Chapter 640 - 399: Reset

Chapter 640: Chapter 399: Reset

Pacing through the darkness, Lu Cang couldn’t sense the existence of any entity other than himself and An Su.

After receiving the souls Lu Cang had granted him, An Su had finally recovered some of his strength.

An Su’s energy efficiency was truly praiseworthy.

After being given just a few thousand souls, he had rapidly mended most of his injuries. At the same time, his own strength had recovered to that of a Level 7 Reincarnator.

’If I gave him a few hundred thousand more souls...’

’He could probably match the combat power of a Level 8 Reincarnator...’

’Unfortunately, all the souls I’d saved for so long are gone in an instant.’

Lu Cang gently placed his hand on the Ten Thousand Skin Bag.

HUMMM—

Inside the Ten Thousand Skin Bag, the Living Object Bracelet began to glow faintly.

Roaring flames ignited around the Ant Mountain stored within, incinerating the Black Ants and transforming them into pure souls that flowed into Lu Cang’s body.

’There isn’t even a Demon tide here.’

’The Ant Mountain has slowed its production of Black Ants.’

’I estimate I can recover a trillion souls today... That should be enough for daily use, but it’s definitely not enough to fuel another power-up for An Su.’

’Besides, An Su is genuinely injured.’

’Even with enough souls, he couldn’t unleash more power than he did just now.’

However, according to him...

...as long as he wasn’t facing that Level 9 Mage from before, he could still handle a run-of-the-mill Level 9 Reincarnator.

’Run-of-the-mill...’

’Is there even such a thing as a run-of-the-mill Level 9 Reincarnator?’

’Aren’t all of them considered invincible in the world?’

Besides, An Su was always bragging.

The way he got utterly thrashed in a real fight made it very hard for Lu Cang to trust him again.

"This place... feels like some kind of temporal rift."

Lu Cang couldn’t help but ask, "What is that?"

An Su replied, "I’m not a Reincarnator who specializes in Chronology. I’ve only heard bits and pieces about this sort of thing."

"I’ve heard there are places that lead to the Future or connect to the past."

"Of course, the Future isn’t the real Future, and the past isn’t the real past. They appear to be different times, but they are actually all interconnected."

"The paths leading to these places are what you’d call rifts."

Lu Cang said, "So you’re saying we haven’t returned to our original time yet, but we’re on the path back?"

An Su gave a dry laugh and threw up his hands. "How would I know?"

"I’ve only heard rumors. Like I said, I don’t specialize in Chronology."

’An Su, you’re so unreliable.’

Lu Cang continued his conversation with An Su.

But gradually, his Perception brushed against something dissonant.

In the distance, Lu Cang saw something materialize: a spiraling void.

The spiral looked just like the entrance to the ruins he’d come through.

It looked identical. Other than this, there was nothing else around.

As he gradually approached the spiral entrance, the surrounding darkness began to fill in with blocks of color, as if a map were loading.

Lu Cang could faintly make out earthy, rock-like colors. The silhouette resembled the Empty Valley, the same scenery he had seen from outside the ruins.

’Could it be...’

’...that the imperceptible black shadow I saw back then was really me?’

Lu Cang looked all around, but he couldn’t see himself anywhere.

The scenery remained a patchwork of unrendered color blocks.

He stopped before the entrance.

He sent out a sliver of 「Core」.

The 「Core」 flew straight out and touched the entrance before him, feeding Lu Cang information.

「Ruins — Time」

「Creator: Naturally Formed」

’Just as I thought. It’s the entrance I came through.’

’Should I go in?’

Lu Cang looked to An Su for his opinion, but An Su just shrugged, indicating that the decision was up to him.

He didn’t know anything more.

With no other choice, Lu Cang resorted to Divination.

He also peered into Destiny.

As he gazed into the Future from this point on, all he saw was an incredibly complex, tangled mess.

If it was normally like watching a movie, this time, it was like hundreds of movie scenes were being projected into his eyes simultaneously.

WHOOSH—

A massive amount of information flooded Lu Cang’s mind.

But thanks to the enhanced thinking from being a Level 6 Decryption Scholar, he managed to accept and interpret it all.

Normally, when he foresaw the Future, the information he received was either too scarce or too vague.

But this... this was the first time he’d ever received such an overwhelming amount of information.

In fact, there were so many predicted outcomes that he couldn’t distinguish which one was most likely to happen.

Still, the premonition confirmed one thing.

This place was unstable. Staying here long-term was the more dangerous option. He had to go in.

Lu Cang stepped toward the entrance.

As he entered, An Su returned to Lu Cang’s Sea of Consciousness.

Before him was another corridor.

This corridor, however, was different from the last. A door stood at its end.

The previous corridor had been endless, but this one had a clear destination.

From behind the door came mournful sighs and helpless cries.

"I don’t want to stay here!"

"This place... is actually quite nice..."

"Why me?"

It sounded like a little girl’s voice. The completely contradictory statements were all spoken by the same voice.

’Ugh, spare me the horror movie clichés.’

Lu Cang walked forward.

He could see the door radiating a brilliant Light. Behind it lay the very thing he had been so desperately seeking: 「The Second Forbidden Magic — Time」.

Lu Cang’s Perception couldn’t be blocked.

So, he sent his Perception straight through the door. But strangely, even when his Perception passed through, he saw nothing—just an empty, dark Void.

’I just walked out of darkness to get here, and now I have to step into another patch of it?’

He crossed the distance in a few quick steps.

He should have reached the door in an instant.

But just as Lu Cang was about to reach the doorway...

CLICK—

...the scene before him changed again.

He was once again far from the door—about two hundred thousand kilometers away.

’My position was changed...’

His first thought was Space, but in a place like this, he couldn’t help but think of Time.

’Did time reverse itself?’

BANG!

This time, Lu Cang accelerated abruptly.

「Azure Sky Stream Eighth Form - Movement and Instantaneous Pause」

Light stretched behind him, flashing like a clap of Thunder!

BOOM!

Lu Cang’s body slammed to a halt directly in front of the door.

CLICK—

But in the next instant, the scene before him was once again two hundred thousand kilometers away.

’It reset...’

’I’m back at the starting point again.’

Before he had moved, Lu Cang had carefully observed the wall hangings and the patterns on the walls. He had also casually dropped a few small items along the way.

But now that he was back, he saw that the items he’d dropped had vanished, while the patterns on the walls remained exactly as they were.

’I’ve heard that in the third area, you encounter a constantly resetting spacetime.’

’Does this mean I’ve reached the third area?’