Chapter 554 - 317: Return

Chapter 554: Chapter 317: Return

White... what is it?

Based on his understanding before he was transported here... white was just a color.

It symbolized purity and emptiness.

Many people like the color white.

Many people also liked the word "white."

But...

In the vast world he was transported to, the meaning of "white" was completely different.

White still meant the color white.

But it also held another, more dreadful meaning—one that all beings feared.

The White of Death and Destruction.

The end of death and destruction was a ghastly white. In this world, the color white had also become a symbol of death.

Each of the Moons was unique, and each possessed a reputation that shook the heavens and earth.

But when it came to fear...

Nothing could compare to this Twelfth Moon—the White of Death and Destruction.

In truth, Lu Cang had no desire to make contact with Her.

She was an unknown terror.

But the scene before him gave Lu Cang the feeling that... he had no choice.

The more he tried to escape...

...the more relentlessly this disaster would pursue him.

Destiny had given him a premonition. After seeing this eye, Lu Cang finally understood why he had remained in the Secret Sea, why he hadn’t fled.

It wasn’t just to find Earth.

’This was the destiny he had to stop... He could either flee and face a greater disaster in the future...’

’...or stop it right here, right now!’

’Because I am a Prophet, it is my destiny to prevent this future.’

In that moment, Lu Cang reached a new, deeper understanding of what it meant to be a Prophet.

’A Prophet is a Profession for changing Destiny, but at the same time, even before one takes on the role, they are already doomed to a destiny of struggle.’

’The very act of changing one’s own destiny is, itself, a part of Destiny.’

’This Profession seems to offer choices and infinite possibilities—the power to change one’s endless future and choose from infinite lives.’

’But in truth... it seems there is no choice at all.’

’Because what is bound to happen cannot be avoided in the end.’

It was just like how he had altered countless possible futures, only to find himself led involuntarily to this very moment.

His soul poured into the planet.

The Ritual began.

Lu Cang’s pupils constricted. It was as if, in an instant, he saw into the infinite, gazing beyond eternity itself—

His vision traversed endless ages, witnessing in a single moment all the destruction from the dawn of time to its end. Finally, everything converged, and Lu Cang saw a single point.

Death and Destruction.

He witnessed a figure clad in white.

She was completely different from the monstrous, inhuman, incomprehensible being he had imagined.

What Lu Cang saw was the figure of a young girl with empty eyes, dressed in simple white.

A young girl with a human face.

Her gaze was fixed on an empty point in space, yet it felt as if she were looking right at Lu Cang.

"I have heard your call and the wish of your heart..."

"In exchange, the price is the Secret Sea."

The girl’s voice was ethereal. The very color of her words felt like a wish that had died in a deep, empty ravine.

That was the sensation Lu Cang perceived with his Spirituality.

She left Lu Cang no room to refuse or negotiate...

The infinite distance in his vision began to recede in an instant, pulling back, back...

WHOOSH!

His vision snapped back to the planet before him.

When he came to his senses, Lu Cang saw that the surrounding Abyss of the Sea was no longer a silent black.

Instead, it had become a hazy, ghastly white. The entire desolate planet was no longer made of grayish-brown soil, but had turned ashen white, like the dust of the moon.

He scanned his surroundings with his Perception.

And suddenly discovered...

Kumironi was floating lifelessly in the Abyss of the Sea.

No.

That was Kumironi’s corpse.

Looking over, Lu Cang also saw Roya’s body. Roya’s eyes were rolled back into his head. His soul was gone. He was dead...

’They’re all... dead.’

Lu Cang’s Perception swept the area, and his focus inevitably settled on a single point before him.

A point that was impossible to ignore.

A young girl with skin the color of white jade had appeared directly in front of him.

Lu Cang frantically called out to An Su in his mind.

But all he received in return was dead silence.

The girl before him spoke in an icy tone, "You are the first human to summon me in many years."

"I will grant your wish, but the price is all the life in this sea."

Lu Cang opened his mouth to speak.

Seeing the being before him, his heart should have been filled with terror.

But in that moment, Lu Cang found that his heart was unnaturally calm. Even the emotion of fear itself had vanished.

Seeing Kumironi and Roya die... he couldn’t muster a single emotion, even though he didn’t yet know the nature of this death.

’It felt as if my own emotions had died, too.’

"Did they have to die?"

Lu Cang glanced at the bodies behind him.

The girl stared straight ahead and replied, "I said all life."

"However, this is merely an ordinary death."

"If they possess the means to protect themselves, they will have a chance to live."

As she spoke, the girl raised her hand.

"Will you be able to bring about my descent again in the future?"

Lu Cang’s feelings were complex. He couldn’t guess her intentions, nor did he know if this was her true form or merely an avatar.

’I might find out if I just reach out and touch her.’

’But under the circumstances, I really don’t want to court death in such a way.’

"Yes."

A thousand thoughts raced through Lu Cang’s mind, but in the end, he only managed a quiet, "Yes," in response.

"Mm."

The girl before him merely gave an indifferent hum in response.

VMMMM—

In the next instant.

An extremely peculiar sensation washed over Lu Cang.

It was as if his Perception had spread to encompass the entire Secret Sea... But as he looked out upon it, all he saw was a ghastly white and dead silence.

Every creature in the sea, whether it was a Demon or a normal school of fish, had completely lost its life.

He looked at every island, every continent, and found that all living beings on them lay silently on the ground, devoid of any color or sign of life.

The entire Secret Sea had fallen utterly silent.

At this very moment, Lu Cang could feel with absolute clarity that the only living beings left in the entire Secret Sea were, perhaps, himself and... the young girl before him.

This was the price she had spoken of.

She had taken all life from the entire Secret Sea.

’Now, the sinner who destroyed the Secret Sea, the scourge who killed all its life... is me...’

Of course, that was just a fleeting thought.

The actual reasons and the specific circumstances were far more complex.

’But, at the very least, I am definitely not the main culprit behind the Secret Sea’s destruction.’

’I was forced into this.’

"If you have another wish in the future, you may call for my descent again."

The girl gazed at the enormous pupil.

’Oh.’

’There is one other living thing in the Secret Sea.’

’This absurdly large thing. The Original Sea.’

The girl simply pointed a finger forward.

TING—

A ripple spread out before Lu Cang. He saw Space itself seem to wither, the entire Ocean decay, and the sky above begin to sink.

Lu Cang’s entire being shattered.

...

When he opened his eyes again, he was in a desolate wilderness, surrounded by piles of corpses.

He also saw two familiar figures.

Yelieya and Rhine.

’This place... these are the Ancient Ruins.’

’The place I was before entering the Realm of Ascension.’

Lu Cang pressed a hand to his forehead. His head was spinning, and it felt like he had just had a dream.

But the experience was still vivid in his mind.

Lu Cang quickly felt his body.

He touched his clothes.

He found that he was still wearing his previous clothes; the inner layer was still the Robe of Evil Gaze crafted by Ai Jin.

Even the stack of Storage Bags he carried hadn’t disappeared.

But all of these Storage Bags, along with his clothes, should have been lost during his fight with Luo Mo.

’How... did they come back to me?’

’Could it be that none of it happened?’

But at that thought, Lu Cang’s heart suddenly clenched!

’If none of it had happened...’

’...does that mean I never went back to Earth?’

’I didn’t bring my parents back!’

’Wait a minute...’

’If nothing happened, the Original Sea... the Original Sea would have revived, and I never performed the Pure White Descent Ritual?’

’And I never met An Su?’

Lu Cang’s mind was in turmoil.

His first impression was that everything on his person was perfectly intact.

These thoughts all surfaced at nearly the same time, and as they did, Lu Cang immediately began to check his body.

His Level... had indeed risen to Level 5.

Level 5 Death Priest, Level 5 Warrior, and Level 5 Mage.

’My Level is still here. That means the experience was real, not some fabricated dream.’

Lu Cang then checked his Sea of Consciousness. An Su was still there.

’An Su is here, too...’

Next, Lu Cang checked his Storage Bag. The Ten Thousand Skin Bag itself had the ability to store other storage items, so Lu Cang had placed the Storage Bracelet, which held living creatures, inside it.

And inside that Storage Bracelet should be his Ant Mountain, as well as two Slimes.

His parents.

With a nervous heart, Lu Cang extended his Perception inward...

’I don’t know if I actually brought them back.’

’If I didn’t, how am I supposed to save them now?’

His Perception entered.

Lu Cang saw two Slimes, one blue and one pink, protected by a Restriction.

They were the very same two he had seen on Earth.

Upon seeing the two Slimes, Lu Cang couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief...

’It seems everything that happened was real, not just a dream.’

For a moment there, Lu Cang had been truly worried that everything he had experienced was illusory, a fabricated Illusion.

His greatest fear was that the events within the Illusions were real, but his own experience of them was false.

That he hadn’t been able to influence what happened, that he hadn’t been a part of it at all...

Having checked on the things that worried him, the weight in Lu Cang’s heart was finally lifted.

But why had his storage items, which had been destroyed, returned?

Lu Cang looked back at Yelieya and Rhine.

They looked just as lost and confused as he felt.

Just then, Lu Cang suddenly noticed that the Divine Artifact that should have been in his hand had vanished...

The corner of Lu Cang’s mouth twitched.

’Could it be... that the Divine Artifact has returned to Yelieya?’

Then, Lu Cang gazed off into the unknown distance.

’The Secret Sea... what’s happening there right now?’

’Has Pure White truly descended?’

’Kumironi, are you okay?’

’And that guy Roya... I’m sorry. You helped me, but I got you killed.’