The ninth district was indeed a tiny world with a golden lake that was a thousand meters in diameter, brightening the domain, and a majestic, grandiose black castle stood at the very center of the lake like a desolate mountain. Despite being built at the center of a shining lake, it was a pitch black, so dark that it could not even reflect light. It was an ominous construction that brought doom and gloom compared to the brilliant, beautiful lake.

 

Below Yan Xiaolong was a wide wooden bridge that connected the castle and gates behind him. He took a step forward, preparing to charge right into the castle, but only moved as far as that one step. 

 

"What!?" He quickly circulated his spiritual qi, only to realize that his cultivation base was stale and weak while his spiritual qi was slow and frigid. His cultivation base was like a near-frozen river, it simply did not ran as quickly as before. Fortunately, his defensive talismans were still working properly. 

 

Feeling nervous and sweaty, he took out the talisman chest from his interspatial ring and held it in his left arm. "So this is why he gave me so many talismans. I'm like a mortal inside of here. I can barely run faster, or jump higher, than an athlete. I can't even use the Hell-Scorching Flame without burning some spirit stones as well. What's wrong with this place?" 

 

[It seems there are debuffs present. They most likely originate from the black castle. Potential debuffs detected: energy-suppression, cultivation-suppression, body-suppression, soul-suppression...]

 

"There's that many..." Yan Xiaolong continued forward after slight hesitation. As long as all the defensive talismans were present, he could probably pull through the onslaught of an Ascendant cultivator. He even had that one high-grade Void-tier offensive talisman, his greatest secret weapon at the moment. It was as strong as a full attack by an Ascendant cultivator. Whatever dared jump at him, he’ll just wipe it out of existence. 

 

The black castle's gates were wide open, inviting him in like a demon's lair. Strangely, although the castle’s exterior was as dark as a moonless night, the interior was as bright as a cloudless day. The ceilings were high and the hallways were wide. Lamps and chandeliers decorated the platinum walls and ceilings. 

 

He proceeded further, hoping to locate the centermost location of this castle. However, what he discovered were more hallways and stairways. In fact, no matter how long he walked for, there were only more hallways and stairways. There was not a single room present, only strange symbols on the walls with a number on them. Moreover, these numbers were constantly changing every minute from three-digit numbers to five-digit numbers. 

 

“He said not to casually touch the walls, but how am I suppose to find the room with a red alter in it? He said its within a thousand, but that’s a lot.” Yan Xiaolong continued forward, moving randomly. He noticed that the further he moved, the smaller the value of these numbers on the wall. 

 

“I guess I’ll give it a try,” he said as he pressed his hand onto the number ‘809.’ The number flickered and a hole expanded on the wall. Astonishing, these numbers were the door knobs to the castle’s rooms! 

 

He looked into it and saw a golden sword stabbed into a large stone. It pulsed with divine power and majesty; a true sword fitting for a ruler. 

 

“Nope, not that.” 

 

Yan Xiaolong stepped back and the hole sealed itself. He went to the nearby room ‘789’ and opened it. There was a pond in this one, holding a liquid that was as thick and red as blood. Even the smell in this room was heavy and vile. The moment he opened the door, the red pond began to bubble and ripples spread across the surface.

 

“Nope, not this one either.” 

 

Feeling anxious, he quickly left. Yan Xiaolong had a hunch that something horrible would have happened if he stayed for too long. He ran for some time and noticed another number within a thousand, room ‘406.’ He opened the door and only saw absolute darkness. 

 

“Not in this one as wel-”

 

Gulp.

 

Yan Xiaolong’s body froze as he stared into the darkness. When he laid his sight into the room, a creeping sensation invaded his soul. There was nothing in the darkness, from what he could tell with his eyes and ears. However, there was something lurking within the darkness. That was what he felt with his instinct, a primal fear a prey had for a predator, like a rat staring into the cave of a giant serpent. 

 

Staring into the pitch black room was like gazing into the abyss. It gazed back at you.

 

He knew that some mysterious, wicked entity existed in this horrid place and it was staring right at him. Yet, he could not move. Was it because of mysterious entity’s power? Or was it out of fear? He had no answers. 

 

The sole thing Yan Xiaolong knew for sure was that he was only alive because he was in the light. If even a single finger, toe, or lock of hair entered the darkness, he would be dragged into an eternal hell. No amount of defensive, or offensive, talismans he had would save him from infinite torment. 

 

[Feelings of anxiety, depression, unease, hopelessness, and nihilism is overwhelming the mind. Emergency instructions deployed. First, take a big, quick breath through the nose. Next, slowly breathe out through the nose. Finally, repeat the process.] 

 

Yan Xiaolong followed the guidebook’s instruction. After he calmed himself down, he slowly walked back and allowed the hole to close itself. Just as he was feeling better, eerie laughter rang in his ears. 

 

“Jejejejejejeje...” 

 

At first, this laughter sent shivered down his spine. It not only confirmed his belief on an entity within the darkness, but was also sinister to the extreme, like the weeping of ghosts or the wailing of gods. However, with a mind fresh from unease, that fear transformed into a burning anger. 

 

“Having fun, are we?” Yan Xiaolong recalled the humiliation and took out a hundred spirit stones, burning them into spiritual qi. With quick hands, he cast a Fireball into the closing hole. He would have used more if not for his stale cultivation base. 

 

“Let me hear you laugh again, you troglodyte!” The Fireball illuminated the pitch black room, extinguishing the darkness. At the same time, it was vanquishing the dark entity. It let out a menacing screech, a sound that could rival the chopping of nails and severing of iron. 

 

“AAAYYYYYYYYEEEEEeeeeeeee......” Its scream died off as the hole close. He was unsure if it actually died, but it most certainly hurt. 

 

“Hmph! You’re out of your goddamn mindberries to be messing with the illustrious Young Master Yan.” Feeling very proud of his revenge, Yan Xiaolong lifted his chin and flicked his nose. A smug look surfaced on his face and he proceeded through the castle in large strides. 

 

......

 

There were too many numbers, too many rooms. He usually avoided any rooms that had a value higher than 1000, but that meant he had hundreds of rooms to check out. He would occasionally open a random room with a value greater than 1000 for fun. 

 

Some rooms contained items such as weapons, books, furnaces, spaceships, warships, rockets, explosives, food, clothing, furniture, or armor. Others contained mythical creatures and alien life forms of all shape and sizes, anomalous landscapes and ecosystems, and even entirely separate worlds. Each room was unique in its interior, and for the most part, he was never in danger. Of course, after his encounter with the dark entity, he was careful not to step into the rooms. 

 

The more he looked the greater his fascination toward this black castle. Yan Xiaolong finally understood his uncle’s words. The black castle truly was a world with its own set of laws. It was a place that could contain many worlds, or perhaps was a place that connected those worlds. 

 

"Oh??" Yan Xiaolong noticed a relatively small number in his peripherals, room '49.' This was the first number he ever saw below a hundred. Curious as ever, he walked over and opened it. 

 

Suddenly, an explosive anger washed against his face, along with an almighty voice that was like the full wrath of the ocean. 

 

"Who is it that brought light to my world!? Who has awakened the Divine Spirit of the Deep Blue, He Who Sleeps the Great Dream!?" Two massive golden eyes appeared in the distance. "Is it you!? How dare you, junior!"