After finishing dinner and stretching his body, Shen Ye began to rest.
Midnight—twelve o'clock.
Everything around him vanished.
Shen Ye found himself sitting in a spacious office at a museum.
His classmates surrounded him.
The "anomaly" had disappeared!
Sensing something, Shen Ye raised his palm and glanced at it.
Seven crimson vertical lines.
One of them was gradually fading away.
Gleams of light converged, forming a line of small text:
"There are six days left before your duel with The Skinner."
A sense of urgency surged in Shen Ye's heart.
—Last time it was Xiao Mengyu and the big skeleton who fought The Skinner.
This time, it was going to be one-on-one with him.
Only six days left.
The Master of Demon Prison would certainly enhance his strength.
He himself had to push harder.
Ring ring—
The phone rang.
Almost everyone's phone started ringing.
Thankfully, the space was large and empty, so Shen Ye picked up his phone and found a corner to answer the call.
"Hello, Mom!"
Shen Ye shouted into the phone.
Overjoyed and teary, Zhao Xiaochang's voice came from the other end:
"Son, are you alright? Did you get in?"
It seemed that the incident at Yunshan Port couldn't be kept secret, even his parents knew something had gone wrong at the testing site.
"I got in, I'm in training now— at Breath Soil High School, one of the Three Great High Schools."
Shen Ye quickly replied.
Excitement filled the receiver.
Shen Ye could even hear his homeroom teacher Jiang Hantao and the principal's voices.
Bells and drums rang in harmony.
And the sound of firecrackers.
Shen Ye couldn't help but cover his forehead, whispering, "Mom, why such a big fuss?"
"Hahaha, we're just happy! Do you know, you are the first student in our school's history to get into one of the Three Great High Schools!" the principal's voice came through.
Beyond the principal's voice, there was a clamor:
"Set it up here! Here!"
"Everyone in the photo, line up!"
"No need for offerings, flowers are okay, take the fruit away— the guy didn't die!"
Shen Ye caught a hint of something ominous and quickly asked:
"What were those people just saying?"
"Oh, we just erected a bronze statue of you at the school gate, lots of people are taking photos with it!" the principal's booming voice came through the phone.
A bronze statue...
Shen Ye had seen these in his previous life at university.
Over time, they all developed verdigris.
—The chemical compound copper carbonate hydroxide, with the chemical formula Cu₂(OH)₂CO₃.
When you walk past it, you'll see a normal human figure turn into a green one.
A little green man!
Glowing green!
Shen Ye's mouth twitched, and he said softly, "This statue... maybe we don't need it... isn't it a bit too grand…"
"No way! We're about to erect a monument too!" the principal declared loudly.
Shen Ye heard his homeroom teacher's voice rising from a distance:
"Those who are burning incense over there, don't engage in feudal superstition."
Enough!
This world is even more preposterous than Blue Star!
Suddenly, there was a commotion.
The phone seemed to be passed to someone else.
Another stern voice emerged:
"Student Shen Ye, on behalf of the local government, we present a set of housing to your family... You will be written into our city's development history, and we'd like you to come and review the content, to discuss it."
The phone changed hands again.
"On behalf of local businesses, we sponsor a car for your family."
"Prize money..."
"Sponsoring your family lifelong free use of sanitary pads..."
"Household appliances..."
"VIP gold card for the Foot Bath City..."
"..."
A torrent of words.
Shen Ye never expected such a scenario and could only keep expressing his thanks, uttering round after round of pleasantries.
"Dad, Mom, I need to train here, so let's stop here, we can talk more when I get back."
Shen Ye finally said.
The voice of his father, Shen Shi'an, finally broke through:
"Take good care of yourself, don't push too hard, we'll wait for your return."
"Yeah, okay."
The call ended.
Shen Ye let out a sigh of relief.
Getting into this high school really wasn't that big a deal.
The real key was being able to keep studying there.
After all—
Every grade signifies a level of strength along with various weapons and skill levels.
Failure to break through one's strength within a set period results in an inability to move up a grade, and one must leave the school to take up a job according to their current strength, contributing to the entirety of human civilization.
The higher the grade, the stronger the strength, and the more prestigious and powerful the job positions available.
Continuing to study there is what counts as ability!
Shen Ye checked the time on his phone, there were about three minutes left.
He suddenly remembered what Xiao Mengyu had said.
"Right, my personal permissions have been raised, maybe I can take this opportunity to look up that incident from the past."
He fiddled with his phone, opened the network, connected to the search platform, and began looking up all news related to "accidents" at the Archaeological Association.
In an instant.
Hundreds of records popped up.
Shen Ye was somewhat astonished.
There had been so many incidents at the Archaeological Association? The more he looked, the more abnormal it seemed.
He sifted through various accident records.
Suddenly.
A picture caught his eye. Searᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
The Skinner!
It was rather old news—
About a decade ago, in the photo he was in his prime, his chin clean-shaven and looking shrewd and capable.
Shen Ye clicked the link.
A black dialog box popped up:
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"Identity verification passed."
"Attention, this is classified information. You may view it only because of your special identity privileges. Do not disclose it to others."
Passed!
I can indeed see it!
The link is a video.
The Skinner is seated in a chair, looking somewhat agitated.
"There must be something wrong with that altar!"
"I really don't understand why they insist on us opening it!"
"—This is murder!!!"
The way he looked was like that of a wounded beast.
He was tied to the chair and could do nothing more than voice his loud protests.
Off-camera, someone spoke:
"Your duty is to open it and reveal its secrets to us."
"Now that you've done it."
"Go and rest."
"By the way, don't speak for the dead—"
"You'll be promoted soon."
"No!" The Skinner refused cleanly, even pulling out a small sculpture from his chest:
"This is a replica I made. I've checked it, and it has never appeared in history."
"Why do you insist on promoting it as a god from humanity's past ages?"
"There's absolutely no basis for it!"
Shen Ye looked at the replica sculpture in his hand.
Surprisingly—
This sculpture was one Shen Ye had never seen before.
The wooden sculpture was lifelike—a human with a single horn on his head, an eye in the middle of the forehead, vertical pupils on each cheek, four arms, sitting atop numerous human heads, with a face full of compassion.
—It was not the King of Ten Thousand Fallen Evil Spirits' Cursed Sculpture.
Shen Ye was quite surprised.
Another somber voice came from off-screen:
"Forget about it. Think about your daughter. She's suffering from illness. Go be with her."
The Skinner muttered with difficulty: "Those who were sacrificed—"
Smack.
The camera seemed to have been struck by something.
The video ended there.
Shen Ye closed his eyes slightly, then opened them again, murmuring softly:
"Kunlun, why do you allow me to see these... what is the reason?"
No response.
The truth that had been so hard to find was now delivered right to his doorstep.
Even if my privileges were upgraded—
I shouldn't be able to see such secrets.
Why does it allow me to see them now?
"Even if he was upright in the past, he has wandered too far on the wrong path now, killed too many people. I will not forgive him."
"His only fate is death."
Shen Ye said slowly.
No response.
Shen Ye paused, then suddenly smiled: "So you don't care about his life at all, right? You just want to see what I'll do, is that it?"
An electronic tone suddenly sounded from the phone:
"Chaotic Heaven Gate's authority is higher than you can imagine, and the secrets of the world are deeper than you think. I will continue to protect humanity and never interfere with any human actions."
"Remember, you are entitled to know the above secrets."
—This was Kunlun's response!
Shen Ye was about to continue the conversation when suddenly everything flashed around him.
He found himself back at the dining table.
Behind him was the courtyard.
There were hot springs, a martial arts arena, and a bamboo forest.
"Anomaly" unfolded again.
Long white noise came through the phone.
The call was interrupted.
The real world was engulfed in "anomaly."
It seems...
After the intensive training is over, I must delve deeper into the past of The Skinner.
Shen Ye was thinking when the voice of the great skeleton suddenly came to his ear:
"I have seen that sculpture before."
"You've seen it?" Shen Ye asked in surprise.
"Yes, that is one of the ancient gods of our Undead Race. It is said that it fell in a divine battle, and I don't know why its sculpture would appear in your world," the great skeleton said.
The god of the Nightmare World's Undead Race?
Appearing in the Main World?
At this moment, Shen Ye was more than just surprised.
Someone had brought Alien Deities to this world and wanted them to enter human history.
Once it entered human history—
Shen Ye felt a chill down his spine.
Yes.
When people know that their ancestors worshiped a certain god in ancient times,
their guard will be lowered significantly.
This is only natural.
Then.
What will happen when this deity reappears in human sight, given a positive image and implication?
And when people start calling for worship, adoration, prayer—
What will happen?
At this moment, Shen Ye realized that behind the whole incident lay a terrifying truth.
In his mind, there was absolutely no connection between the real world and the Nightmare World.
But from this moment, he felt a deep connection between the two worlds.
Shen Ye wanted to continue pondering, but he was too tired.
He couldn't muster a single thought.
Sleep then.
He yawned, took off his clothes, got into bed, and covered himself with the blanket.
Almost as soon as his head touched the pillow, he had closed his eyes and was about to sink into deep sleep.
The cards vibrated.
Shen Ye frowned and threw the cards out.
But the cards flew back, landing on his face, vibrating incessantly.
Too tired, stop it!
Shen Ye stuffed the cards under the blanket, yawned, and continued to sleep.
One breath.
Two breaths.
He suddenly jumped out of bed, grabbing the cards and shouted:
"You can't go there!"
The cards acted as though unheard, mercilessly vibraing on.
Shen Ye clutched his head in pain and looked at the content on the cards.
"Song Qingyun has sent a call request."
```