Chapter 443 - 228: A Departure Without Surprises
Nothing eventful happened today.
According to the plan from the rehearsal, everything would be ready by nightfall. There were no great battles, no unnecessary crises.
Lu Cang had no intention of wandering around and causing a scene.
It wouldn’t do to let a perfectly sound plan go off the rails.
「Cang Hall—Backyard」
The backyard of Lu Cang’s mansion was an enormous, open lawn.
He had originally planned to plant flowers here, but considering he would occasionally test some Magic here, he decided against it.
Lu Cang took out all his Storage Bags.
He currently had over a thousand Storage Bags of various sizes.
However, these thousand-odd bags were mostly nested inside larger ones. He only carried three on his person.
One was the Ten Thousand Skin Bag, another was the Ring of Returning Void, and the third was the Soul Storage Bag.
These three were currently Lu Cang’s best storage items.
The Ring of Returning Void could hold a large number of ordinary Spatial Bags.
It was a Holy Artifact obtained from the Cold Church, and also the best Storage Bag Lu Cang had acquired on the Zuoyu Continent.
In all the time since he’d returned, he hadn’t really organized his Storage Bags. Back when he was roaming those continents, he would basically just grab things and go. The speed at which he packed things away far outpaced the speed at which he could sort them.
He would clear out the entire treasury of a city at the drop of a hat.
If he had to organize everything each time, wouldn’t he work himself to death?
And after everything was done and he returned to Kernoya, he still hadn’t organized them. Compared to sorting through a huge pile of miscellaneous items...
...there were just too many other meaningful things to do.
But today...
His only task was to do nothing, to just wait quietly for the day to pass. No creating new problems, no stirring up trouble.
’Might as well organize my Space then.’
WHOOSH—
With a faint glow from the ring on his wrist, Storage Bags, bracelets, rings, anklets, and pendants flew out one by one!
All sorts of objects poured out like a tidal wave.
Books formed mountains, various Potions and pills flowed out like a small river, and materials for crafting all kinds of items and equipment were all piled together.
He had no idea how many treasuries he’d plundered.
Toward the end of his looting spree, he hadn’t even bothered to examine many of the items closely.
A minister out for a stroll passed by in the distance.
He saw one massive, unidentifiable mountain after another appear within the Imperial Palace.
’What is that?’
’Are those... all Potion bottles? All books?’
Before he could get a clear look,
he saw the items linger for a moment, then vanish again.
Lu Cang was taking out all the items of a certain type, looking them over, and then putting them back into a Storage Bag.
The particularly rare items were stored in a Special bag.
There were too many categories of items.
’Organizing my inventory really is a pain. If only there was a one-click sort button.’
Lu Cang sat on the ground, continuously taking things out and putting them back.
Suddenly...
Three slips of paper appeared in Lu Cang’s hand.
"This..."
He hadn’t taken these out to look at in a long time. He simply had too much stuff; he certainly wasn’t going to re-read books he had already finished.
Not to mention the small trinkets he never used.
But these three slips of paper in his hand now were from a long, long time ago, given to him by Meiser...
One was "Root Magic: Primordial Origin."
Another was the Spell for "Summoning Magic."
And the last was the Spell for "Memory Capturing Technique."
At the time, he had been determined not to learn Meiser’s Magic.
And so he hadn’t. The three slips of paper had been left to gather dust in his Storage Space, never to be taken out again.
But taking them out now...
...he discovered that these three slips held another Secret.
Stacking the text on the three slips of paper, he then converted the characters using the Primordial Moon transcoding method.
Then, he decrypted it with the Ancient An Su Secret Language.
’Such a simple decryption method. This is basically the most fundamental technique for a Decryption Scholar.’
Once the decryption was complete, Lu Cang instantly obtained the hidden message.
"If your heart holds doubt, you may come find me."
"I have been separated from the filth, my soul has found peace."
"In the crevice between matter and death, a soul can persist forever."
Lu Cang learned a Magic—Soul Exploration Skill.
It could mark a soul and search for that corresponding soul.
And upon learning this Magic, it already came with a pre-existing mark.
Lu Cang couldn’t help but furrow his brow slightly.
"Meiser."
’That guy... he didn’t die completely?’
Lu Cang finally understood why Meiser had given him the Decryption Scholar’s Secret Scroll.
’So, he wanted me to go find him.’
Lu Cang recalled when Meiser had handed him these three slips of paper, telling him he could look for him in the future.
But he hadn’t left any location information.
’So this was it.’
"However, you are gravely mistaken... if you think I will come looking for you."
Meiser was only a Level 6 Mage.
He could never have predicted how terrifying Lu Cang’s own Talent was.
Nor could he have foreseen the person he had become today.
Even to a Divine Spirit, the current Lu Cang was an Unsolvable Mystery.
Let alone a mere Meiser.
"But, ’separated from the filth’..."
Lu Cang couldn’t help but wonder if this meant Meiser had used this method to escape the Spiritual Contamination.
If that were the case, he might truly be considered liberated. After all, killing so many people might not have been his true intention.
’When your body and mind are contaminated, you’re likely forced into it.’
’Still, once you’re killed, you’re dead. That’s how it should be.’
’Everything has settled. You should just go on to your next Reincarnation.’
Lu Cang looked at the three slips of paper in his hand...
SWISH—
His figure vanished from the backyard.
An instant later, he appeared in Izparut’s mansion.
"Iz, this is a secret of Meiser’s I just discovered."
Lu Cang stacked the three slips of paper and held them up to the Light.
He handed them over.
Then he gave Iz the transcoded answer as well.
’Let’s see if Iz is interested. If he isn’t, I’ll just let the matter drop.’
If he was interested, Lu Cang wasn’t too worried about Iz running into trouble.
After reading the decrypted message, Iz pondered for a moment.
"’Separated from the contamination?’ How interesting."
"If this is possible, his method might be a way to cleanse deep-seated Spiritual Contamination."
Lu Cang nodded. "Yes, but it seems the price is nearly equivalent to death."
Iz said, "Meiser was a Soul Mage with profound attainments in Soul Magic. If he truly managed to leave his soul behind and made preparations in advance, it’s not impossible for him to return to a physical body."
"I feel that if the opportunity arises, it might really be worth looking into."
’As expected, one after another, these Mages are really not to be underestimated.’
"Iz, still, don’t be too careless."
Iz replied, "Mm, I know my limits."
"The matter of the Secret Sea is the top priority..."
「March 24th—Late Night」
At this hour, the lights of every household shone exceptionally bright.
People gathered on the main streets in twos and threes.
Besides its native residents, Kernoya was also filled with people who had rushed here from other regions at the first opportunity.
In their eyes, the Capital was surely the safest place to be.
Iz and Lu Cang floated high in the sky.
Iz looked down upon the entire land with a commanding gaze.
At this moment, Lu Cang used his final rehearsal. From this point forward...
He closed his eyes, then slowly opened them.
"No problems."
An Zheng still hadn’t noticed anything amiss. To him, this was just another ordinary day.
Iz nodded.
Then, he took out his Magic Staff with his right hand and raised it toward the sky.
BOOM!
Across the entire continent, the light of Magic Arrays flared up in every corner, as pillars of light shot toward the heavens!
Immediately after—
SWOOSH!
Hundreds of layers of incomparably vast Magic Arrays appeared across the sky, seeming to cover it entirely!
Lu Cang gazed up at the heavens.
He had seen this spectacular scene many times before.
But every time he witnessed it with his own eyes, he felt an unparalleled sense of awe.
’This is a Level 6 Mage.’
’Right now, I couldn’t possibly create a Magic Array this large.’
BUZZ!
The hundred layers of Magic Arrays stacked upon each other!
Next, across all regions of the sky, covering every corner of the mountains and rivers,
countless small Magic Arrays appeared.
The Magic Arrays were interlinked and interconnected. As far as the eye could see, there were simply too many to count.
But if he borrowed the Perception shared by Lu Luwei,
he could probably see billions of different small Magic Arrays connected to one another.
Every single one of these Magic Arrays was a crucial component of the spell’s construction. Any single one of these small Magic Arrays, taken on its own, was a Tier Six Beyond Magic.
This was the extent of Izparut’s magical mastery.
At this moment, down below, Dusk’s eyes were wide with shock.
He couldn’t comprehend the structure of the entire Magic.
A Tier Six Beyond Space Magic was completely beyond his understanding. Forget Tier Six—even a normal Tier Five Space Magic would take the current Dusk some time to digest.
But just by watching this Magic being cast, he felt as if countless mysteries in his mind were being solved, and innumerable thoughts about Space surged within him!
The Arrays erupted with pillars of light and threads that connected them to one another.
They also began to turn, like interlocking gears!
The entire continent was completely enveloped by the Magic!
In reality, it enveloped not only the continent but also a vast expanse of the sea near the Ruelun Continent.
The Range of this Continent Teleportation Magic...
...was far, far vaster than the continent itself!
Iz raised his Magic Wand high. All preparations were complete.
He glanced behind him at Lu Cang.
A faint smile was on his face.
"I thought I’d be teaching you for at least two or three years, but I never expected we’d have to part so soon."
"However, our destinations are the same. Sooner or later, we’ll meet again."
"I hope that by the time we next meet, you’ll be a Mage of the same Level as me."
"I know you’ve always been unconvinced, thinking you can surpass me in Magic."
Iz said with great certainty, "So when that time comes, I will defeat you so soundly in a true battle of the Same Tier and Level that you’ll have no choice but to concede."
"I’ll show you that I am, without a doubt, the strongest Mage in this world."
A confident smile also appeared on Lu Cang’s face. "Oh~"
"Iz."
"If that time really comes, I won’t use the abilities of my other Professions against you. I’ll beat you down as only a Mage, at the Same Tier and Level."
Iz laughed. "Haha, you might have had a slight chance before, but now, your odds have dropped to zero."
After speaking, Iz patted Lu Cang’s shoulder.
His tone shifted from boastful to solemn.
"Lu Cang, you have many secrets that we don’t know about, but I can sense your principles, your conviction."
"Although there’s much I don’t understand, I believe that bringing you out of that Dungeon back then was definitely the right decision."
"From now on, we won’t be able to protect you anymore. You must be careful."
"Sigh..."
BOOM—
Suddenly, an incredibly terrifying fluctuation erupted from the Imperial Palace in Luo Tedan!
Iz glanced in that direction.
"There’s no more time to talk. Let’s go."
"Whatever you have to say, you can tell us slowly after we reunite."
Iz raised his hand!
SWISH!
A flash of light flickered in an instant!
Countless fragments of Space flowed through Lu Cang’s eyes, as if he were traversing infinite time and Space!
This wondrous feeling lasted only for a moment!
BOOM!
The next second, he heard a deafening roar!
The Ruelun Continent had slammed into the great sea!
A bright moon hung high in the sky, its reflection shimmering on the distant sea.
The Moon Sea... they had really arrived.