Chapter 27: 26. Crossing the Boundary of the Mortal World (Seeking Readers)

26. Crossing the Boundary of the Mortal World (Seeking Readers)

Inside the wellhead built of bricks and stones in the basement were downward steps and a corridor. After walking down more than a dozen steps, the stairs came to an end, and the corridor suddenly opened up, the surroundings becoming like a limestone cave.

This was the Island Core Passage.

The cold, damp smell and the faint acidity mixed into the dust filled his nostrils. Even with the lantern providing light, darkness surged in from all directions, as if to snatch away all his senses.

The path within the mountain consisted only of steep slopes made of jagged rock, and it was not continuous; sometimes one had to carefully jump across slippery cliffs, with a bottomless abyss beneath.

Some of the slopes had simple steps chiseled out by a sharp tool, which must have been cut by Zoe’s father to make walking easier.

The spacing of the steps was very short, just enough for someone of Zoe’s height to step down. Thinking of the group photo he had seen earlier, Li Ang guessed that her father had specifically cut them at a suitable distance for her mother.

The young girl scanned the cave-like landscape underground: "I've never seen scenery like this before."

"This is called a limestone cave."

Li Ang pointed to the stalactites, stalagmites, and the mountain body whose surface had been smoothed by erosion, all illuminated by his adventurer's lantern: "Generally speaking, landforms like this are formed by the long-term accumulation of groundwater on the mountain."

"Generally speaking? Isn't that the case here?"

"The water system of Satus Island doesn't look like it could accomplish something like this."

Zoe asked for the meaning of "water system," and Li Ang explained that it was roughly a collective term for all the various natural bodies of water in a region.

He couldn't explain much more, because the natural ecology of the Newbis world was very abstract. Or rather, it wasn't even abstract; it was simply something he, coming from Earth, could not understand.

This world had no oceans, and the floating islands were isolated from one another, yet there was no lack of water. The water cycle seemed to be functioning normally, and there were many natural environments similar to those on Earth.

This was all because a large number of Elemental Spirits participated in the world's ecological cycle.

In the fundamental triangle that made up the world—spirits, magic, and matter—the smallest unit constituting matter was the element.

Over 96% of elements were composed of the four basic elements: earth, fire, water, and air; some also called them ground, fire, water, and wind.

Because they accounted for such a large proportion, most of the time when elements were mentioned, it was understood to refer to these four basic elements.

Elemental Spirits were conceived within the elements. Their spirituality attracted magic, gathering and increasing the matter that birthed them.

Because the four Elemental Spirits all wanted to increase the total amount of their own faction while simultaneously restraining one another, a cycle of ebb and flow was formed, and thus the world maintained a stable circulation.

In the cave before them, it was precisely the Water Elemental Spirits replacing the natural water bodies that allowed this place to present a limestone cave landscape.

"I feel like there are many Earth Spirits," Zoe said.

In the darkness of the abyss, gusts of wind rose upward, and the magic within them was so dense that it was difficult for Li Ang to keep his breathing rhythm steady; it would not be an exaggeration to say it was a wind blown directly from magic.

"Yes, this place is surrounded by earth and stone, an environment the Earth Elemental Spirits love. Under their vigorous attraction, the magic is very dense."

"However, this is very unusual."

Li Ang said: "When I first mined, I wanted to drive the Earth Spirits to summon a mud giant, but I discovered that the Earth Spirits on the entire Satus Island were few and far between. I thought it was because the resources here were barren and couldn't nurture Elemental Spirits."

"Now it seems they are all here in this abyss."

"Elemental Spirits are part of the world's cycle; they don't run around avoiding harm. It is only possible that some existence has bound them here."

"Star Soul," Zoe said immediately.

"Correct."

After saying this, Zoe’s expression became much more serious.

The underground passage would not be very long, because Satus Island was not very large; its vertical depth would not exceed its horizontal width, and the two could traverse the island in a day. So, after about an hour or two, the underground scenery began to change drastically.

First, light appeared.

Fluorescent stones began to emerge from the mountain walls. They were the size of goose eggs, contained faint magic, and released light that was primarily cyan-blue, with a little pale yellow and pink.

There were more and more fluorescent stones, until they lit the tunnel as bright as day, reflecting brilliant light in Zoe’s eyes as she looked around like a little kitten.

Every time she saw a cluster of fluorescent stones, she almost had to go over and pick through them, then hold the round-shaped ones to compare, finally struggling to choose one to keep and carefully putting the other back in its place.

By this part of the road, the terrain was flat and continuous, and Li Ang could spare some attention to look at the notebook. He wanted to see if there was more information about the Star Soul; if only he could find a way to deal with it.

"February 9, Year 293

"Cha Ain was seriously injured, but he obtained data on the Star Soul at those ruins. We agreed to discuss it in detail in the coming days.

"Zoe has started practicing the sword. She is in good health, which is great.

"However, Lily is..."

"She never tells me much about the secret cult, but she gazes at the horizon more and more, then falls into a state of super-perception. She says she is seeking revelation from God.

"Does God really exist in this world? Perhaps. I should maintain a sense of awe. Every time I look at Lily in that state, even though I have stepped into the legendary realm long ago, I cannot help but feel a shudder."

Another entry full of information.

The road ahead was cut off, and a cliff appeared before them. Reading the content to Zoe, who was browsing the underground scenery beside him, Li Ang put away the notebook.

Unlike the first part of the Island Core Passage, the world here was becoming brighter and brighter; rather than an underground, it was more like another world.

"Wow, so beautiful," Zoe exclaimed.

Aside from the minerals common in the Newbis world and even more common in the island core, substances similar to gold appeared among the fluorescent stones.

They covered various stones like a plating, and after reflecting the fluorescent light, the entire space was as bright as day, allowing Li Ang and Zoe to see things below the cliff.

The cliff was not high, perhaps just over ten meters, and below were some lizard-like four-legged monsters gnawing on minerals.

Hearing the two people's footsteps, they were startled and quickly burrowed into nearby holes.

"How wonderful," Zoe stared at the bottom of the cliff for a long time and sighed.

Li Ang hadn't entered the Island Core Passage many times either, and every time there was different scenery.

The center of the island was a place where one could clearly feel a sense of another world. The essence of the earth, the secrets of the world, and the sighs of mortals converged here, together declaring—what lay ahead was no longer the mortal world.

Just as they were about to jump over the cliff, Zoe suddenly screamed and hid behind Li Ang, not daring to stick her head out to look.

"What's wrong?"

"Th-there, there's a ghost over there!"

Li Ang searched in the direction she pointed and saw a human skeleton.

The skeleton was not intact and had traces of monster gnawing. He observed the surroundings and could roughly analyze the route the person had taken to escape here, and the path from which that route came had already been blocked.

The blockage was man-made, a collapse caused by magic and weapon attacks.

"This should be one of the missing residents of Satus Island," Li Ang guessed: "There was more than one Island Core Passage that cracked years ago, and some villagers accidentally wandered into the island core because of it. After your parents came over, they completely sealed off the other passages to prevent them from coming in again."

"But they couldn't explain to the villagers where the missing people had gone, so they were misunderstood."

Zoe was silent for a while and suggested burying it. After the two finished, they set off again.

Jumping over the cliff, the road ahead was not as narrow as the underground world they had imagined; instead, it became increasingly spacious.

There was more and more gold-like plating, and countless beautiful minerals such as turquoise, colored crystals, quartz, and chalcedony were lined up among them.

The pretty stones restored Zoe's mood. She was busy picking up stones, but even after picking some and giving up others, what she wanted still couldn't be held in her arms, and she could still see even better ones ahead.

Finally, like a deflated balloon, she put all the gems down and rushed forward expectantly. The sound of the armor she had crafted yesterday rubbing against itself echoed in the tunnel.

The road ahead was suddenly blocked by a collapse of rocks, and the two looked for a new path among the surrounding rock walls and crevices.

They found a narrow passage; this passage was very cramped and had a jagged surface, but after a distance, it turned into a tunnel where gems shone.

The cave walls were as regular as if built by people. Walking here, there was nothing to worry about, so Li Ang opened a new page of the notebook.

"February 25, Year 293

"Talked with Cha Ain for a long time, and we roughly know about Zoe's situation. She and the Star Soul can be seen as needing each other; she can obtain the other's power, and the Star Soul is the same. But if she, in her youth, rashly makes contact with it, she will only become nourishment for the other.

"She needs to grow, but that doesn't mean we can just watch her grow up. Because after she obtains the power of the Star Soul, what she will mean to this world and to the organization—this is something we do not know.

"So Lily and I have decided to go and fight the organization.

"Although we feel regret that we cannot accompany Zoe as she grows, we want her to live in a carefree future even more.

"We felt no hesitation; for her sake, we must go and uncover the truth of the world.

"This will be a difficult journey, perhaps until the end of the floating clouds, the ultimate end of the world."

After reading the note, as he closed the page, Zoe pointed diagonally upward and exclaimed: "Look!"

The thing ahead suddenly occupied Li Ang's field of vision.

He could be certain that they had also seen the ultimate end of the world in some sense.