Reborn as an Extra Chapter 553: There are infinite possibilities! Part-3.

The spirit realm contained all manner of strange and warped elements that no ordinary person could hope to understand.

Spatial distortions, temporal shifts, elemental concentrations, miasma currents, cosmic energies, and the like swirled in utter disorder, spawning and obliterating countless odd occurrences every few moments.

This realm proved so unnerving that Rio had to steer clear of numerous volatile spots, where overwhelming chaos disrupted the fundamental 'laws' of the 'world' and invited dire imbalances.

Advancing even a single step demanded intense focus; every action required careful assessment of hints and repeated mental rehearsals in advance.

Without his immunity to miasma, mastery over it, and formidable sword intent, Rio might have perished long ago amid the realm's myriad freakish perils.

Unpredictable rifts in the surrounding space-time could erupt at any instant, ending lives without warning; sudden fierce spatial surges could strike from within, tearing victims asunder.

Rio had witnessed a whole cluster of S-rank evil spirits torn to shreds in mere milliseconds when a random spatial distortion, combined with surging miasmic thickness, fractured the space-time there!

'This domain assaults everything so fiercely that only top SS-rank powerhouses can linger safely, provided they remain ever vigilant and shield themselves perpetually from miasmic taint...'

'It's no surprise that fugitives fleeing into the spirit realm seldom return to the physical plane...'

'Even SS-rank experts face lethal threats here, much less lesser beings...'

Reflecting on these perils, Rio's gaze sharpened.

'If the spirit realm already brims with such deadliness... how nightmarish must the depths of the 'sea of endless miasma' truly be...'

Unlike the spirit realm, which offered solid footing and miasma as thick fog, the sea of miasma consisted entirely of fluid, solidified miasma blanketing vast expanses!

This formed a genuine 'sea' of viscous miasmic fluid, extending across almost a tenth of the universe!

Its scale dwarfed galaxies, rendering them insignificant as mere specks!

'It could pulverize entire galaxies effortlessly; untold trillions of demons and horrors likely dwell within, alongside a staggering horde of SS-rank entities...'

'Truly a place of utter dread...'

Gazing upward, Rio observed the falling miasmic downpour easing into a gentler, thinner drizzle as he pressed onward.

He traversed multiple ridges and desolate badlands, scarred by miasmic decay and teeming with freakish beasts, until he neared the next prospect revealed by the cube of possibilities.

'This cube operates so sluggishly... sigh... probably glitching because I'm the one wielding it...'

As an outlier, Rio defied easy prediction.

Foreseeing his path ahead bordered on impossible, as did mapping his potential outcomes.

In truth, unless Rio deliberately suppressed his full immunity now and then, the cube couldn't function on him at all.

And even when it did engage, its performance faltered, yielding feeble and imprecise results.

It managed only short-range forecasts tied to Rio, limited to events not too distant in time, forward or back.

The device guided Rio toward Liam, yet in fragmented, incremental stages, as though barred from broader computations.

'I suppose... I'm every bit as peculiar as this twisted land... a shadowy wanderer in a nightmarish wasteland of doom and terror... an ideal match...'

Rio shook his head and bridged the gap to the freshly detected possibility.

After some further trekking, Rio halted before a colossal river!

Yet this differed from typical waterways; it flowed as a sluggish stream of compacted miasmic fluid.

The miasma here packed such intensity that it resembled inky, adhesive gel inching along like merchandise on a sluggish assembly line.

The surrounding terrain lay so thoroughly tainted that the earth had crystallized into hardened miasmic formations!

But that held no appeal for Rio; his attention locked onto an evil spirit perched by the banks of this corrupting torrent.

The entity resembled a murky silhouette, bloated like an orc or some similar brute.

It endlessly ladled the dark miasmic sludge from the river, attempting to cram it into its maw, yet lacking a throat, the substance always poured out uselessly, never reaching any innards.

As though oblivious to its own neckless form, preventing any swallowing into a belly, the evil spirit persisted in shoving the rotten miasma toward its mouth again and again.

All the while, it cackled maniacally and bellowed,

"ah!!! Meat! Meat! Human meat!!! Ah! Ah! Meat! So good! So good!! Ahh!!"

Rio puzzled over how the thing uttered cries without a neck, but each outburst unleashed potent spatial ripples, stirring widespread turmoil nearby.

Even the miasma's movement grew erratic in the vicinity of that freakish evil spirit.

'Do all beings in the spirit realm unleash psychic and soul assaults simply by existing?...'

As before, Rio had dropped his invisibility, yet the creature showed no awareness of him whatsoever.

'Yet another echo from bygone eras?... Evil spirits materializing counts as rare back in the material realm, but here... they're so frequent I've encountered two already today...'

Nearly a full day had passed since Rio's arrival in the spirit realm, yet the onslaught of weird sights had begun normalizing the madness for him.

'If swine took to the skies here without warning, I doubt it'd faze me now...'

Shaking his head, Rio crouched and scooped up a cluster of miasmic crystals from the soil.

'These prove fascinating... the miasma concentration in them surpasses even what I generate for my own miasmic strikes...'

'I could analyze them and replicate their makeup to bolster my miasma barriers and refine other offensive arts...'

To most, the spirit realm might represent a pit of horrors swarming with abominations, but to Rio, it gleamed as a treasure trove brimming with chances to grow and refine his abilities.

The primary drive behind Rio's acceptance of this quest lay in seeking trials that would propel his advancement.

'The mid-tier S-rank phase draws nearer with each passing moment...'

The barrage of oddities Rio had faced sparked a torrent of ideas for fresh techniques and strengths, while his command of miasma and soul arts had surged remarkably in just this one day!

'Time constraints me, or I'd relish lingering here for a year or two... These miasmic crystals would fuel all sorts of novel trials...'

Rio had dwelled in S-rank for roughly six months, relentlessly honing and elevating his prowess.

Given his rapid progress, the intermediate S-rank threshold loomed ever closer.

"Err... Mr. River eater? Can you hear me? Do you know anything about the shadow dragons perhaps?"

"By the way I am your neighborhood friendly bard... just passing by..."

Noting the total lack of response, Rio let out a heavy breath and massaged his temples against the brewing ache.

This foe appeared far more unhinged than the last evil spirit.

It probably lacked the mental clarity for any coherent exchange, trapped in endless loops of the same phrases.

'This setup evokes a torment method where victims repeat a single act endlessly until their psyche fractures...'

'They fixate solely on that duty, so bound to it that ceasing becomes unthinkable...'

Rio's brow furrowed as he speculated,

'Could this stem from psychic domination or soul binding?...'

Rio inhaled deeply and drew forth his flute, adopting a posture akin to Lia's for her swift piercing strikes aimed at vital flaws.

'Extracting intel the straightforward way seems unlikely, given how shattered he is for real talk...'

'Time to get clever this round...'