Chapter 203: Preparation

The deepest part of the Mist Sea

Near the massive trench beneath the sea, amidst the decaying, collapsed steel structures, Su Lin walked, holding Han Bafang's longsword, attentively observing his surroundings.

This was a lost civilization, called Nu Yins, which in ancient times was known as Australia.

In this silent, dark deep sea, many buildings had collapsed, jagged steel rebar jutting upward; the structures seemed to speak of humanity's former glory, their fragmented technological relics scattered across the city, mostly buried under thick seabed silt.

Logically, human architectural ruins should be the favorite habitat of marine life—even at depths of tens of thousands of meters, marine organisms would exist, let alone here, which didn't reach such depths.

Strange!

In Su Lin's Golden Core Stage perception, there was no sign of life—this was clearly abnormal.

He walked cautiously, remaining vigilant within this dangerous, unknown underwater ruin, prepared to respond to any risk or challenge at any moment.

At the same time, deep within his heart, he felt a flicker of anticipation.

'Yes, this is the kind of adventure I want!'

For a long time, many merchant ships had sunk without reason in this sea region.

Survivors claimed to have seen evil spirits dancing in the waves, climbing onto decks; others said a monstrous creature hundreds of meters long, with long tentacles, dragged entire fleets into a massive vortex.

Some even claimed that after falling into the sea, they entered a steel-built city, lived there for a time, even fell in love and had children, only to awaken years later, having been unconscious the whole while.

They had been rescued and brought ashore long ago, but never regained consciousness; when they finally awoke, memories of that city faded rapidly—once fluent in strange languages, now only fragments remained.

Su Lin was certain this ancient city held a tremendous secret.

Near the city's center, a building resembling a stadium had inexplicably remained intact; after hours of searching, Su Lin finally found the anomaly.

'Too bad I don't have any Break-Extreme weapons to activate buffs like Killing Intent Waves.'

A series of Bai Guang flared across Su Lin's body; he cast a Light spell to fully arm himself—his ordinary longsword, merely common in the Cultivation Realm, now glowed golden, becoming a scourge to evil entities.

Taking a deep breath, Su Lin stepped into the stadium.

On the interior walls, fleshy tissues spread; along the corridors, ancient murals depicted bloody sacrificial scenes and intricate prayers.

Along the way, monstrous sea creatures—massive, twisted, covered in black patterns, with three heads and entangled tentacles—appeared frequently; they wielded certain supernatural abilities, their numbers abundant. In this hostile environment, with the advantage of terrain, even a demi-god might perish here.

The deeper he went, the stronger the sea monsters became; Su Lin fought arduously all the way, finally reaching the deepest point.

A fine beam of light sliced through—the stone door shattered, revealing a deep well below, where a colossal creature coiled tightly, its flesh studded with rows of tiny, sharp teeth.

Su Lin glanced at the pile of bones nearby, raised his sword, ready to battle this terrifying entity from the sea's depths—when suddenly—

A crimson glow erupted from the core of the fleshy mass, blasting through the building's roof and leaving a massive hole.

Before Su Lin could react, the crimson light, radiating an utterly terrifying power, vanished into the Spirit Realm; the remaining flesh collapsed rapidly, skin-like tissues withering away, leaving only a line of text on the ground—

'I have no intention of opposing you. Do not interfere with me.'

Su Lin suddenly remembered where he had felt that familiar power before—Primordial Hunger?

After several seconds of silence, Su Lin pulled out a notebook and wrote: Third Adventure in the Weird World—Failure

——————

The Land of the Forsaken Gods was encircled by a sealing barrier resembling the Western Continent; elsewhere, only illusory seas could be seen, while its true location was the Great Abyss.

The door inside the Giant King's Court was the only normal exit; other abnormal paths existed, but only for high-tier thieves who exploited loopholes—the 'Hanged Man' Path could enter or leave only with the permission of the 'True Creator'.

Under normal circumstances, the current Path's True Gods could not respond to prayers or learn of events within the Land of the Forsaken Gods, and thus could not manifest.

The Night Goddess could influence the Land of the Forsaken Gods only because she had recently seized the singularity of the 'Death God' Path.

'So, if your true body wants to enter the Land of the Forsaken Gods, it will be difficult,' Kleine smiled at Zhongli beside him. 'Fortunately, we still have Pales. Don't let his constant running from Amon fool you—he holds a Sequence One rank.'

'Though right now, he's of little use.'

'Can you be a bit more polite?' Pales' voice emerged from Lennard's body. 'Someone who doesn't know might think you're a Sequence One Hunter.'

This was 7 Pinstreet. Lennard had just thought it was a mail carrier—when he opened the door, he found his 'former colleague' Kleine, who had brought Mr. Pope along to knock on his door.

'Excuse me, Mr. Solonast,' Zhongli spoke slowly, his gaze passing beyond Lennard's hallway toward a spot inside the room: 'If possible, I'd like your help.'

'Old man.'

Lennard was about to speak when an aged voice echoed in his mind:

'You want me to help them.'

'Do you really need to persuade me? What choice do I have? Gods are blocking my door—do you think I dare refuse?'

'He's on the same level as the Light God! Not only can I not refuse to help, I'd have to hand over my Divine Character if he asked!'

'Damn it, even this old man can't keep up with the pace of this world.'

Pales still didn't understand what these two gods were up to—why not just let the Light God act directly instead of dragging him into exploiting the Land of the Forsaken Gods' loopholes?

Whatever. At least working with them means I won't have to worry about Amon.

'Do you offer pickup and drop-off?' Pales asked. If he returned from that place alone, he might end up inside Amon's mouth halfway.

'Of course,' Zhongli replied. 'You can possess me. Once the matter in the Land of the Forsaken Gods is settled, I'll personally return you, avoiding Amon's tracking.'

'I'll also provide appropriate compensation—consistent with your habit of taking something each time you possess someone.'

Zhongli's goal was to send his self-formed Divine Practitioner avatar into the Land of the Forsaken Gods, to sense the world's 'corruption' through the avatar.

When Kleine heard this plan, his eyebrows twitched—but fortunately, it was only a Sequence Four avatar; under Zhongli's current condition, it likely wouldn't go wrong.

Hmm. He had been Sequence before, but that day, Zhongli and Su Lin entered the Earth Church and emerged holding a Divine Character of the 'Ancient Alchemist'.

Kleine dared not dwell on it—he assumed, given Zhongli's nature, it was an equal exchange.

These two were nothing like him—he'd gone that morning to the Holy Wind Cathedral to pray to the 'Lord of Storms', hoping to obtain the Class Zero Seal Item '0—3'.

Lord Leodro not only refused, but also cruelly shattered his puppet.

Among the current True Gods, only the Night Goddess knew Zhongli and Su Lin were connected to him; the others wanted to investigate but feared angering the 'Light God'.

It had been a long time since he'd seen Su Lin—he wondered how Su Lin's adventures were progressing.

For Kleine, if Su Lin truly ventured into Ye Fan's world's Dark Zone, it would be far more thrilling.

The greatest danger on Earth comes from Outer Gods and their corrupted things—who, he wondered, is truly the danger when he goes to those places?

Miss Kelaien let out a breath, nodded at Leonard, and his figure quickly faded before vanishing.

His true body was still in the Godforsaken Land; this image through the historical gap came from Fors's recorded historical projection ability, and the time it could be maintained was itself nearly at an end.

After all, the burden of a Sequence 6 "Recorder" summoning a Sequence 3 was extremely heavy; even though the "Ancient Scholar" could transfer his consciousness over to reduce the consumption, Fors still could not hold on for long.

Miss Kelaien's consciousness returned to the City of Silver.

Earlier, he had performed a ritual of supplication for bestowal through Derrick Berg, and after cautiously consulting Pallez, obtained a deception scheme nearly identical to the one described in the book: resurrection in the City of Silver by means of a small tube containing his own blood.

Miss Kelaien walked out of the room the Chief of the City of Silver had prepared for him, and under the watchful gaze of the City of Silver guards whose eyes showed wariness, passed through the long corridor and entered the top of the round tower.

"The reinforcements are on their way; you may begin your preparations." Miss Kelaien appeared in the guise of the mad adventurer Gehrman Sparrow he was playing, maintaining a cold, stern demeanor as he spoke.

"Bring useful Sealed Artifacts; Beyonders below demigod are nothing but a liability, this is not something they can take part in."

"Also someone who came from the outside, like you?" Colin Iliyat's eyes revealed a sharp gaze, and deep within them a trace of hope unconsciously appeared, as his low and hoarse voice rang out.

"Is there no way for us to use the same method to go to the outside world?"

The "Six-Person Council" elders, including Loenavia and Vert Hilmont, also looked at Miss Kelaien; although they still did not feel at ease with this outsider who had suddenly appeared, and harbored deep wariness toward him, they still clung to hope for that slim possibility.

"If you have the rank of an Angel, then naturally you can; you would only need, with the help of an Angel of a unique pathway, to pass through a battlefield of Gods by relying on yourselves, endure the daytime and twilight that even demigods cannot withstand, and traverse the endless Corridor of Dreams." Miss Kelaien spoke as if casually.

"But you are not an Angel either." Loenavia said coldly. "Didn't you also come here?"

"Heh, that is because the great Mr. Fool used my body to play a game here with the Angel of Time, Amon." Miss Kelaien did not speak falsehoods; these words could withstand divination and Beyonding ability scrutiny. "I am a God-blessed; are you and the other residents of the City of Silver the same?"

"At this point, we naturally will not question you any further." Colin Iliyat contemplated for a moment, then issued his order. "According to the predetermined plan, those of Sequence 5 will take Sealed Artifacts and wait at the periphery; demigods will form squads to explore the Giant King's Court."

He then looked at Miss Kelaien and asked, "The reinforcements you mentioned, are they an Angel?"

"Mr. World, can you tell us which Angel under Mr. Fool it is?" Derrick's eyes and tone carried expectation.

The others' gazes turned to Derrick in unison, yet he remained completely unaware; in their eyes, Derrick had, without a word, taken faith in an unfamiliar deity, and had even brought an outsider without any prior explanation—this was simply extremely suspicious!

But the Chief did not show any objection, and was even willing to try; that was precisely the reason they had gathered here.

Everything was for the City of Silver.

"An Angel?" Miss Kelaien deliberately let out a puzzled sound, then replied evenly, "The one coming to the Godforsaken Land is Mr. Pope."

"Pope?" Vert Hilmont was naturally no stranger to this term; the documents preserved in their City of Silver still recorded that when the great ancient Sun God and His Angels walked upon this land, every city-state had a church, and the highest ruler who administered these churches was called the "Pope."

At that time the Pope was held by a certain Angel, although the relevant records were fragmentary, and it was impossible to know which Angel under the Lord had held the post at that time.

"That God of the Earth?!" Derrick cried out in shock, rising to his feet in astonishment, hot tears actually welling up in his eyes.

The people of the City of Silver all could not believe it, suspecting whether this outsider was talking nonsense, or whether he had mistaken an Angel for a deity; after all, in the distant past, there had also been devout believers who regarded the Angels they worshipped as Gods.

Loenavia's brows furrowed slightly; she was a believer of the Creator, and instinctively disliked any other existence that called itself a "God."

Derrick did not know how to explain it to them; he had previously heard the discussions of others at the Tarot Gathering, and also knew that Mr. "Hierophant" had displayed God-level power in the outside world.

That was an existence that openly challenged the Seven Orthodox Gods! As the God of the Earth, who, like him, never concealed his face at the Tarot Gathering, Mr. "Pope" must likewise be a Sequence 0 existence.

"Don't celebrate too early." Miss Kelaien shook his head.

"This is my trial, and yours as well; that deity has His own matters and will not take part throughout, and He will also serve as Mr. Fool's eyes, observing me, and observing you."

"Judging whether you can shoulder the heavy responsibilities entrusted to you by Mr. Fool in the outside world."

The people of the City of Silver fell silent for a moment; Colin Iliyat, clutching his head, stared at Miss Kelaien and asked, "Does this also mean that we must pass, for the City of Silver to possess the value of being saved?"

"No." Miss Kelaien denied. "Even if you do not pass, Mr. Fool will still save you."

"But it also means that in the future you will not be able to share too many of Mr. Fool's burdens, and may even cause Mr. Fool worry."

"The outside world does not mean there is no danger; there exist deceptions and schemes among men, and conflicts of interest between humans."

"The reason Mr. Fool is willing to save you is precisely because for thousands of years you have never abandoned hope, and have survived until now without relying on a deity."

"When a person lives, they must first rely on themselves; only when they cannot manage should they entrust themselves to a deity."

End of chapter.