Chapter 704: Return (Happy Dragon Boat Festival!!)

Luo Saier nodded, fixing his gaze on Bei Erna Dai with an old‑father's look for a while, until Bei Erna Dai turned her head away; he then cleared his throat, shifted his eyes, and said as if nothing were amiss:

"The Earth Church still has a good reputation in this regard, but I always feel that the Earth Mother Goddess sometimes behaves quite contradictory; this shouldn't be due solely to the influence of the Primordial Moon."

"It won't be long before you know the answer—a answer that will astonish everyone."

Lei Ke Dun casually added a sentence, and before Luo Saier could press further, his body instantly became ethereal, breaking into streams of data that surged toward the island ahead.

A tranquil, dim starlight flickered faintly within the thin mist; gradually, the surrounding sea breeze quieted, the ever‑rolling waves were greatly reduced, and the once‑light mist thickened, spreading outward to blanket a vast stretch of sea.

In the captain's cabin, Luo Saier looked at Bei Erna Dai, smiled, and nodded:

"I'll shut down for a while; when I wake again, we can finally meet properly."

"Mm, it will succeed," Bei Erna Dai replied with a heavy nod.

Luo Saier's face broke into a smile, his expression resolute as he nodded, and dark‑red and silvery specks of light continuously emanated from his body.

On the island shrouded in thick mist, countless eyes sprouted from the fog, flashing pure light as they surveyed every gust of wind, every drop of water, every speck of soil.

Lei Ke Dun stood at the island's center, holding a wish talisman obtained from Cha La Tu, infusing it with spirit while softly chanting in ancient He Mi Si language: "I make a wish."

The surroundings suddenly grew dim and eerie, countless gray‑white specks of light appearing before Lei Ke Dun's eyes; guided by instinct, he reached out and seized one of them.

An invisible torrent surged from the depths of the collective subconscious ocean, bearing strange power and swiftly sweeping the area.

The barren islet, piled with reefs and shells, rapidly expanded outward; soil emerged, lush trees sprouted, and a massive tomb constructed from neatly cut giant stones rose into view.

Lei Ke Dun's figure became further enveloped by the tomb; he appeared directly inside the tomb, in a hall that housed a jet‑black throne.

A humanoid formed of pure shadow materialized before Lei Ke Dun, its surface riddled with numerous fissures of varying size, from which pale blue starlight or deep red moonlight continuously poured, suffusing a sense of chaos and distortion.

"As the Black Emperor, you ought to be able to maintain balance."

He sighed toward the black figure that seemed utterly irrational; Lei Ke Dun raised his hand, pressed it against its shoulder, and a deep‑blue‑almost‑purple radiance flowed from his eyes, coalescing into one complex, illusory sigil after another, while he stepped back, pulling a deep‑red silhouette from its body.

Without pause, Lei Ke Dun's other hand traced an exceedingly intricate, mysterious three‑dimensional sigil in mid‑air—a sigil of pallid death! Under death's corruption, the deep‑red silhouette, unsupported by any power, gradually faded in color, its movements slowing as if it were sprinting toward the terminus of death.

Within two seconds, its breath waned to the extreme, and it uncontrollably disintegrated into a heap of fragments and dust, scattering everywhere.

As the contamination originating from the Primordial Moon was cleared by Lei Ke Dun, the cracked marks on the jet‑black figure swiftly faded away.

His sanity gradually returned; two tiny fissures opened in his head, revealing a pair of azure eyes.

After a brief silence, Luo Saier said in a voice heavy with exhaustion, "The pollution that has plagued me for so long was solved by you so easily; it makes me look like a failure, you know?"

"Should I say: have you finally gained a correct understanding of yourself?" Lei Ke Dun replied offhand.

While he spoke, countless eyes sprouted from nowhere, each staring at the black shadow manifested from Luo Saier's will from different directions, siphoning streams of information from his body—pollution of the Knowledge Wilderness. The lone shadow of Luo Saier stiffened briefly, and in a sluggish tone said, "You'd better stay silent."

He paused, then continued, "I need to adjust my state; it won't take long."

"Within a quarter‑hour, the Primordial Moon won't detect you, nor can it erode you."

Lei Ke Dun nodded and replied, his body instantly became ethereal, breaking into massive streams of knowledge that enveloped the entire island in a torrent of data, continuously surging and generating an exaggerated information storm.

Silently, the surroundings dimmed; the thick mist turned black‑sulphurous, faintly revealing an illusory, hazy starry sky—a starry sky projected from the Star Realm!

Inside the tomb, the Luo Saier formed of pure shadow seemed to grow flesh within, his chest rhythmically rising and falling.

After a moment of silence, two more fissures split his head, exposing a pair of azure eyes.

His gaze pierced the stone‑stacked tomb and the dense mist, looking toward the Dawn anchored dozens of miles away.

In the captain's cabin, the gray‑white stone tablet that Bei Erna Dai held—etched with numerous strange symbols and markings—seemed drawn in, instantly turning black‑sulphurous, exuding a tangible shadow that gradually faded from her hand.

The next second, the odd tablet appeared directly in Luo Saier's hand, transforming into a solid shadow that flowed into his body.

The jet‑black humanoid writhed uncontrollably, sprouting slightly wavy long hair; its face acquired the outlines of a nose bridge, lips, ears, and a beard, and it donned a heavy coat—still entirely black, yet exuding a sense of nobility and splendor.

His form remained quite ethereal, as if a mere illusion, appearing as though isolated in another world, continually being lifted, becoming grand and towering, ascending into the Star Realm.

During this process, he beheld the deep‑red emanating from beneath the tomb, like a red moon about to rise.

Above the red moon, thin black mist continuously surged, creating strange hues, layered ridges, riddles, and visions, as if an indescribable truth that is hard to pierce, firmly keeping the aspiring red moon grounded.

"'The authority of the Mysterious' already bears a hint of the Hidden Sage; no, in a sense it even surpasses the Hidden Sage."

"All the twists and turns, in the end they still merged with these two paths."

"Is this fate? From the moment I chose to become a Generalist, I have been watched, placed on a board, written into a script. Heh, I must have interacted with the 'Audience' too much, always thinking about the script."

While muttering to himself, Luo Saier ascended into the Star Realm, feeling gazes cast upon him—from the ground, from the Star Realm, from the starry sky.

They were either filled with malice, indifferent, or joyous and excited.

Luo Saier did not pay attention to the gazes of those angels, true gods, or evil deities; his resurrection had already begun, irreversible and unstoppable.

As he re‑established contact with the real world, he felt his own anchor, sensing the spirit and will within it—originating from his daughter, his followers, and his subjects.

The figure gradually clarified, gaining color, yet still ethereal, Luo Saier curled his lips, letting his voice reach the ears of everyone connected to him in reality or in esoteric significance:

"Indis, your emperor has returned!"

(End of Chapter)