Chapter 237: Bones of the Floating Abode

Luo De knew.

A Pe Pu, this incredibly arrogant person, couldn't stand being provoked the most.

Moreover, even though she knew Luo De was deliberately provoking her, she still turned her head back in anger.

It's just this attitude.

Naturally, it had to be as bad as possible.

Toward others she was still cold-spoken, but toward Luo De she directly grabbed his collar and dragged him out.

"Come on, what are you looking at!"

Before being grabbed by A Pe Pu, Luo De didn't forget to wink at Xiao and the others, opening and closing his mouth silently to signal them to hurry up and follow.

Don't think that A Pe Pu now is just a phantom form; her power comes entirely from her own strong consciousness.

But you should know that after experiencing the myriad changes of these ten thousand years,

A Pe Pu's most completely preserved power is her mental power!

Even after enduring the double torment of the Abyss's power on both body and spirit, her mental power had already become stronger than when she devoured the Crimson King's corpse.

This wasn't Luo De's guess.

It was personally confirmed by the Great Merciful Tree King.

Therefore, even if only a part of the main body's consciousness descended.

At this moment, A Pe Pu is also an undisputed crushing-level existence in the seal space.

There's such a thick thigh to cling to.

Why waste time and effort to risk one's life just to find a Grand Might Disk?

Moreover, in the battle just now,

Xiao, however, had been injured by A Pe Pu.

Luo De seriously doubted that, not being in perfect condition, when using the Grand Might Disk, he could actually succeed in bringing everyone out.

Rather than betting on Xiao's condition and Zhongli's rescue speed,

it would be better to just cling tightly to A Pe Pu's thigh.

As for whether the words he said would really anger her,

What a joke.

From the moment Luo De said he was a follower of the Dendro Archon and A Pe Pu immediately agreed to take him out,

he had confirmed one thing.

A Pe Pu would definitely not harm herself.

Unless Luo De actually did something that made A Pe Pu lose emotional control and die badly, otherwise at most he'd just get a beating, like now.

With such a fearless precondition,

Luo De never worried that A Pe Pu would really punish him to death for his rudeness; he boldly used words to provoke her, forcing her to have to bring everyone out of the seal space.

The team now had a terrifyingly powerful big shot who didn't smile much.

Originally, the barely cheerful atmosphere instantly sank to a freezing point.

Don't think Luo De dares to anger A Pe Pu.

but he also doesn't dare to be overly presumptuous in front of A Pe Pu.

Seeing someone so familiar with A Pe Pu like him stay silent,

others would be even less likely to speak up voluntarily.

According to the prior calculation.

This secret realm, led by the seal space and amplified by the Grand Might Disk, theoretically is arranged according to the number of people entering.

Now Luo De and the others have already passed through three secret realms.

So whose memory this final secret realm contains is easy to guess.

A Pe Pu hadn't spoken a single word all along the way.

Upon entering the new secret realm, she simply went to the side and coldly observed, handing over all usable space to Luo De and the others.

It looks like.

She seemed to want Luo De and the others to witness the terror of the secret realm.

However.

Actually, it's simply because this final secret realm is too simple, so simple that she couldn't even be bothered to glance at it.

"Ah—"

"As expected."

Luo De let out a deep sigh.

At that time, upon discovering A Pe Pu appearing in his own secret realm, he had continually had a bad premonition.

And now.

The premonition came true.

In the final secret realm belonging to Xiao's memory, there was no appearance of the Floating Abode, only a group of mad monsters eroded by karmic obstacles.

Xiao showed a disappointed expression.

But disappointment is disappointment.

He still took up his spear and went forward alone.

The karmic obstacles on these monsters are genuine karmic obstacles.

Xiao didn't want Luo De and Ye Lan to be contaminated by this, which is deadly poison to mortals, just as he usually does, wanting to deal with the Archon's resentment alone.

"Even karmic obstacles can be replicated."

Luo De's thoughts were not on these monsters.

Now is not the time to wonder why the pagoda hasn't appeared; relatively speaking, what he cares most about is why karmic obstacles can be replicated in the sealed space.

This is somewhat absurd.

First it was Apep, then karmic obstacles that can corrode the spirit.

These things should all be illusory, not real.

Yet Apep could sense, from thousands of kilometers away in Sumeru, a phantom similar to itself appearing in the Chasm, and using that as a medium, it created a body indistinguishable from a clone.

Theoretically harmless karmic obstacles actually affected him.

These are abnormal.

All this made Luo De unable to help but have a question.

Are these things before him really illusory?

If they are real.

Then what principle does this illusionary space use to replicate things that shouldn't exist here?

Oh, no.

This isn't called replication.

This is creation.

This is me pondering.

But if these are all illusory existences.

Then where exactly is the true sealed space?

Am I still just walking in place? Or have they stumbled into some dangerous new area?

"Damn it."

Luo De, gradually unable to distinguish reality from illusion, inexplicably began to feel anxious, cold sweat continually breaking out on his forehead and palms, and he could not focus his attention on Xiao, who was fighting.

Fortunately.

Such an abnormal state quickly dissipated.

With a burning sensation rising in his chest, Luo De's dazed eyes suddenly cleared, and the previously hard-to-distinguish secret realm space underwent a tremendous change in that wave of heat.

In short.

Luo De's guess was correct.

They really were just going in circles.

This spacious, vast secret realm was merely a phantom image lingering in darkness like a slideshow.

The place they are currently in.

In fact, it is a huge cavern so vast that its edges cannot be seen.

The monsters here are a group of illusory shadows, while Xiao, who is battling those shadows, is truly real.

Likewise.

Ye Lan, Dada Liya, and Apep, who is raising his eyebrows at me.

They are all truly existent within the false illusion.

This primordial dragon king, relying on his terrifying mental power, forcibly gave himself a movable real body.

"What a waste."

Meeting Luo De's gaze, Apep uttered a not-so-pleasant remark.

"Uh"

"You've long known I carry this with me, haven't you?"

What Luo De spoke of was the leaf of the World Tree that pulled him out of his illusory confusion.

After all, it is the World Tree that encompasses all of Teyvat.

In terms of seeing through illusion, Luo De, whom Xiao personally criticized as having weak mental strength, is who knows how many times stronger.

Moreover.

Compared to fierce slaughter, the nature of this space still leans more toward consuming souls.

In other words.

The weaker one's spirit, the more susceptible they are to the illusion's influence.

Obviously, Luo De had unknowingly been drawn into a trap set by this space, and his mental strength suffered severe depletion.

If it weren't for the World Tree leaf timely breaking the illusion and pulling his consciousness back, who knows when he himself would ever regain clarity.

Or rather.

Without this leaf, he likely wouldn't be able to wake up at all.

"Hah—"

"Is this really the sealed space's most terrifying killing move?"

Luo De let out a long breath of foul air, scanning the surroundings that finally revealed their true appearance.

Rusted armor and weapons, scattered bones in disarray—human and beast alike—along with discarded occult implements, talismans, utensils, and everywhere the marks of fierce combat.

These true scenes all show how brutal the battle five hundred years ago was.

Above ground they fought, and even underground the battle continued.

What's more terrifying is.

After the war, no one could return home.

The dead could only lie in the earth awaiting decay, the wounded could only endure the excruciating pain of their wounds, helplessly collapsing to the ground, waiting for darkness to consume them.

He glanced at Xiao, still battling the monsters.

Luo De narrowed his eyes and walked straight toward him.

Regarding the battle before him, he seemed unaware; even when demon claws and blades struck his body, he did not dodge.

"Hey, what are you doing!!"

Not knowing that Luo De had already seen through the entire illusion with the World Tree's leaves, Dadalya shouted anxiously.

Though his limbs were still sore, he summoned great willpower, managed to stand, and swayed as he tried to chase after Luo De to pull him back.

He had not taken a few steps.

A strand of azure silk shot through the air and tightly bound him.

"Don't rush, wait."

After pulling Dadalya back, the equally puzzled Ye Lan kept her composure and analyzed: "This guy isn't reckless; judging by his appearance, he must have discovered something—don't rush to disturb him."

She said.

Ye Lan no longer paid attention to the struggling Dadalya, who ignored whatever she said, and instead asked Apep: "Grass Dragon senior, I suppose I haven't guessed wrong, have I?"

"Hmph—"

"You are quite a clever human."

Apep had no interest in Ye Lan, had little to say to her, and continued to stare blankly at Luo De as he moved through the illusion.

Her facial expression control was spot-on.

But Ye Lan still noticed.

This dangerous and powerful Grass Dragon was smiling.

Although I couldn't understand what she was laughing at.

However, with these words.

Ye Lan and Dadalya then felt completely at ease.

It was just that Xiao, still fighting the demons, was suffering.

He was far away, his attention wholly on the demons, and he didn't hear a word of what Ye Lan and Apep said.

Therefore, upon seeing Luo De inexplicably step onto the battlefield and wander about in the center without dodging, he had to hold back his strength, fearing he might accidentally injure Luo De.

The demons' attacks might be illusions created by the sealed space.

But his own attacks were genuine.

Luo De obviously had noticed something abnormal, not focusing any energy on himself; if he accidentally injured him, that would be troublesome.

Thus.

The hesitant Xiao, after shifting the previous battle situation, was instead pressed and beaten by the demons he had once eradicated.

Such a tense and strange situation.

It was not broken until Luo De bent down and picked up something from the monster pile.

Supreme Might Disk.

This is what Luo De discovered through the World Tree's leaves.

It is also the immortal artifact they deliberately sought by breaking space and venturing into the secret realm.

The Supreme Might Disk is in hand.

The secret realm was also broken.

Just as when Dadalya opened the door earlier.

After Luo De took the core Supreme Might Disk from the secret realm, the multi-layered secret realm collapsed and shattered, and the scene before everyone's eyes returned to the stitched illusion they had previously been in.

The difference is.

Now the stitched illusion is filled with ruined walls, with many unstable spots; this time without Xiao, Luo De and the others can easily discern the locations of those unstable areas.

The phantom that once chased several people also did not reappear.

Before them lay only a desolate, ruined scene; there was no trace of the strange urban appearance they had seen upon first entering.

"It's all fake."

Luo De, whose perception differed completely from everyone else's, shook his head.

Previously he did not know how to use the World Tree's leaves; even with utmost caution, he was still confused by this sealed space for a long time.

Now that he has the World Tree's leaves, this space can no longer bring him back into the illusion.

He said.

Luo De instinctively reached out and touched the World Tree's leaves, which were no longer hot.

"Huh?"

In the eyes of Xiao and the other two, Luo De, holding the Supreme Might Disk, suddenly froze, then began to feel around his body as if searching for something.

Before they could ask.

The silent Apep beside them interjected: "Don't look; that thing has burrowed into your body."

"Ha—ah?"

Luo De, who had been searching everywhere for the World Tree's leaves, involuntarily showed a hint of surprise: "What does it mean to burrow into my body?"

"It means it has fused with you; is that hard to understand?"

Apep had no intention of explaining properly to Luo De, instead retorting: "Have you forgotten how your body came to be?"

"Ah."

Another question that made Luo De startle.

Immediately he realized.

How did his body come to be?

This had long been confirmed: it is a remnant left after the Flower God's death, the same kind of existence as the divine bird Simurgh and the spiritual light that reshaped the Great Merciful Tree King's form.

To put it in simpler terms.

His body is essentially also a divine form.

It is not the kind of false divine body created by the gods to bear the Gnosis, like San Bing's.

Luo De's body is a true divine form.

Furthermore, considering what Nadixa once said, during the era of the three gods' joint rule, the three gods of Sumeru were all gods of wisdom, equally enjoying the Dendro Archon's authority, which included control over the World Tree.

Looking at it this way.

That explains the oddity on my body.

Luo De, whose body is equivalent to the Flower God, although he lacks the authority to control the World Tree, for the blank leaves that do not involve authority, his attraction to them is in no way inferior to that of the Dendro Archon.

So after forming a spiritual connection with Luo De, it actively burrowed into Luo De's body, choosing to merge with him.

"No wonder."

Luo De, having figured out the reason, was momentarily at a loss between laughter and tears.

He didn't know whether this was anticipated by Nadixa and the Great Merciful Tree King.

However, judging from A Pei Pu's unsurprised expression.

It's possible that they two actually knew about it.

Maybe they deliberately sent these World Tree leaves into my hands, the purpose being to add an eternal protective shield to my relatively weak spiritual power.

"This should count as giving me a cheat, right?"

Luo De touched the spot where the World Tree leaf originally was, and let out a puff of laughter.

Next.

He then displayed the Grand Might Ritual Disk in his hand.

"This is the Grand Might Ritual Disk we've been looking for."

Without further introduction, Ye Lan and Xiao could recognize this immortal artifact.

Although they had never seen it in person.

But the crafting technique, usable only by immortals, and its structure, which almost exactly matches that of Ye Lan's family heirloom artifact, was still enough for them to identify the true nature of this artifact.

"Oh, right."

"There's one more thing; I need to consult your opinions."

Luo De pondered for a moment, then sighed: "I have found the remains of the Thousand Rock Army soldiers, Daoist alchemists, and Buddhist monks from back then; would you like to collect them?"

(End of chapter)