Chapter 537 - 533: The Returned
When the landmass, now the largest planetary continent on Planet Wuyu, landed on the ocean’s surface, the trembling of the continent sent everyone into a state of shock. When the grey-scaled blanket covering the sky vanished, they were met with an unfamiliar environment. There were multiple sky layers above and beyond those layers were three Solar Stars of varied sizes and colors.
A whirlpool of confusion swept the entire continent. Be it elf or human, weak cultivator or strong expert, they were all feeling an overwhelming bout of uncertainty and fear. It wasn’t like the same feeling of facing a catastrophe, but of facing a foreign environment in ignorance.
There were a few who found this sight familiar, discovering their location just based on rough calculations of Solar Stars distance, positioning, and time.
"Planet Wuyu?" Qing Qiumu was quite proficient in navigation, always being interested in traveling the vast starfield one day to experience the world, so she quickly knew where they were. "....But how?"
Did Wei Wuyin bring them back to the starfield? Did he bring an entire continent to their starfield?! Her heart was racing as she thought of this. What type of power, what type of personal sacrifice must one perform to achieve such a devastatingly inconceivable feat?!
"I need to find him!" She knew that whatever state Wei Wuyin was in, it wasn’t a good one. She felt her heart clench at the thought of finding his lifeless body, drained of energy and lifeforce. While Wei Wuyin was powerful, he was still too young, too low in cultivation! The fear of this possibility overwhelmed her senses as she found herself moving forward towards the Desolate Lands.
"Miss Qing! Miss Qing!" A little girl’s voice snapped her out of her panic. She found the little girl in tears, crying at the sudden and unexpected movement. She halted herself, feeling a little guilty. With a few soothing words, she returned and gave the little elven girl to a responsible adult. With some instructions, she didn’t waste any time as she urged her full cultivation base to explode forth with her maximum speed.
Others like Ai Juling and Ai Yin were confused about the events as the underground elves left their city, arriving on the surface with shock and surprise written over their facial expressions. The sky had changed in terms of quality and quantity, having two more Solar Stars in the sky!
No one besides the top experts and young residents of the starfield was aware of the meaning behind this change. To the people born and raised on the continent, their viewpoint was limited as there was never ’another’ world. They couldn’t escape their world, and many have tried, so they felt themselves the only beings in existence.
There might’ve been enlightened scholars at one point in time who made speculative theories of an outside area, worlds like their own with different races, but with thousands of years of absence of proof, those scholars were merely scoffed at and ignored by the populace. Still, this was about to challenge their faith built up in those thousands of years.
If there was one consistent thought throughout the world, it would be: "Is this a new world?"
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San Yongli remained kneeling throughout the entire void travel, traumatized by her past, the world’s future, and unable to urge out any will to act. With the devastation of a World Realm’s Core, it was impossible for mortals to survive such an event.
Ming Shufeng was also feeling a sense of absolution in accepting death wholeheartedly. She had used her greatest means to peer into Heavenly Fate, and that nearly ripped her head from her neck, yet it only told her about an irreversible fate of death. But when she heard Wei Wuyin’s voice, lifted her gaze to see the scaled wings envelop them, a ray of burning hope ignited in her heart.
Wei Wuyin deified fate. If he was involved, maybe she was wrong! She prayed! Not to the heavens, but to Wei Wuyin!
And as if he had heard her prayers, they had arrived in a new location, greeted by the familiar three Solar Stars of their starfield. Her heart’s hope was rewarded with relief as her eyes cried out in joy.
She was alive.
Fate was wrong.
She was so happy that Heavenly Fate was wrong!
"San Yongli! Look! We’re SAVED!" She exclaimed in an excited yell, about to leap to hug San Yongli in joy when she recalled San Yongli’s fierce displeasure at being touched. She halted, but the bright and beautiful smile on her face was ever-present.
San Yongli lifted her hood, her face meeting the bright and burning sensation of light touching her face. She was met with the sight of three Solar Stars and a wave of disbelief surged through her heart. They survived? But...but how?!
Unable to answer this, she inspected the Book of Heaven’s Path, and it remained unchanged. The fate of the True Elemental Emperor was still ongoing, so of course they survived! In truth, when the World Realm’s Core had been destroyed, the contents of the book had entirely vanished, only reappearing after they landed. Her timing was perfect.
-----
"What the hell just happened?" Lin Ming tightly clenched his Origin Spear as he stared at the changed sky. The despair and fear he felt before was absolute, and he felt that death was a certainty that he could not escape. Yet they hadn’t just survived that cascading outpour of annihilating power, but had returned to the starfield.
What?!
Just as he was about to investigate, his multi-colored dot at his glabella faintly glowed as he felt the space beside him fluctuate. It rippled out constantly, causing him to be somewhat shocked as he frowned.
A scarlet haired figure of exquisite womanly design emerged from those fluctuations. Her facial veil concealed what was likely an unfathomably beautiful countenance alluded by her innate disposition and aura.
"Senior Sister Lin!" An excited light suffused Lin Ming’s gaze as he saw his Senior Sister Lin arrive so suddenly. But he was confused how she arrived so quickly. What was the cultivation of this Senior Sister of his? While he knew she had suffered injuries before, which caused her to be replaced as a Secondary Overseer, he wasn’t certain what level she had reached.
"You’re okay!" While her face was concealed, one could tell she was smiling with delight at Lin Ming’s existence.
Lin Ming nodded, a big smirk of confidence and smugness on his face. "Of course I’m okay. As the Chosen of the True Element Sect, how could I not be?"
"You’ve completed the trial?! You became Chosen?!" An excited and also disbelieving tone was contained in her voice. In truth, when she learned that Wei Wuyin, this Ascendant Emperor of Neo-Dawn was a possible contender, she knew the difficulty level of the trial would explosively increase.
Lin Ming waved his hand and brought out the completed nonagon Elementus Token. Each individual session was of a different color, but at the center of it, a dot of white was quietly located there.
Senior Sister Lin’s eyes brightened. She moved extremely fast as she arrived before Lin Ming, sending her bodily fragrance into his face. He was sent into a stupor at such a delectable scent.
Her slender fingers reached out to lightly touch the Elementus Token within his hand. She frowned for a moment, but relaxed after another. The spatial node and tunneling functions have been disconnected from the token, but it was the genuine article nevertheless. With this, if or when Lin Ming arrived in the True Element Sect, he would be accepted as a Chosen.
Furthermore, he might be able to become the disciple of her Master. With his age, talent, and ability, this was very likely. It was only then that she found it in her mind to inspect Lin Ming closer. His cultivation level hadn’t made amazing leaps, which was within her calculations, but she felt a strange power within Lin Ming.
She frowned.
Lin Ming felt her gaze and broke out of his stupor, and with a bright smile he said: "I’m so much stronger than before." With his False Worldly Domain and the increase of his foundation, he was beyond any Spatial Resonance Phase expert.
"You’re heavily injured. It must’ve been tough on you," seeing his smile, she was comforted and didn’t delve deeper. Cultivators had their secrets, and she wasn’t the intrusive type. But the injuries caused her gaze to become gentle. What challenges did he have to face to suffer such injuries?
Lin Ming rubbed his nose at her gentle gaze, but his inner thoughts were slightly ashamed. His injuries were solely produced by one man and in two different yet dominating fierce fashion. He didn’t think of complaining to his Senior Sister Lin nor telling her that Wei Wuyin was also selected as a Chosen.
"When do we leave?" He asked. A blazing readiness to leave this starfield bloomed in his heart. He was ready to venture onto a new and more impressive stage.
Senior Sister Lin moved her scarlet hair to the side, gazing at the sky above with a flicker of seriousness in her eyes. "I’ve already informed the sect of what’s happening. It won’t just be us leaving."
Lin Ming was confused by those words. "What do you mean?"
After a long moment, Senior Sister Lin looked at Lin Ming and said with a solemn tone: "This starfield is unsalvageable. The Everlore Association is making a move."
"...." Lin Ming’s eyes bulged and his heart raced.