Chapter 545 - 501: Triggered the Highest-Level Quest
’I hope I can reach the end of this Abyss of the End in three to five days.’
’The deathly aura here is getting thicker and thicker. It’s extremely strange. Could this be a god’s graveyard? But after a god falls, their remains scatter across different times and spaces, spread throughout the Star Sea. It’s highly unlikely for a graveyard to exist. Hmm... the old will of the Cosmic Country is dead, and a new one is being born. Could this be the graveyard of the old will?’
’Based on the commissions and intelligence I’ve gathered, it’s very likely.’
’Abyss of the End... a name with a strong sense of destiny.’
The deathly aura settled, almost forming a liquid.
It flowed into low-lying areas, forming pools of black, stagnant water. The Colorful Insect in Shi Ming’s Sea of Spirit seemed to sense something and stirred again, only to be instantly suppressed by Shi Ming. With a jolt of his right arm, crimson chains shot out from the top of the Hundred-Floor Celestial Tower and plunged into the Colorful Insect’s body, once again viciously squeezing the unruly creature.
After walking for two full days along the bottom of the abyss, Shi Ming had gathered more detailed intelligence that confirmed his earlier suspicions.
Due to the prolonged exposure, the dense deathly aura had formed irregular black patterns on his skin, avoiding his head and right arm. The patterns enveloped Shi Ming, attempting to form a symbiosis with his vibrant body.
’The deathly aura is getting thicker and thicker.’
’I need to leave enough time for the return trip. I can go for one more day at most.’
A trail of footprints snaked along the bottom of the abyss. Just as Shi Ming was about to give up, the terrain suddenly began to level out. The abyss’s deathly aura seemed to be thinning. In its place, an incongruous wisp of life force mingled with the black mist—faint, yet growing more and more distinct.
[Congratulations!]
[You have truly reached the end.]
"Arriving at the End" was the name of the X-rank commission Shi Ming had accepted.
’I thought arriving at the Abyss of the End meant I had reached the end. So this is the *true* end?’
A jolt of energy shot through Shi Ming!
He felt as if three million Civilization Stones were waving at him, the second-ranked treasure in the Divine Treasure Vault calling his name!
His heavy legs moved with surprising speed as the deathly aura continued to thin. After walking for another three thousand meters, he was able to reactivate Sunshot. Not only that, but the life force at the bottom of the abyss grew even stronger. And when Shi Ming had advanced another six thousand meters, a soft ball of light appeared at the end of the abyss. It floated several meters above the ground, a stark contrast to the surrounding deathly silence.
Enveloped by the black mist, it wasn’t particularly conspicuous. One had to use their Spiritual Power to truly perceive its presence.
The approach seemed to be mutual.
The ball of light sensed his arrival as well, and it began to pulse with a rhythm like the heartbeat of an embryo.
THUMP THUMP!
Amidst the pulsing, a portion of the wondrous essence within the ball of light coalesced into a single symbol from the Civilization Prologue. Just one character manifested inside the light.
The Civilization Prologue: one word, a thousand meanings.
Each character held a vast amount of meaning; even a single one could convey a wealth of information.
[Z-Rank Commission: Will Resonance]
???
’The A-rank commission to pull out the Sword in the Stone was also called Will Resonance. The highest-rank Z-commission and the lowest-rank A-commission have the exact same name?’
...
...
...
"Ahead is the Primordial Star."
The Primordial Star’s Teleportation Vortex began to spin. A few seconds later, an old man and a woman—two new gods—stepped out. Behind them followed five hazy figures.
It was Bertutan and his party.
He let out the laugh of an old man. His expression seemed calm and unbothered, but his condition was far worse than it had been a few days prior.
Their bodies were incredibly frail—corporeal, yet without substance. Prolonged exposure to this realm still subjected them to the erosion of the deathly aura. Combined with the constant, non-stop teleportation, they had less than twenty to thirty percent of their original power remaining.
Fortunately, they had finally reached their destination.
This marked the end of their journey.
The exploration ahead was what would truly consume their time and energy. This meant that what little strength they had left had to be used where it counted most; not a single drop could be wasted.
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Bertutan."
Amonev and Ah Li revealed themselves.
Candela and Ron returned from a past timeline.
Uncle Tian also emerged from his state of stillness.
"The nascent will of the Cosmic Country is lurking somewhere on the Primordial Star. Our condition is not optimal, so we’ll need everyone to work together. Amonev will provide a barrier of concealment, Huang Ji will sense the nascent aura, Candela will detect the fluctuations of fate, and Uncle Tian will ward off the corrosive deathly aura..."
"Alright."
Huang Ji closed her eyes. Her long, flower-woven skirt began to sway, though there was no wind.
A maternal radiance overflowed from her.
"Child, my child..."
This was one application of her skill, [Life]. It sent out a mother’s call, causing any nascent being of low intelligence that heard it to view her as its mother, respond to her call, and allow her to sense its location.
Following the sensation, she wandered here and there.
She arrived at Ten Thousand People Square.
"That nascent consciousness seems to have left some traces on the Sword in the Stone."
"The Sword in the Stone?"
???
"Have you gone senile? It hasn’t even been born yet; it isn’t capable of taking action. Surely you don’t think this sword is the will of the Cosmic Country? How absurd," Uncle Tian mocked, the corner of his lip curling.
"Hmph."
Huang Ji opened her eyes.
In a single step, she was beside the Sword in the Stone, her eyes fixed on the blade embedded in its stone pedestal.
There was nothing unusual about it, aside from an extremely faint trace of life.
That trace of life had come into being no more than 100 years ago.
It was indeed a nascent being.
They were all incorporeal beings, their consciousnesses bound to inanimate objects, so they were unable to draw the sword. But they had tried long ago—120,000 years ago, in fact. None of the five could pull it out. Even Candela, the Time Giant, couldn’t budge it an inch with all the power of time.
’Candela even suspected the sword was just a prop left by a god to give their subjects an unrealistic fantasy.’
’You have to give them a chance to ascend, to soar to the heavens, even if that chance is as slim as winning the lottery.’
’Isn’t that right?’
’Hero in the Stone?’
’After hearing the legend, Ron felt the sword was tailor-made for him. The title [Hero in the Stone] seemed plain, but it had a beautiful sense of destiny that was far better than his own drab title, [Traveler]. But the other seniors all seemed powerless before it. If I managed to pull the sword out, wouldn’t I become a target for them all?’
’Commissions like this were always the same.’
’Before they failed, everyone thought they were the special one. But after they failed, they would question the commission’s validity just to rationalize their own failure.’