I've Become the King of Villains in the Game-Chapter 781 - 480: Return to the Crystal Mountain Range

The white-haired old man in the painting, dressed as a traveler in a tawny robe and a pointed hat, lay curled up motionless in a corner of the ground.

His face still bore a petrified expression of fear, as if frozen in the last moment of being trapped inside the painting, his arms tightly clutching a backpack that partly exposed some scrolls from its side pockets.

"Mage Carmen?"

Chen Lun stood in front of the easel, calling out in a deep voice.

He wiped the bloodstains from his face with a handkerchief, deliberately controlling his gaze to avoid looking at the terrifying figure in a yellow robe on the canvas.

However, silence pervaded the surroundings, the old man in the painting showed no response.

Chen Lun furrowed his brows, unable to determine whether Carmen could sense the external disturbance; the only certainty was that the other party was still alive, otherwise the A-rank mission he had taken from Miss Fleurette would have been deemed a failure long ago.

’How should I rescue him from within the painting...’

He suddenly felt it was a daunting task.

Chen Lun looked around and began a methodical search of the room, trying to find some clues, but the outcome was disappointing—there was nothing noteworthy anywhere.

He sighed in resignation and returned to the front of the easel.

But at that moment, Chen Lun seemed to notice something. His gaze shifted to the old man in the corner of the painting, his expression grew tense.

’There should have been a scroll by the side of the backpack he was holding, now why is it missing?’

Quickly, he found the edge of a scroll that was pressed under the old man’s body, partially exposed and seemed to be inscribed with some extremely small text in blood.

’Carmen can sense the disturbances from the outside world; he must have heard my call just now, and thus is sending me a message...’

Chen Lun realized.

He immediately fixated his gaze on the text on the scroll, trying to understand the message being conveyed.

But whether it was because Carmen was too weak, or for some other reason, the text wasn’t a complete sentence but rather disjointed, twisted words such as "Clarence", "Strength fading", and "Replenish".

Chen Lun scrutinized these blood-written words back and forth a few times, pondering deeply.

’Carmen’s hint... perhaps he’s telling me that this painting by Clarence not only captures and severs the moment but even freezes time, creating a painted world within the painting... But as time passes, Clarence’s power continuously fades, causing the space within the painting to degrade, depriving Carmen of any chance to return... If I want to rescue him, must I replenish the painting’s power?’

He speculated in his mind.

He frowned again.

’If that’s the case... how could I possibly replenish the power of Clarence, a Sub-God level Angel?’

Sighing, Chen Lun felt powerless.

He looked at the easel before him, hesitating to make any immediate moves... perhaps when Carmen first came to this place, it was because he touched the canvas that he was forcibly dragged into it, ultimately becoming trapped within.

"Mage Carmen, could you possibly give me another hint? How should I seek out the power of Clarence..."

Chen Lun, standing a few meters away, asked towards the easel.

As time passed, nearly ten minutes went by and the scene on the canvas remained unchanged. Chen Lun was starting to feel disappointed, but in the blink of an eye, the expression on Carmen’s face shifted from fear to pain.

Beneath him, the scroll again revealed a new word:

"Dream Realm."

’To find Clarence in the Dream Realm?’

Chen Lun was immediately shocked.

His expression darkened, and he quickly dismissed the idea.

Not to mention the level of danger in the Dream Realm, even if he intended to go there, he couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t be caught by Miss Sigh, the guardian of the "Door of Slumber". After his last experience, Chen Lun never wanted to confront this terrifying presence again.

But quickly, he thought of something else.

’Although the mad Clarence resides in the Dream Realm, the Immortal Realm is a replica of the Dream Realm, including this Mad God recreated deep within the Crystal Mountain Range, and the dangers of the Immortal Realm are far less than those of the Dream Realm... I might try my luck there, and if I encounter dangers I can’t withstand, I can always retreat.’

Chen Lun mulled over this for a while, finally settling on the idea.

He slowly turned around and left the top-floor room, descending downstairs where he found a corner to sit on the floor, leaning against the wall as he opened "Philip’s Dreamland Adventure".

Whoosh...

A burst of white light appeared, and Chen Lun immediately entered the Immortal Realm.

He closed his eyes in meditation, connecting with his mind to a cabin deep within the Crystal Mountain Range and teleported himself. When he opened his eyes again, Chen Lun calmly rose from the chair, opened the door, and walked out.

What met his eyes was the continuously unbroken, black mountain range devoid of any vegetation. [Spiritual Intuition] sent a warning, pointing directly toward a canyon formation on his right.

’I had thoroughly explored the Crystal Mountain Range before, and only the deep crevice in that canyon remained unexplored... Clarence must be inside.’

Chen Lun instantly soared into the air, flying toward the canyon.

A moment later.

He once again arrived at the canyon’s bottom, standing before the vast crevice.

Despite sensing a terrifying presence faintly emanating from within the darkness, he did not hesitate and took a deep breath before jumping straight into it.

A feeling of weightlessness followed, and Chen Lun timely performed an Aerial Walk, controlling his fall... After a period of darkness, his vision gradually welcomed the light.

’Is that... Brilliance Stone?’

Chen Lun’s pupils constricted.

As his body continued to plummet, he saw the uneven rock walls around him covered densely with blue crystalline bodies, filling his entire field of vision, revealing themselves to be the power cores inside the statue-monsters of various peaks in the Crystal Mountain Range!

The countless brilliant stones, flickering with dazzling light, actually illuminated the dark environment at the bottom of the Abyss.

Chen Lun could barely contain the ecstasy in his heart, this was another treasure trove discovered after the Dragon Sharpstone mine beneath the Plains of Shadows! Initially, he had given up on using these extraordinary materials as research subjects due to the scarcity of the brilliant stones and the difficulties in obtaining them, but now it seemed that this path was entirely feasible!

’However, it’s not yet possible... The Mad God Clarence resides below, only after I advance to a higher position will I have enough confidence to slowly mine these ores.’

Chen Lun stifled the desire and calmed himself down.

At the same time, he did not forget the purpose of his trip, which was to find the object containing Clarence’s power... He should remain cautious during this process, and it would be best not to be discovered, otherwise, given the vast gap between their powers, even a replica of the God of the Immortal Realm’s wall painting could likely annihilate him instantly.

Moments later.

Chen Lun reached the bottom of the Abyss, and to avoid making noise, he continued to use Aerial Walk, floating in midair.

The area was utterly silent, with no living creatures visible, only the countless brilliant stones crystallized, glittering on the rock walls.

The warnings from his Spiritual Intuition grew more intense, but Chen Lun, using reverse thinking, flew towards the direction where the warnings were most intense, as this was the quickest way to find Clarence.

After flying silently through the Abyss for quite some time, weaving through twists and turns, Chen Lun finally arrived at a spacious area.

He looked up and caught his breath.

A humanoid blue crystal statue stood before him, lifelike and indistinguishable from a real person. What particularly drew Chen Lun’s attention was its face; the finely chiseled features, mature appearance, and even its eyes filled with melancholy, age, and wisdom were all exquisitely captivating...

’This statue was created in the image of Miss Fleurette...’

A thought flashed through Chen Lun’s mind.

At the same time, he was astonished that the statue was entirely composed of brilliant stones.

Zing—

Suddenly, the azure statue "came to life", its beautiful eyebrows slightly furrowed, and it extended its index finger towards Chen Lun from afar. From its fingertip burst a profound light pillar of blue and green interlaced, filled with terrifying power! frёeωebɳovel.com

The pillar of light reached him in an instant, and Chen Lun’s face drastically changed; not wanting to endure this destructive strike, he immediately used Blink to dodge.

Whoosh!

His figure appeared on the other side of the statue, but as if it had anticipated this, the statue swung its hand without turning its head, and another arc-shaped light blade, resembling an emerald, came slashing towards him again.

Boom!

Chen Lun immediately entered the Pale Knight form and blinked again to dodge; the emerald light blade passed him, hissing as it buried itself into the rock wall, shattering all the brilliant stones on it and cutting a bottomless groove.

The surroundings began to tremble, and Chen Lun’s heart sank.

’The destructive power of this statue, I’m afraid, has exceeded that of an ordinary Incarnation of the Saint...’

If he were to be hit by that emerald light, his defensive power, which he prided himself on, would likely be inadequate to withstand it, and he would be instantly cut in half, suffering severe injuries.

Even though his recovery power was astonishing, the statue would not give him time to catch his breath; it would emit an overwhelming barrage of light in an instant, submerging him.

Chen Lun blinked again, appearing right in front of the statue, he raised his giant sword burning with purple-red flames and chopped it down.

The statue showed no movement, but suddenly, an emerald light screen sprung from the ground, blocking on its side.

Hum!!

The energy of the emerald light screen was so dense that it neutralized both the slash and the flames, causing Chen Lun’s attack to be in vain.

’The noise is too loud... I must finish this quickly!’

Chen Lun thought to himself, a decision flashing in his eyes.

His left arm exploded and burst open, turning into a mass of pale snakes that rolled forward, entwining the emerald light screen and the statue, trapping them in place.

Immediately after, Chen Lun split his left arm off and blinked back a hundred meters. His right hand plunged the giant sword into the ground, and at once, a translucent "Annihilation Card" quietly appeared between his fingers, burning with a ghostly blue flame, shooting straight towards the statue entangled by the pale snakes.

Hum—

A massive, dark, and profound polyhedron suddenly appeared, instantly engulfing the statue.

[You killed "Clarence’s Masterpiece", gaining 50,000 Experience Points!]

A notification appeared on his panel, and Chen Lun breathed a sigh of relief.

However, in the next second, the ground began to tremble violently.

The warning from his Spiritual Intuition immediately escalated to its peak, and Chen Lun had a bad feeling; he looked up, only to see the black polyhedron collapsing into a point in an instant, disappearing...

In the dim area originally obscured by it, hundreds of blue statues, all bearing the likeness of Ms. Fleurette, appeared without expression, all staring at Chen Lun, walking towards him.

In the far background, a massive crystal mask, flickering with numerous deep blue hues, emerged from the shadows, suspended in the air.

Chen Lun’s hairs stood on end as he blankly watched the enormous crystal mask.

Because behind the mask was a head several times larger than the mask itself, irregular and covered with numerous mouths, all twisting, quivering, and ceaselessly opening and closing, chanting in unison, singing majestic verses:

"You are the engraver of epics, you are the magnificent Scorpio, you are the monarch of myriad colors... Praise the never-ending, captivating wall paintings of Heaven!"

Chen Lun’s scalp tingled.