Chapter 24: The Power of the Frenzy Realm and the Method to Activate the Third Gear

Before the attack on the Lihuo Pavilion.

Pushing his Aegis motorcycle, Zhou Yan followed Chu Wan and Luo Xuan into the chaotic rift.

He felt as if he were passing through a strange, membrane-like layer.
The sensation was almost identical to entering the "black hole" within the Hundred Ghosts Calamity Realm.

The scenery before his eyes shattered and reformed in an instant, inadvertently transforming into a landscape he had never seen before.
The sky was dim, the earth was parched and cracked, and magma periodically burst forth from the fissures—it was unmistakably a vast wilderness.

Feeling a sudden lightness beneath his feet, Zhou Yan realized he had touched the ground.

He glanced left and right. Beside him stood the calm Chu Wan, and Luo Xuan, who was looking around with curiosity much like his own.
As for the other powerful experts who had entered together, they had already dispersed, silently clustering into groups of ten to form ranks.

Behind them loomed an equally massive, floating black sphere.
Beyond the sphere lay a boundless, unending darkness.

"The world within the rift is an incomplete projection of other worlds, and this darkness behind us signifies that we are at the very edge of this realm."
Chu Wan's voice rang out beside him. Her expression turned unusually solemn: "Remember, under no circumstances should you ever step into the edge of the darkness. According to the records of archives spanning all these years, those who fall into it never return. The probability of losing contact is one hundred percent; there is no room for luck."

Zhou Yan and Luo Xuan nodded earnestly.

The three of them looked straight ahead.

About ten kilometers away stood a gigantic barren mountain, and nestled against the rock face at the foot of the mountain was a castle in the Western style.

"That castle is the former base of the Fire-Worshiping Society. I wonder if it was an existing structure they occupied, or if they built it anew after entering," Chu Wan said with a slight smile. "Of course, I suspect it was a pre-existing building."

"I think so too," Zhou Yan chimed in.

Before he could finish observing the scene, a series of messages suddenly flashed across his vision:

[You have entered the "Chaotic Rift". Defeat rift monsters and seal the rift to obtain high-quality rewards.]
[Depth: 4]
[Rift Nature: Projection of the Shallow Zone of the Chaotic Abyss]

Hmm...
Entering the rift actually triggered information prompts similar to walking through calamity realms.

Zhou Yan looked at the number following "Depth", which was "4".
It was double the depth of "2" from the calamity realm he had entered most recently.

Though he didn't know precisely what the depth signified, based on his experience, calamity realms with larger numbers featured higher overall and peak strengths for their monsters.
Following this pattern, the strength of the monsters in this rift would not be low.

At the very front, Zhang Daosheng said in a resonant voice:
"Everyone, the situation in the rift changes in a fraction of a second. Release your Divine Machines immediately and do not lower your guard!"

As he spoke, various lights illuminated the entire field, and everyone unhesitatingly released their Divine Machines.

Among the high-level Divine Machines that resembled exoskeleton armor across the field, the release momentum of three individuals was the most eye-catching.

First were the exclusive Divine Machines of Zhang Daosheng and Cong Shiyun, which took the form of orange-red and red-and-white armors respectively. Compared to the heavily mechanized armor of the rest, the battle armor of the two strongest experts looked more streamlined, leaning towards a classical aesthetic.

To use Zhou Yan's preferred analogy, the Divine Machine armor of these two bigwigs somewhat resembled an anime he had watched back on Earth.

To put it plainly, it was similar to the Cloth of the Saints.

A large number of bright light paths emerged on Cong Shiyun's red-and-white armor, suggesting he had entered Gear Two mode directly upon summoning.

According to the knowledge popularized by Chu Wan, true-realm experts are divided into three tiers based on the extent of their mental development relative to their bodies.

The first tier is commonly known as "Phase". They can use their willpower to control the surging blood qi within their bodies and operate it along established routes, significantly enhancing bodily functions to thirteen to fifteen times the limit of an ordinary person. They can maintain the "Gear One Release" state of their Divine Machines for extended periods and steadily trigger the "Gear Two Mode". Outstanding individuals who have advanced their practice to the acupoint level can briefly activate the hyper-thought circuit and enter "Gear Three".
Chu Wan was currently at this first stage.

The second tier is commonly known as "General". They activate almost all the acupoints within their body. With the development of these acupoints, their explosive power can reach more than twice that of a "Phase-tier expert", and they can maintain "Gear Two Mode" for a relatively long time. The elite among them can steadily activate the hyper-thought circuit and sustain it for a certain duration.

Cong Shiyun was at the third tier of the true realm, commonly known as "Marquis". He stood at the absolute pinnacle of the true realm, his mental power having grown strong enough to condense an intangible yet tangible "spirit and vigor". Under normal conditions, he could infinitely maintain the Gear Two mode of his Divine Machine, and in combat, he could sustain the Gear Three hyper-thought mode for prolonged periods, wielding an intensity of superpowers vastly exceeding those of lower-tier individuals.

As for the higher realm known as the Mad Realm, Chu Wan did not elaborate much.
However, judging from Zhang Daosheng's performance, the surface of his Divine Machine armor did not exhibit the light paths of Gear Two, but rather a truly ferocious, genuine flame—most likely the Gear Three mode.

It seemed that experts of the Mad Realm could at least maintain the routine Gear Three of their Divine Machines?

Zhou Yan recalled when he first met Zhang Daosheng, when he had entertained the thought under the other's threat that "relying on the hyper-fusion mode, if he makes a move, I'll transform and instantly kill him."
Now, he only felt that he had truly been a newborn calf unafraid of tigers.

And while he was mocking himself inwardly, little did he know that he himself was the third most eye-catching figure on the field.
After all, Zhang Daosheng and Cong Shiyun might have special designs and operational modes, but no matter what, they were still "infantry".

Meanwhile, the tall, majestic black mechanical dragon horse beneath Zhou Yan's seat completely set him apart from everyone else.
A noble cavalryman!

"Little Brother Zhou Yan, with your Divine Machine release, riding such a steed and wearing that armor, you instantly look several times more handsome."
Beside him, Chu Wan, who had also completed her donning process, looked up at Zhou Yan and couldn't help teasing.

On the other side, Luo Xuan silently agreed with Chu Wan in her heart: *Indeed he's handsome, and Zhou Yan is very handsome to begin with.*

However, most of the people present were experienced veterans. Although Zhou Yan's situation was indeed special, they were currently inside a rift, and everyone was more concerned with their own missions. After casting a few glances at Zhou Yan, they all withdrew their gazes.

In the distance along the barren horizon, sporadic eerie figures began to appear.
The enemy had arrived!

Zhang Daosheng spoke once more: "Chu Wan, lead the people to hold the rift entrance. Cong Shiyun, combine forces with me first; we will clear a straight path to the castle, and then I will deal with that high-level Flame Demon. At that time, you can lead your team around the Flame Demon to enter."
"Everyone, move out!"

With that, Zhang Daosheng took the lead and dashed toward the castle.
Cong Shiyun and twenty other powerful experts followed closely behind.

Riding his horse, Zhou Yan gazed into the distance and saw that this large group moved at an extremely fast pace, surging a kilometer away in no time at all.

Zhang Daosheng, leading the charge, directly pulled away from his teammates, transforming entirely into a human figure enveloped in crimson flames, with a long sword formed of fire appearing in his hand.
He gripped the sword single-handedly across his chest, and the next second, the fiery blade elongated rapidly to dozens of meters as he ran.

Simultaneously, he had already surged ahead of his teammates, reaching the front lines where a massive horde of monsters had gathered.

A wave of his hand, a horizontal slash!
The forty-meter fire sword in Zhang Daosheng's grasp seemed to transform into a long whip, sweeping past the waists of countless monsters in a fraction of a moment.

Skinners, bone maidens, goat-headed monsters, and even Flame Demons whose strength rivaled that of Gear One mechanical martial artists—
All the monsters simultaneously burst into piercing shrieks, then were cut straight through the middle as if they were harvested wheat.

The battlefield instantly cleared in an area.

Yet Zhang Daosheng's pace did not stop. He sped through the open zone he had created and plunged headfirst into the dense cluster of monsters.

The next second, another whip of fire lashed out.
Another single strike cleared the field!

He was like an eraser, effortlessly wiping away large swathes of blank space among the monster army as he advanced.

Cong Shiyun and the other experts closely trailing behind Zhang Daosheng didn't even have a chance to strike; they only needed to conserve their stamina and keep up with his pace.

"So strong..." Zhou Yan watched Zhang Daosheng's performance silently, praising softly under his breath.
So this was the strength of a Mad Realm expert wielding a Divine Machine. It was even evident that Zhang Daosheng was merely treating this wide-area fire-whip slash as a basic attack, without having deployed his true power at all.

"Alright, the power of a Mad Realm expert is not something we can fathom." Chu Wan patted Zhou Yan on the shoulder. "The vast majority of people in this world, even if they can temper their bodies to the ferocious or marvelous tier, can at most develop their mentality to the second tier—that is, four to five times the limit of an ordinary person—before it becomes extremely difficult to rise further."

"Only individuals like little Xuan, who can visualize the Lihuo Chart and continuously match and elevate their mental cultivation as their bodily strength increases, possess the qualifications to step into the true realm."

"As for super experts like Pavilion Master Cong, his mental strength probably has reached thirty to forty times the limit of a normal human, yet he still hasn't entered the Mad Realm..."

Looking at Zhou Yan and Luo Xuan, who were listening attentively, Chu Wan said with profound meaning: "Put this way, you should be able to feel just how unfathomable a Mad Realm expert truly is."

Luo Xuan nodded gently, her expression calm: "There is no end to the path of cultivation; this is a principle I understood from the beginning. The Mad Realm—I will definitely reach it."

Zhou Yan didn't say much, merely pondering Chu Wan's words inwardly.

*Pavilion Master Cong's mental strength is thirty to forty times the normal human limit, huh...*
Corresponding to panel attributes, that would be around "150" to "200", right?

In that case, whenever he wore his destiny attire, his mental strength already reached that tier.
Not to mention that if he used multiple fusion to enter the "Ghost-God Extermination Skeleton" form, even without employing techniques, his mentality neared "400", which theoretically reached over eighty times that of an ordinary person.

However, both Cong Shiyun and even Chu Wan could effortlessly initiate the "Gear Three mode" of their Divine Machines, whereas he could not.

If it wasn't a problem with attribute values, the issue probably stemmed from the fact that he hadn't mastered the corresponding pathways.
Merely using willpower to control the surging blood qi wasn't enough; perhaps he needed to activate a certain level of "acupoints"?

He recalled the true-realm classification Chu Wan had popularized: only those who cultivated to the acupoint level stepped into the realm of activating Gear Three Divine Machines.

Yet, aside from the Lihuo Chart—which was paired with mental visualization—the Vermilion Bird Palace's Pulse-Burning Technique only contained secret methods for directing blood qi with willpower, lacking any cultivation method for acupoints.

The corresponding alternative was the "Star-Chasing Secret Chart" he had learned from "Fool", which, aside from the "rotation" effect similar to the Pulse-Burning Technique, also contained a method called "Star Tremor" specifically designed to cultivate the astral positions within the human body.

And astral positions were acupoints.

Therefore, should he first attempt to practice this "Star Tremor" technique, or go straight to Chu Wan to request the corresponding cultivation method of the Vermilion Bird Palace?

After a brief thought, he had his answer.
Once this rift mission concluded, he would directly ask Chu Wan for the cultivation method.
Since he could learn more systematic and superior techniques, there was no need to bother with makeshift alternatives.

***
Published late today as well, apologies!
I'll strive for an extra chapter in the next two days to make amends!
(A foolish author who fought the Yellow Loong without the Wind-Taming Bead and died dozens of times for nothing)