Chapter 256 The Secrets of the Shadow Kingdom (Part 1) (Page 1/1)
Hugging his blanket tightly, Todd stepped out of the temple, looked at the green hills and clear waters before him, and took a deep breath of fresh air with a joyful heart.
Towering snow-capped mountains stand majestically on the lush, verdant land; cascading waterfalls hang between jagged rocks on the mountainside.
The clear stream water at my feet barely covered my insteps, and although it was the height of summer, it gave me a cool and refreshing feeling.
Rachel, her right arm linked with Todd's, looked up at the sky and exclaimed in surprise.
A ferocious beast with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion soared between the mountain streams, its clear cry echoing throughout the entire valley.
In contrast to the astonished Rachel, Todd frowned.
In this other world, the western and central regions of the continent are like two completely different spaces compared to this place.
The biological system on Moon Creek Plains is somewhat similar to that of Earth in the previous life, but it has completely deviated from the scope of the normal biosphere.
What exactly caused these biological changes?
With these questions in mind, Todd, with Rachel's help, continued climbing up the mountain path.
After climbing for only ten minutes, a weak and exhausted Todd was already sitting on a large rock, panting and shaking his head with a bitter smile.
"I never imagined that maintaining the monster form would be so physically demanding. It's only been twenty minutes since I climbed up from the seabed along the whirlpool, but after that time, I felt like all my strength had been drained away after I returned to human form."
Rachel tidied her hair for a moment, looked at Todd's right arm that she had regained, and asked, "Speaking of which, I haven't had a chance to ask you yet, what exactly is on the other side of the Dark Gate?"
Todd looked into Rachel's eyes and asked seriously, "Do you really want to know?"
Seeing the other person nod solemnly, Todd sighed and closed his eyes.
The next second, Rachel was pulled into the soul space without warning. For her, this entry came without any warning and she was unable to resist.
Unlike the usual soul space, this space was an endless expanse of darkness. Rachel's body continued to fall, her limbs seemingly bound together by an unknown force.
She tried to scream, but no sound came out. Her entire body, even the soul within her body, was being squeezed and imprisoned by an immense force.
Just as she was about to succumb to this endless darkness, a giant eye slowly opened and looked at her location.
ah! ! !
Rachel screamed in alarm, but when she came back to reality, she saw Todd's concerned face.
"That was...?!"
"That is the world behind the Dark Gate."
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Rachel said, still shaken, "No wonder Meredith told me that those who returned from the Dark Gate were unwilling to talk about their experiences."
After calming down, Rachel suddenly remembered something and asked Todd, "Was that the 'Soul Link' ability just now?"
"That's right."
"But this connection is different from the past. Without prior awareness, I couldn't even muster the slightest thought of resistance..."
After thinking for a moment, Todd said, "After returning from the Dark Gate, my abilities seem to have changed. Moreover, the mutations that were previously uncontrollable can now be managed to a limited extent."
After saying that, Todd stretched out his right arm. Slowly, metallic scales covered the skin of his arm, and his five fingers transformed into the shape of a monster's iron claws.
The "Weakness" ability slowly activated. What should have been a pale black light now resembled a flame doused in gasoline, turning into a billowing, churning blackish-purple flame.
Todd gripped a rock with his iron claws, which turned to dust in less than a second.
The process lasted a total of ten seconds, after which his arm returned to its original shape.
Todd took a breath, exhausted, and said weakly, "I can control a part of my body to mutate. The power used by the mutated part of my body will be upgraded in terms of power and form. For example, the 'weakness' I just experienced has been upgraded to 'fracture'."
"Disintegration?! That's the power of Jerome, the ninth in line to the Legion?" Rachel exclaimed excitedly. "That means you've come into contact with the 'Tyrant'!"
Todd scratched his head: "Theoretically, that's correct, but I really don't remember when or where I came into contact with that substance after I passed through the Dark Gate."
"If only I had experimental equipment on hand, I could analyze my own blood and biopsies."
Upon hearing this, Rachel sighed: "The 'Black Pearl' did indeed carry a complete set of experimental equipment, but unfortunately it was all lost in the shipwreck."
Todd dusted off the blanket, stood up, and looked up at the uphill path: "There's no use thinking about this now. Before we can return, our most important task is to figure out how to survive in the Shadow Kingdom."
Supporting each other, the two continued their journey. After crossing a hundred-meter-long suspended walkway made of wooden planks and then sidestepping behind a waterfall along a narrow cliff that could only be passed by one person at a time, it took them a full hour to finally reach a temple on the ridge.
The temple is built directly above the cliff, and from a distance, you can see that it was actually carved into the mountainside by human hands, bit by bit.
Bending down a long stone staircase, one enters the main hall of the temple, where a ten-meter-tall statue of a goddess stands.
The stone statue has its fingers crossed in front of its chest, and a disc covered with spikes is carved behind it.
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