Chapter 631 - 390: Highest Authority Level

Chapter 631: Chapter 390: Highest Authority Level

’Actually, this is fine. Since Luoti has no intention of harming me, I should focus on other things for now.’

Another thought that didn’t feel like his own surfaced in his mind.

Yet Lu Cang felt no trace of irritation.

He only felt it was a simple, trivial matter. If he didn’t pursue it now, he’d probably just forget about it completely, like it was nothing.

His Perception spread out in all directions like tentacles.

Perception was an extension of awareness.

It spread to the four corners of the Empty Valley, enveloping not just the Dark City, but all the surrounding towns and villages, large and small, and even a portion of another country.

Suddenly, his Perception touched upon a thick-set, powerful man.

’That looks like a Level 7 Defender. If I killed him, his bones would be excellent materials for Forging armor.’

This thought formed in Lu Cang’s mind.

But this thought was different from the one about Luoti.

"There’s more?"

Lu Cang felt something else bubble up in his mind.

’I could go take a closer look. As long as I arrange for an end that looks like fated Death, no one will know I was the one who killed him.’

’Besides, he doesn’t seem to be pure human anyway. Those not of our kind can’t be trusted. Killing it might not be a bad thing.’

’Maybe if I investigate, I’ll find evidence of its crimes... If I discover some wrongdoing, it would be like I’m eliminating a threat for the good of the people.’

So many thoughts like these.

And just as Lu Cang was about to suppress these notions...

’No... If I do this, what’s the difference between me and a Demon? Killing someone without any reason—is that something I should be doing?’

Huh?

The two thoughts began to clash in his mind.

But what sent a chill down Lu Cang’s spine was... neither of these thoughts felt like his own.

They were both unreal thoughts, born from nothing.

WHOOSH—

Lu Cang felt a malevolent impulse surge up, but at the same time, a dense spiritual power was suppressing that very impulse.

The two cancelled each other out.

When they finally acted upon his Mind, all that remained were gentle ripples...

Leaving only a few subtle, stray thoughts.

"Pollution can’t be cleansed."

"Thankfully, you weren’t polluted. Otherwise, it would have been real trouble."

"Contact with her should have been dangerous, but thankfully your situation was special. You woke up in the Deep Land, so you were lucky not to have been polluted."

"The Deep Land can turn fantasy into reality. As long as you believe something exists, it truly will."

"The fantasies of the Deep Land ignore all worldly Rules. As long as you believe Lu Luwei’s pollution can be cured, and she believes it too, she will definitely recover."

Lu Cang recalled the words Luoti had spoken to him in the Deep Land.

Now, all those memories came flooding back.

Lu Cang thought about the Thunder Mage he had killed... on Moonfall Island.

’Should I... really have killed him?’

After leaving Earth and coming to this world, he had killed people before.

But Lu Cang believed he had never killed anyone who didn’t deserve it. He killed Cultists, he killed bandits. Even when he had Ai Jin perform a dark Refining, he used death-row Cultists.

He killed Aertemi’s human vessel, and he killed an inevitable nemesis like Saint One.

But people who upheld justice in their hearts...

...Lu Cang had never killed people like that.

Even when Yelieya was his enemy, it was just a misunderstanding...

They were just weaker people who had misunderstood him. Chasing them away would have been enough. At most, he could have taught them a lesson—break an arm or a leg and let them go back to the Life Hall to get it reattached.

Perhaps that sounded like bleeding-heart compassion.

But that was him.

He wasn’t the kind of person who killed on a whim. If the line between life and death blurred, if there were no boundaries to killing...

...then what was the difference between him and a true Cultist?

Lu Cang thought about the things he had done.

He thought of Yinda, whom he had killed. He thought of... the Life Church’s judgment squad he had killed on Moonfall Island.

Lu Cang looked down at his own hands.

’Coming to my senses... I’ve actually killed so many ordinary people.’

He finally realized his mistake.

And yet, he felt not a shred of remorse, nor did he feel he had truly done anything wrong.

’Am I really not polluted?’

’Or is it...?’

Lu Cang felt the two completely different, conflicting intentions in his mind.

’Luoti... is helping me cancel out the formation of malevolent thoughts.’

He stood once more within his Sea of Consciousness.

Looking down upon the entire Sea of Consciousness, everything he saw was a true reflection of reality, with not a hint of falsehood.

This was a Sea of Consciousness like a Dream Illusion bubble.

It was quite different from the Cloud Palace Sea of Consciousness he had constructed.

And hidden here and there within this Sea of Consciousness were several dark, tender sprouts.

"An Su."

"Do you think I’ve been polluted?"

An Su: "Kid, if you ask me, your personality really has changed."

"But if this is pollution, your symptoms are too mild."

Lu Cang: "But what if Luoti is helping me suppress the pollution? Is that a Possibility?"

Lu Cang asked again.

Faced with this question, An Su paused to think. "If it’s Luoti, then it’s certainly possible."

"She could be twisting your thoughts to make you act like a normal person."

If this hypothesis was true...

...then Luoti was actually being friendly to him...

However, another problem now arose.

With this idea in mind, Lu Cang found it harder to be so sure that he wasn’t polluted.

Originally, if he was polluted, the deepening influence of the Deep Land might have caused his fantasies to become real, gradually making the pollution disappear.

But now that he was aware of the problem, he could no longer believe so firmly.

It was truly a double-edged sword.

Lu Cang opened his eyes, his thoughts returning from his inner world to reality.

There was no point in idle speculation here.

He couldn’t banish these thoughts from his mind.

His promotion to Level 6 Decryption Scholar was complete, so everything was in place, but he wasn’t in a hurry to help Luoti set up her Ritual.

’What should I do now...?’

’Go to the ruins?’

’Wishing... two wishes have already been accumulated in there.’

The Divination result for the ruins was three blank cards.

Not Death, not battle, and no gains... Just three pure white blanks. He had planned to try venturing into the ruins after completing his promotion to Level 6 Decryption Scholar.

But should he really go to a dangerous, unknown place? It went against his principles of action.

Opening his eyes, he saw Yuing Li before him.

"Haha, it seems your promotion to Decryption Scholar went smoothly."

"I haven’t seen such a grand promotional phenomenon in a long time."

Lu Cang’s attention had been entirely focused inside his own head, so he hadn’t noticed any phenomenon.

"As of today, you are the seventh Level 6 Decryption Scholar in our association."

"Would you like to come see the secret lore our association has collected?"

"These are secrets known only to those within our association, and only Decryption Scholars with the highest clearance, like us, can see them."

’The highest clearance...’

’Before I knew it, I’ve somehow worked my way up to being one of those with the highest level of clearance in some association.’