Chapter 667 - 423: Outsider / Insider

Chapter 667: Chapter 423: Outsider / Insider

Down in the Abyss of the Sea, another strange transformation was occurring...

’Such a dense aura of Life Force. Is Sophia making another move?’

Lu Cang sensed the "Core" he had left behind in the Abyss of the Sea.

The Core on Yelieya and the one left on the desolate planet were both enveloped in a dense aura of Life Force. He felt the auras of innumerable lives converging in a single direction.

Eyes grew upon the Core.

Lu Cang gazed into the depths of the Abyss of the Sea, where he saw immense tentacles growing. The width of each tentacle likely surpassed that of the Ruelun Continent.

And hundreds of millions of such gargantuan tentacles were rising!

The mere sight of such a scene was enough to inspire terror.

It was a spectacle no ordinary person could ever witness...

This was a disturbance from the Lord of the Sea.

Sophia, it seemed, was making contact with the Lord of the Sea.

’This is far too different from the history I once experienced. It seems I can’t let my guard down just because I’ve lived through the great changes in the Secret Sea before.’

’In fact, most Level 8 Reincarnators would probably have a hard time killing me directly now.’

’But the beings I’m encountering now are Level 9s, entities like Moon.’

「April 1st.」

’This day really is especially dangerous...’

’But if I want to find some truth, I have no choice but to get close to danger.’

After coming into contact with the *Black Secret* and the Time Relic.

Over a long period, Lu Cang had gradually come to understand a principle: the more you try to avoid certain things, the more likely you are to fall into their trap when you least expect it.

’If the Luo Yan before me doesn’t know she will turn into a Demon...’

’Then that must mean something else.’

Lu Cang finally reached out and touched the black substance before him.

「Dark Egg」

That was the name he received.

Along with its description—

「An egg formed from the condensation of darkness and Demons.」

The instant he touched it, Lu Cang felt as if his mind had been completely scanned. A path of transformation was seared into his brain.

’My... Demonization form?’

Lu Cang felt faint scales beginning to appear on his body as his very life form began to change.

It was a transformation from human into Demon.

Lu Cang was reminded of what he had seen on the floor of the Secret Sea... the Fishman Race that wanted to transform into Demons.

’These things are all intricately connected.’

Lu Cang touched it for a moment, then let go.

’If I’d touched it for too long, I might have transformed directly into a Demon.’

’Now I can roughly understand why Leng Qingying saw Luo Yan as a Demon.’

’Unfortunately... I don’t have a single preview left.’

To reach the third stage of the Trial, Lu Cang had created an almost perfect replica of everything he had done before, which included previewing the future.

Aside from the part involving An Su, where there was an unavoidable discrepancy because he was already a Level 5 Death Priest,

everything else was precise down to the last breath.

Otherwise, Aigemisa, the representative of chaos, might not have actually sent him here...

In any case, time would continue to regress into the past.

...

The confusion in his heart found a new answer.

THUMP—

Suddenly, an extremely strong sense of crisis washed over him again.

This time, it was a crisis he could not escape... He saw the vast sea churning, seemingly forming golden scales.

"An Su."

"Did you see that?"

Lu Cang appeared extremely calm within the golden seawater.

But in reality, the blood in his veins was boiling, and his body felt as if it would assimilate with the seawater at any moment...

The Original Sea had appeared.

Luo Yan’s eyes filled with terror, but she had no time to mount any defense.

She simply melted in the boiling golden seawater, becoming a liquid identical to the sea itself.

SWOOSH—

In the next instant, Lu Cang appeared high up in the sky.

He saw that the sea, which had been surging upward, had now subsided. The surface had turned completely golden.

And the land of the Secret Sea had vanished completely.

Lu Cang’s Perception could detect the many humans and ground-dwelling Demons who had still been alive on the land just moments before, now flowing into the sea like water.

Lu Cang raised his right hand.

He saw his own palm, as if melting, continuously dripping golden liquid.

However, it was accompanied by extremely rapid regeneration.

That was how Lu Cang avoided melting to death.

"The Original Sea... it really appeared," An Su said in a grave tone.

Lu Cang: "Mmm..."

’It seems Luo Yan failed.’

’In other words, the early activation of the Ritual in the Abyss of the Sea also led to the early arrival of the Original Sea.’

’I don’t know what the connection is.’

’But if it was activated without waiting for Luo Yan to finish her actions, it could indirectly mean the two sides aren’t working together.’

’Or perhaps...’

’Luo Yan’s priority was extremely low, so low that she could be completely ignored.’

VMMMM—

Suddenly, his body felt an extremely strong pulling force.

Lu Cang’s figure flipped over uncontrollably!

Before he knew it, he was plummeting headfirst toward the sea.

Everything above the sea’s surface would fall into it.

All life that did not belong to the sea would be absorbed by it.

This was the Original Sea.

’I might die...’

’Actually, under normal circumstances, dying is the way to leave this third stage of the Trial.’

’But...’

’Right now, I have already witnessed Sophia’s existence.’

’And the Divine Authority that prevents me from dying in the third stage of the Trial was granted by Sophia.’

’At least, that’s the information I gathered from Aigemisa’s words...’

’This leads to a problem. I can’t guarantee that if I die like this... I’ll definitely leave here alive.’

’It’s just that my Intuition isn’t giving me an overly dangerous premonition.’

’Sophia probably hasn’t discovered my existence. The Unsolvable Mystery is still in effect.’

’This Divine Authority should still be usable.’

’The foresight from the Prophet hasn’t given any dangerous feedback either.’

’This regression...’

’Does it end here?’

’At least I’ve learned many things I had no way of knowing before.’

’The only truly unexpected thing was Sophia’s appearance.’

Lu Cang’s heart was filled with calm.

But just then, Lu Cang’s Perception sensed a violent surge, and the force pulling him down toward the sea vanished.

Lu Cang saw a beam of Light fall from the sky!

Bright and searing hot!

It instantly slashed across the Vast Ocean, leaving behind a golden trench!

Lu Cang looked over.

And with that one glance, he saw a familiar yet strange figure.

He saw Roya, with his curly brown hair, holding a Divine Artifact familiar to Lu Cang—the Sword of Purifying Fire and Judgment.

At that moment, he was in the posture of having just finished a slash.

He was panting heavily.

The path carved by that vast sword light was ablaze with golden flames!

’Roya?’

’Isn’t this guy only Level 8?’

’Wait, why is he holding the Sword of Purifying Fire and Judgment? Doesn’t that thing have a Restriction on it? How could he slash apart the Original Sea, something even An Su finds terrifyingly difficult?’

’He’s way too mysterious, isn’t he?’

BOOM!

The next moment, the entire ocean erupted! A towering Giant Wave surged toward Roya!

Seeing the Giant Wave crashing down on him!

Roya immediately turned tail and fled, dropping everything—he even tossed away the Sword of Purifying Fire and Judgment in his hand and ran for his life!

Uh...

’Alright, it doesn’t look like he was on equal footing after all.’

WHOOSH—

Roya was gone.

But on the surface of the sea where he had struck, the golden Holy Flame did not die down. Instead, the Holy Flame began to shine with an even more brilliant light.

BOOM!

He felt the sea churn once again.

It was as if the sea had two sides. The golden side flipped over and surged downward, like a black and white game piece.

Then he saw the other side flip up.

An ocean full of tentacles and a viscous texture appeared on this new surface.

And in the center of that ocean was a girl with a familiar face, her feet rooted to the sea’s surface like rhizomes.

’This... is Kumironi.’

’No, I should call her Sophia now.’

"Heh heh... these guys are really starting to fight over it."

"Looking at it this way, this Original Sea is nothing more than stored-up nutrients."

"Kid, the world-destroying Original Sea you were hoping for most likely isn’t going to happen."

Lu Cang replied flatly, "I wasn’t hoping for that."

But An Su just sneered, "If you weren’t hoping for that, then what about the other thing?"

An Su guided his Perception.

Lu Cang followed the Perception and looked in Kumironi’s direction.

It was strange. Though he and Kumironi were extremely far apart, likely tens of billions of kilometers... he could still see her with a single glance.

It was as if she was the center of the Ocean.

No matter how far apart, as long as one was on the sea, she could always be seen.

However,

when he looked more closely, he saw that Kumironi’s expression was not the eternal compassion he had seen on Sophia.

Instead, it was filled with sorrow and pain.

’It was as if...’

’It was the real Kumironi?’

An Su sighed within Lu Cang’s mind, "This little girl... she’s really made an earth-shattering move."

"Since she had to be a vessel for another,"

"it’s better to be the vessel of her enemy’s enemy than the vessel of the enemy who directly seized her body."

"I’m afraid that when Sophia tried to devour the Lord of the Sea, she found a sliver of hope for herself."

"Such tenacious Life Force..."

"I’ve truly never seen anything like it in my life."

"This is no longer something you can interfere with."

"This little girl probably intends to use the Lord of the Sea to suppress the Original Sea... The Secret Sea might end up in a complete mess, but it probably won’t spread to the other seas in the end."

BOOM!

Lu Cang heard countless buzzing sounds coming from the sea’s surface!

The gold of the Original Sea rose and merged with the oceanic body of the Lord of the Sea—

He watched as the Ocean overturned.

Lu Cang could faintly see flames soaring into the sky in the distance as the fires of war swept across the land!

He could vaguely make out a massive army charging forth!

The Secret Sea, too, had become a land of strife.

...

’It seems that even without me, the world won’t be destroyed.’

’Could it be that everything I’ve done was actually meaningless?’

At this moment, Lu Cang was merely a bystander.

Not a participant.

Watching everything unfold from the outside, he could only feel the world turning upside down, yet none of it had anything to do with him.

If he were to enter the fray,

perhaps he could stir things up a bit, maybe even cause a great upheaval.

But when the dust finally settled,

the end result would perhaps still be the same: the destruction of the Secret Sea... and world peace.

As for who saved the Secret Sea, who destroyed it, who played what role... it seemed there was no difference whether one delved into such details or not.