Chapter 496: Entering the Third Real World
Chapter 496: Entering the Third Real World
As the Vortex reached its peak rotation, the still lake surface suddenly trembled.
“It’s here.”
Zuo Meng’s thoughts stirred. The gateway to the third real world had opened! Unlike the first two worlds, this entrance arrived with overwhelming grandeur – no attempt to hide itself. The previous worlds felt like sneaky little siblings compared to this, their entries silent and covert.
Hummm!!
Space warped briefly before calming. The silhouettes vanished from the lake.
Everything returned to how it was before.
Clear water revealing the bottom, mirror-smooth surface!
……
Zuo Meng shook his heavy head after unknown time passed, consciousness clearing from the fog.
“Entered the world?”
He checked his condition. Immediate difference struck him – his previous entries used only consciousness while his physical body stayed frozen in reading posture. This time, his true form had crossed over!
This meant he’d brought his creator’s rank into this world.
The two ‘reality forces’ fused in him remained intact, summoned effortlessly. Cold dread settled in Zuo Meng’s chest. Every previous world entry – even beyond the door – used projections rather than his true form. Not by choice, but necessity. Ordinary worlds couldn’t withstand creators. Transcendent existences broke their limits. Even those two real worlds behind the door only accepted his consciousness.
Basic rule: If world’s maximum capacity falls below creator rank, true form entry fails.
Like water in a tub – if your height exceeds the water level, you won’t drown. Yet this world accepted his full power without Chains. Meaning it could contain creators. At minimum, creators matching his strength. Flipside: this world held lifeforms capable of threatening him.
One. Or many.
“Truly the third real world.”
Zuo Meng intuited only three real worlds existed in that chamber. This was the final.
Aware of danger, he moved cautiously.
First restoring himself, he scanned surroundings. Oddly like the door’s great hall, perception range proved extremely limited here. Many things required physical sight. Take the vase before him – undetectable to senses yet visibly present. Countless such objects filled the small room.
“No doors?”
After circling, Zuo Meng found the critical flaw.
Three-story castle structure – main hall, exhibition space, bedroom, all complete. Fully furnished like inhabited space, yet Zuo Meng found zero lifeforms after triple-checking. No people. No insects.
Dead silent castle meant for someone’s dwelling.
Owner missing.
“Windows won’t budge.”
Zuo Meng pushed at sealed windows. Decoration pretending to be windows – existing because someone imagined they should.
“Is…this the entire world?”
Zuo Meng gaped.
He’d prepared for third world’s dangers – ambushes, seige. Never considered imprisonment. Unlike previous entries, his true form being trapped here meant actual doom.
“Xiao Meng.”
“Xiao Meng…”
The fragmented voice returned, clearer than ever, as if someone was standing right before him. Zuo Meng spun around and rushed into the room where the sound originated.
The space stood barren, unlike the other rooms filled with lavish furniture—this one held nothing but a lone table.
Its surface lay completely empty.
Yet the voice undeniably emanated from that very table!
“Something invisible to me?”
Zuo Meng narrowed his eyes. His true form’s awareness couldn’t be deceived, meaning something definitely existed here beyond visual perception.
“Alternative means might reveal it.”
Closing his eyes, Zuo Meng severed his breathing and dulled his senses.
All five senses disappeared entirely.
No sight. No sound. No smell. No touch. No awareness!
With ordinary senses blocked, the Creator’s transcendent perception surfaced—the same power he once wielded to forge worlds. Through this higher awareness, Zuo Meng finally pinpointed the sound’s origin while unraveling the castle’s secret.
This wasn’t a castle.
It was a prison.
An immense cage bound by countless Transcendent Chains. The “castle” merely reflected his own expectations—the prison had morphed into familiar architecture, every furnishing shaped by his memories and subconscious.
Superficially, a castle.
Through transcendent sight, it became a faintly glowing blue cage stretching beyond perception’s edge, clinging like a glass bubble to an immeasurable sphere that hinted at vaster realms.
Scrutinizing further, he noticed nearly a thousand similar glass-like cells alongside his own.
Their sheer number created a breathtaking spectacle.
“Have I become… a caged evil god?”
The realization flashed through Zuo Meng’s mind.
As the information returned, Zuo Meng immediately understood his situation. Memories surfaced unbidden—the Seven Stones he’d sealed during the Dream Realm’s creation. Now he tasted that same confinement, though being the trapped party proved distinctly unpleasant.
“This world automatically imprisons beings surpassing its limits—what it deems evil gods.”
But Zuo Meng was no ordinary entity.
The Creator of the vast world!
Even among imprisoned evil gods, he ranked supreme. A mere brush of his awareness revealed most cells contained withered husks—over a thousand cages holding nothing but emptiness.
Only two still pulsed with vitality.
These two represented this world’s pinnacle—existences matching Zuo Meng’s own supreme stature.