Chapter 574: The Same Lake

Chapter 574 -571: The Same Lake

Mo Ling had followed right behind when Xi entered Poke’s Healing Space, but the first thing he saw upon entering wasn’t a tropical rainforest, but rather—a desert.

Endless yellow sand danced through the air, and sharp grains of sand drifted everywhere. The sky seemed to have been dyed a pale yellow by the boundless sand, so much so that not even sunlight could penetrate it.

The dunes stretched on endlessly, as far as the eye could see. Every inch of land radiated heat, making the scorching air shimmer with distortion.

‘What is this place?’ Seeing the harsh environment, Mo Ling immediately felt that something was wrong. The scenery here seemed a bit more real than the Healing Spaces he had entered before.

Not only that, but chaotic fragments were visible everywhere in the desert. The medicine had completely permeated this space, becoming a part of the environment.

What was even stranger was that in the middle of this desert, there was a lake.

The lake extended into many tributaries that spread outward. Strangely, these small streams weren’t being evaporated by the scorching sand; they continued to trickle along.

Mo Ling knew at a glance that there was something wrong with the water.

He moved closer and saw that numerous fragments were gathered above the water. The lake itself was also filled with all sorts of strange energies. Just standing on the shore, he could feel the oppressive atmosphere.

‘What happened to this lake?’

Mo Ling carefully cupped some lake water and sprinkled it on the sand beside him. The moisture should have been evaporated instantly, yet the water seemed to suspend itself between the grains, slowly trickling downward.

At the same time, wherever the water touched, the original grains of sand rapidly broke down into an even finer powder, giving off wisps of white smoke.

Seeing this, Mo Ling quickly pulled an empty soda can from his Block and tossed it into the stream.

The moment the can hit the water, its sturdy shell took on a yellow tint. Immediately after, horrifying cracks spiderwebbed across its entire surface.

Before Mo Ling’s shocked eyes, the can was completely consumed by the yellow color and crumbled into a pile of sand.

Mo ling stood stunned for a moment before he came back to his senses.

‘This water… it can turn anything into sand?’

Looking at the endless desert, Mo Ling finally understood how it had been formed. The culprit was this deceptively calm lake.

‘Who did this? Who turned the lake into… this?’

Looking at the fragments drifting above the water, Mo Ling had a faint suspicion.

He used his teleportation ability, clearing the fragments away completely, but he knew they weren’t the source of the problem.

Mo Ling turned and jumped into the lake. The water was crystal clear, and he quickly found the source of its power.

It was a vortex formed from a concentration of fragments. Countless pieces churned violently, recklessly unleashing their power. This was what had corrupted the lake.

Without hesitation, Mo Ling used his teleportation on the vortex.

In an instant, a massive, cube-shaped void appeared in the lake. The surrounding water rushed in to fill it, and after surging a few times, the lake returned to calm.

Mo Ling tossed in another soda can. This time, it didn’t turn into sand.

‘Done.’

But the scene before him left Mo Ling stunned once more.

The space where he had teleported the vortex, though now refilled with water, was refracting an image.

Through the cube-shaped outline of the void, Mo Ling saw a world of ice and snow.

‘Where is this now?’

As if drawn by an unseen force, Mo Ling swam over and entered the void. He passed right through the image, finding himself in the snowy landscape he had just witnessed.

After a moment of shock, he glanced behind him. The void was still there, the calm lake water held back as if by a pane of invisible glass, unable to flow through.

It was as if Mo Ling had accidentally opened a passage that only he could traverse.

After pondering for a moment, Mo Ling began to inspect his surroundings.

A fierce wind howled. The ground was covered by a thick layer of ice crystals, and the sky was completely blotted out by the heavy snowfall. Bone-chilling snowflakes poured down, creating a sea of white that made it impossible to see ahead.

Yet, in this absolutely frigid environment, something was strikingly out of place.

Amidst the snow-covered glaciers was a clear lake, with chaotic fragments drifting above its surface.

‘It’s the same thing again. The exact same kind of lake.’

Mo Ling looked around. The lake extended into many tributaries, which, despite the world of ice and snow around them, were not frozen and continued to flow calmly.

Looking at the streams, Mo Ling once again took out a soda can and tossed it in.

The moment the can touched the water, its shell froze instantly. Then, right before his eyes, it transformed into a can-shaped block of ice and sank into the stream.

‘It seems the lake is to blame again.’

Mo Ling went straight to the shore and dove into the clear water.

Before long, he found another vortex of fragments.

‘The power of these fragments is causing the lake to mutate. The water spreads through the streams, and its power continuously alters the surroundings, changing the environment of the entire area…’ Mo Ling now understood the principle behind it.

He used his teleportation ability again, creating another massive, cube-shaped void where the vortex had been.

After the water had filled the space, just as he’d expected, a new passage appeared before him.

This time, the other side of the passage revealed a spreading black ooze.

Without a second thought, Mo Ling passed right through…

…

After some time, Mo Ling opened another underwater passage and arrived in a new area.

‘Will this ever end?’

There seemed to be no end to the areas these passages led to. Mo Ling had already lost count of how many he’d passed through and how many different environments he’d witnessed.

Each time, there was the same kind of lake, and each time, the same kind of fragment vortex.

After opening countless passages, a doubt began to form in Mo Ling’s mind. ‘Is this an infinite loop? Will I never reach the end?’

Just as Mo Ling was about to give up, he passed through a passage and arrived in a tropical rainforest.

‘The environment here doesn’t seem to be completely affected yet…’

The lake water seemed to have only just begun affecting the plants. The local flora would swell up like balloons and then pop, but this effect hadn’t spread far, confined only to the banks of the streams.

Mo Ling acted decisively. He entered the lake, cleared away the fragment vortex, and opened a new passage.

The other side of the passage also led to a tropical rainforest, but the lake’s influence seemed even weaker. Mo Ling immediately crossed through into the new area.

He quickly understood the effect of the lake water here.

‘Spontaneous combustion. The lake water here causes spontaneous combustion.’

The banks of the stream had already become a sea of fire, but further downstream, the water didn’t seem to be causing combustion yet.

‘It’s an earlier point in time?’

Mo Ling stood and thought for a moment. He finally realized that each time he passed through a passage, the lake’s influence was weaker than in the last environment.

From the desert and the glacier to the bloating forest and the sea of fire…

The effect of the water had gone from corrupting an entire region to only affecting the banks. There was only one explanation:

“I’m moving back in time.”

Realizing this, Mo Ling formed a theory:

‘Does this mean if I keep going through these passages, I can reach a point before the lake was ever affected?’