The Flesh Realm

The disorienting dissonance between what his eyes saw and his brain perceived left Huang Xiu dizzy and unsteady on his feet.

He instinctively stepped back, only to bump into Yun Ning with a soft thud.

“Sorry!” Huang Xiu shook his head, his face flushed with embarrassment as he pulled away from Yun Ning.

“It’s fine, Huang.”

Yun Ning waved a hand, unconcerned, his dark eyes fixed intently on the card in Professor Yuan’s hand.

“Ha, don’t stare too long, Huang. You can’t handle it just yet,” Professor Yuan said with a chuckle.

“This elevator card in my hand is a product of the Void Realm—the Ten Thousand Realm Transit Station. It’s also the only channel to reach that station.”

A channel? Just that card?

Leaning against the elevator railing, Huang Xiu watched curiously as Professor Yuan swiped the card over the elevator’s sensor.

With a beep, the professor quickly pressed all the single-floor buttons—1, 3, 5…

“As long as you press all the single-floor buttons within five seconds of swiping the card, you can…”

Both students stared unblinkingly at the professor’s actions.

Huang Xiu finished his sentence, “…you can go to that Void Realm called the Ten Thousand Realm Transit Station?”

“Exactly!”

Professor Yuan laughed heartily and pressed the close button.

As the elevator began its slow ascent, the white light on the ceiling flickered.

The crackling sound of electricity was clearly audible.

“Don’t step out. Remember, no matter who’s outside, no matter who calls you, don’t leave,” Professor Yuan instructed, then moved to shield Huang Xiu and Yun Ning behind him.

As he spoke, a gentle female voice rang out in the elevator.

“Ding. First floor arrived…”

With a whoosh, the elevator doors shuddered open as if pulled from both sides, jerking to a halt and leaving a inverted triangular gap.

Peering through the gap, Huang Xiu saw an endless corridor outside.

Above the corridor hung countless evenly spaced white glass chandeliers.

Huang Xiu stared at the infinitely extending hallway.

If he remembered correctly, the first floor should have been the Special Administration Bureau’s lobby.

There was even a pretty receptionist working the front desk.

“This…” He turned to look at Professor Yuan.

“We’ve already entered the Void Realm, but we haven’t reached the Transit Station yet.”

Professor Yuan stared outside and pressed the close button again.

With a series of creaking mechanical sounds, the doors closed once more.

“As the elevator ascends, each odd-numbered floor corresponds to an unknown Void Realm. That’s why this place is called the Ten Thousand Realm Transit Station.”

He warned, “If you step out and don’t return in time, you’ll be completely lost in the Void Realm.”

“Understood,” the two replied in unison.

At some point, the elevator’s chime changed. A mechanical, androgynous voice suddenly announced:

“Ding. Third floor arrived.”

The display screen on the right flickered with static.

“Is this normal?”

Huang Xiu swallowed and pointed at the screen—the static had twisted into a massive character for “death.”

“No, it’s not. I’ve never seen this before.”

Professor Yuan’s expression turned grave. In the Void Realm, unknown changes often spelled danger.

“But don’t worry. As long as we don’t step out, the rules of the Transit Station will protect us.”

After a pause, he added, “The Transit Station corresponds to a depth of 100. Very few Void Realms are deeper.”

Though curious about what “depth” meant, Huang Xiu knew this wasn’t the time to ask.

He stared intently at the slowly opening doors, his heart pounding like a war drum.

“Don’t be afraid, Huang!” Suddenly, Yun Ning gently placed a hand on his shoulder from behind.

He turned to see the young man looking at him seriously. “Teacher and I will protect you.”

“That’s right,” Professor Yuan said with a carefree smile. “Don’t worry. Since I brought you to the Void Realm, I’ll take you back.”

To become a professor at Tiandu University, knowledge wasn’t the only requirement; exceptional strength was equally crucial.

Now, as the elevator doors opened, everything outside revealed itself to the trio.

It was a world built of pink flesh.

The ground was a fleshy wall, rippling like waves in a spasm.

Scattered everywhere were stones that were actually black tumor lumps, their red veins pulsing with each breath.

Long, swaying strips of flesh filled the space, topped with twitching lumps shaped like leaves and fruit.

“Are those trees?”

As he spoke, a sense of dread suddenly gripped Huang Xiu’s heart.

He vaguely sensed something extremely powerful and malevolent approaching rapidly.

“Something bad is coming,” he said quickly.

No sooner had he spoken than the ground outside, not far from the elevator, bulged up tens of meters, forming a huge cocoon-like mass of flesh.

With a series of squelching sounds, limbs sprouted from the tens-of-meter-tall flesh cocoon.

“Can you close it?” Professor Yuan asked without turning around.

Yun Ning had been frantically pressing the close button, but the elevator didn’t respond. “Teacher, it won’t close!”

In the distance, a head-shaped bulge slowly grew from the flesh cocoon that had grown limbs.

“Looks like this thing doesn’t want us to leave,” Professor Yuan said, his gaze turning cold.

Something that could interfere with the Transit Station’s rules…

If he let that thing fully transform, who knew what chaos would ensue.

Besides, he didn’t have that much patience!

His two lovely students were waiting behind him!

He took off his suit jacket and tossed it back without looking. Huang Xiu nearly fumbled but managed to catch it.

“Hold this for me,” the middle-aged man said softly.

An inexplicable aura emanated from him, ripples forming around his body.

Loosening his blue tie and tearing open his cuffs, he stepped out of the elevator with steady strides.

Yuan Fei extended his hands in front of him, palms facing inward. White waves seemed to surge in his eyes.

The ripples around him grew more pronounced.

Huang Xiu could clearly hear the air around him creaking like crumpled plastic.

“Flipping Mountains—Fold!”

Yuan Fei chanted softly. As his voice fell, he suddenly clapped his hands together.

Smack!

It was as if an earth dragon had awakened. The ground shook violently, affecting even Huang Xiu and Yun Ning inside the elevator.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The next second, an irresistible force struck the fleshy ground.

Starting from the tip of Yuan Fei’s foot, the ground split open and folded inward like the pages of a book closing.

“Zhu! Zhu!”

The head that had barely emerged from the flesh cocoon, lacking any facial features, let out a deafening roar of fury.

It spread its four arms, trying to resist the ground collapsing inward from both sides.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

But the continuously folding flesh walls were as unstoppable as a mountain.

The frail limbs were the first to snap, followed by the sturdy thighs.

Finally, the egg-like flesh cocoon.

Bam!

The faceless giant born from the flesh cocoon was crushed into a pool of blood and flesh by the walls squeezing in from both sides.

Beneath the towering fleshy walls, blood flowed out, slowly forming a lake of gore.

“Let’s go! Close the door!” Professor Yuan tapped the ground with his toe and floated lightly back into the elevator.

But even before he spoke, Yun Ning had already pressed the close button.

He had been calmly observing the situation.

The moment the flesh giant was killed, the static on the elevator display vanished.

The force interfering with the elevator’s operation receded, and the doors creaked shut.

His chest rising and falling slightly, Professor Yuan breathed rhythmically to steady his ragged breath.

That terrifying, calamitous strike had consumed a great deal of his Void Energy.

He needed a moment to recover.

But as soon as he began his breathing technique, he heard Yun Ning behind him call out anxiously, “Huang! What’s wrong?”