Chapter 567: Chapter 26: Stairway!

As the silhouette of the decrepit Altonia vanished behind the coiling roots, only the ominous, dark green-lit staircase entrance remained, silently exhaling a deadly allure, like the throat leading to the Abyss.

The air seemed frozen for several seconds, the heavy pressure and thirst for strength clashed vigorously within the hearts of the eight secret skills.

“Haha, see you at the end, everyone!” Baggen was the first to break the silence, letting out a hearty laugh with his fiery red beard quivering. His burly figure charged at the entrance of the boiling staircase with unmatched might, instantly consumed by the viscous dark green glow.

Anderson cast a cold glance at Lynch, his eyes like a poisoned ice spike, then without a word, his pure white silhouette closely followed Baggen into the entrance, Kano shadowing him silently.

Sophia waved playfully at Lynch and Jeraf, mouthed “Good luck,” and her form drifted toward the entrance, merging with the shadows. Jeraf nodded slightly at Lynch, his gaze filled with gravity and encouragement, then stepped forward into the entrance.

Kalsa took a deep breath, Frost Power swirling around her forming a thin layer of defense, and entered the glow with determination. Agit, like a true ghost, silently vanished at the entrance.

Lynch took one last look at the deep entrance, the depths of his gray pupils, the Grid Circuit operated silently, assimilating the chaotic spatial waves and violent Decay Rule Fragments at the entrance into his Perception. He took a deep breath, the Power of Decay flowed within him slowly, stepped forward, his figure engulfed in the disquieting dark green glow.

After a moment of weightlessness and spatial chaos, Lynch found himself in an absolutely silent, boundless dark void.

Beneath his feet was the sole source of light and solidity—

The spiraling staircase formed by innumerable gnarled, pulsating, dark green juice-dripping huge black roots. The staircase stretched upward, shrouded in the profound darkness at the end of his sight, and downward was equally endless void, as if a misstep would lead to eternal fall.

All around was pure darkness that devoured everything, no sound, no wind, only the staircase itself emitted a faint dark green ghostly glow along with a suffocating Decay aura. Those who entered together were now completely vanished, as if everyone was isolated in fragmented space-time, facing this road to the end alone.

Lynch steadied his spirit, the Grid Circuit expanded fully. An invisible web of perception instantly covered hundreds of meters centered around him, mapping every inch of texture, every energy flow, and every spatial fold of the staircase clearly in his Sea of Consciousness.

However, when this perception net extended into the farther darkness, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, swallowed and twisted by a vast, invisible intent of decay, returning only chaos and lifeless silence.

“Independent space nodes… or stronger domain suppression…” Lynch understood, stopped attempting to find his companions, focusing all his attention on the staircase beneath his feet.

He lifted his foot, stepping onto the first twisted root step.

“Hmm?”

At the moment his foot landed!

A frigid, viscous force filled with intense decaying intent erupted suddenly from the roots beneath his feet, like a lurking snake!

Lynch frowned, looking down at his feet.

This force was not merely physical corrosion but operated directly at the rules level, seeking to erode Lynch’s Magic Power structure, life activity, and even rattle his perception of spatial stability!

The structure of this force was exceptionally intricate, containing a “accelerated matter decay” rule rhythm. It was like an invisible file attempting to accelerate the aging and disintegration of the inner core structure of the material particles in contact with his foot.

“The Power of Decay, huh?” Lynch stroked his chin thoughtfully.

His steps did not halt.

Under the extreme insight of the Grid Circuit, the energy flow trajectories of this Decay force, the core nodes of the rule runes, and the weak links in its integration with the material beneath his foot were as clear as if he was observing palm lines!

“Elemental Transformation Inverse Formula… combine the Star Phase’s model effect on material stability…” Lynch’s thoughts, like the most precise Alchemy Reactor, instantly mobilized the vast knowledge reserves in his mind.

He chose not to confront it directly with his own Power of Decay but instead, minimizing spiritual power consumption, precisely guided a thread of Arcane Energy imbued with “entropy increase inversion” intent, like the most skillful scalpel, accurately piercing into the “entropy increase node” where the Decay rule operated!

Simultaneously, a miniature Space Anchoring Matrix was instantly constructed under his foot, creating a strong short-time association between his material structure and the current spatial coordinates, utilizing spatial stability to counteract the tendency of material decay.

Shortly after.

“Sss…”

A barely audible hiss, like icy water cascading onto a red-hot iron. The Decay force attempting to erode Lynch, its internal structural equilibrium was instantly disrupted by Lynch’s precise “entropy increase inversion” energy, dissipating and neutralizing swiftly, reabsorbed by the roots beneath his foot.

Meanwhile, Lynch’s foot landed safely on the step, leaving not a trace on the sole.

At the same time.

“Knowledge Fragment of Decaying Domain acquired, loaded.”

“[Decaying Domain Level 2: 2/50000]”

The system’s crisp notification sounded in Lynch’s ear, adding several lines of new data to the panel instantly, and a fresh, complex array of knowledge entered his Spiritual Sea, pertaining to the Decaying Domain. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩

“I see, so this is the trial?”

Decomposing the Decaying Domain into countless knowledge fragments while packaging each fragment as a decaying trap set upon the stone steps, every step into the trial participants cracking the upcoming Decay traps.

And in the process of cracking, gaining natural understanding and comprehension of the decay knowledge therein, thereby mastering new Decay force.

“I wonder how many of these knowledge fragments are there?”

Lynch raised his head, gazing up the staircase.

Looking up from the bottom of the staircase, all he saw were dense steps, no sight of the passage’s end, resembling an endless staircase.

Vaguely in the direction the staircase led, it seemed there was a peak shrouded by storm clouds.

“The road is long, proceed step by step!”

Shaking his head, Lynch closed the system panel, took a step, and continued upward to the second stair, engaging with the next Decay trap.

Until the ultimate goal—

The Decaying Domain!

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