I start explaining?"

Although the woman who called herself a 'guide' appeared very mysteriously, their purpose in coming to the Grim World was precisely to find the unusual.

Seeing no immediate danger, both Hei Dao and An Jianyou felt they could listen.

An Jianyou asked, "What do you mean by 'worlds not yet devoured,' and what is a 'guide'?"

She spoke in Huangguo dialect, but it seemed there were no communication barriers with the silver-haired woman.

"That's a good question."

She replied, "It means exactly what it says. Your world is one that has just come into contact with the Grim World but has not yet been devoured."

"The mark of official contact is the appearance of secret realms and gates to the Grim World. And based on my… my deduction, your official contact happened less than half a year ago, correct?"

Seeing the surprise on An Jianyou and Xing Jinglei's faces, the silver-haired woman let out a light, bell-like laugh and continued, "As for a guide, it also means exactly what it says. I will provide your world with some small guidance to help it move forward. After all, this is how it has always been. Many, many years ago, I also came from a world similar to yours, a world that was devoured by the Grim World."

Her voice was clear and pleasant, echoing around them.

Strangely, it did not attract any attention from the grim creatures.

Thinking about it, it seemed that since they had stepped foot here, the grey fog had thinned, and there were no grim creatures in sight.

An Jianyou thought.

She remained silent, unsure what to say, but was sending messages to her mentor in her mind… Her mentor should be aware of the situation here, right?

While she was silent, Hei Dao spoke, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, "There's no free lunch in this world. State your purpose."

The woman twirled a strand of her cascading silver hair and shook her head listlessly.

"Asking so directly is rather uninteresting. But since you've asked sincerely, I can tell you with certainty that I… I certainly seek benefits."

"Grim Crystals, mysterious treasures, grim artifacts… these can all be used as bargaining chips."

"Worlds that have just come into contact with the Grim World often give birth to various treasures. Some are in your world, and some are on the surface of the Grim World formed by relying on your world."

"Even so, I will generously and freely share some information with you. After all, if you knew nothing, how could I sell the paid information at a good price?"

It seemed there were no issues with her words.

An Jianyou, while still maintaining her guard and preparing for a 'chant of escape,' found her attention drawn to the silver-haired woman.

The guide named Yi Yueluxi looked at the three of them, her gaze seeming to hold a confidence that saw through everything.

"Since you were able to enter the Grim World, you must have discovered a secret realm, and there must be a third-tier awakened individual of the psychic type. Am I correct?"

"Mm, yes, yes, yes."

So, the spiritual power required to enter the Grim World from a secret realm was enough for the third tier of awakening?

This was indeed new information.

An Jianyou listened, maintaining a stoic expression.

The silver-haired woman didn't expect an answer from An Jianyou. She simply drew a small circle and a very, very large circle.

"The small circle represents your world, or other similar worlds, and the large circle represents the Grim World. From the moment of contact, it slowly devours, until with a gulp, it swallows your entire world."

"And in this process, your world will give birth to mysteries and awakened individuals. It is also precisely because the world is in crisis that this period will give birth to many heroic figures… This is also why you were able to break through to the third tier of awakening in less than half a year."

"The difficulty and danger of awakening, you know this well without me needing to describe it."

"Your ability to overcome dangers time and again is partly due to your own exceptionally high talent, and partly due to the world's choice, the world's favor."

"Don't deny it. The number of worlds I have seen is beyond your imagination. Each world struggles and sinks in the tide of the Grim World. Of course, among the many new awakened individuals I have seen, you few are quite outstanding. Some worlds, even until their demise, have not seen anyone set foot in the Grim World."

The silver-haired woman sighed, as if accustomed to the passage of time.

Regarding this, Xing Jinglei opened his mouth, wanting to say many things but unable to. He simply asked, "Then how can we resist the world's descent?"

"Resist being devoured by the Grim World?"

The silver-haired woman chuckled, "That is impossible. Once there is full contact with the Grim World, being devoured is only a matter of time. Short as one, two, or three years, or long as several years or over a decade, there is no other possibility."

"This is an unstoppable catastrophe."

"Heh, you want to ask if the world is doomed to destruction, then what is the point? Yes, of course, there is. The world's descent is inevitable, but not all people are necessarily doomed."

"When the entire world sinks and is completely devoured, the entire world will merge into the Grim World, becoming a part of it."

An Jianyou could imagine such a doomsday scenario.

It was a complete world-ending disaster.

In fact, she knew very well that the world was already sinking, on the path to destruction. She also knew that their 'Burning Ember' organization was working towards this very goal! She refused to believe that destruction was inevitable!

However, this guide seemed to have more to say.

She directly asked, "Once the world is devoured, let alone ordinary people, even awakened individuals, stronger awakened individuals, cannot survive in such an environment for long, right?"

"You are correct."

The silver-haired woman nodded. "The environment of the Grim World is uninhabitable. Even my tower, built with special materials, is too small to serve as a sufficient sanctuary."

"However, since you entered through a secret realm, you know that grim creatures are less common around secret realms, due to their special nature."

"And some secret realms are larger and have a more normal environment, with trees, streams, and so on, making them more capable of accommodating human survival. We call such places—"

"Oases!"

Secret realms!

Oases!

Could it be that those people whose worlds were devoured and who wandered in the Grim World lived in these oases?

But according to the silver-haired woman's description, oases were only slightly larger than secret realms.

Even if they were several or tens of times larger, a secret realm was only so big, so how large could an oasis be, and how many people could it accommodate? DAFENG NOVEL NETWORK

Moreover, they were ultimately within the Grim World, and the danger would inevitably be countless times higher than in a normal world. If they could only live in such a place…

An Jianyou shuddered at the thought.

"Fear, it's right to be afraid."

The silver-haired woman said, "This requires you to improve your strength as much as possible before your world is devoured, and to find an oasis."

"Or, join an oasis force."

"For example, our Black Stone Alliance. Given your potential, there's a good chance you could join. You can consider it."

"Alright, the paid section begins now."

"If you want to know how to reduce the risk of awakening, choose one; if you want to know how to reach awakening faster, choose two; if you want to know how to create weapons for awakened individuals, choose three; if you want to know how to reduce the side effects of grim artifacts, choose four."

Uh, were there other paid items?

Hei Dao remained silent, as did An Jianyou.

Xing Jinglei, feeling that it was not his place to speak regarding these paid items, consciously kept quiet.

Seeing that none of them spoke, the silver-haired woman assumed they were poor.

She said, "Staggered payments are also possible. Besides Grim Crystals and grim artifacts, various mysterious materials or supplies can also be used as payment."

"It's not a matter of money…"

"Mainly, your paid items aren't very appealing."

An Jianyou grumbled, speaking on behalf of the group, "Our mentor wishes to speak with you personally."

Oh, there was someone higher up?

The silver-haired woman was somewhat surprised, as those who could enter the Grim World at this stage were already the top awakened individuals in the real world.

Such individuals were often pioneers, at the forefront of the era, and unlikely to back down.

She had misjudged them.

But she became even more interested. The stronger and wealthier this world was, the more she could 'milk' it.

"Fine, I will wait here for your mentor. Remember this location."

She crossed her arms, her silver hair swaying gently.

Then, the girl opposite her said, "No, no need to wait. Our mentor has already arrived."

Arrived?

Where?

Wasn't the entire team only three people?

As the thought crossed her mind, golden particles of light appeared and converged before her, forming a man in white robes with a faint smile, appearing right in front of her.

Yi Yueluxi's mouth slightly parted.

PS: I made a mistake in the previous description of the output of secret realms. They cannot produce grim weapons, only grim artifacts.