Book 4: Near Blood – Chapter 47: Return to Reality
Boom!
With a massive explosion, the physical illusion realm completely collapsed.
The space began to distort and swirl like a vortex before collapsing in on itself. It shrunk down into the size of a small dot, then disappeared.
If it weren’t for the fact that Su Chen had dragged He Xu along at the last moment, he probably would have disappeared along with the physical illusion realm.
“Dammit! There were still so many gems in there that I didn’t get to excavate! What a tragedy!” He Xu yelled as he stomped his feet.
He stared at Su Chen with a bit of grievance. “Did you not think to help me?”
“I don’t really care anyways. We agreed that all of these things belong to you; it doesn’t make much difference to me,” Su Chen replied.
“I knew you would say that,” He Xu sighed.
“Alright, alright. No matter what, you guys didn’t come here in vain this time, and you managed to make it out alive, right?” Su Chen patted He Xu on the shoulder as he laughed.
“Yeah, I guess so.” He Xu glanced around him. “Where’s Zhu Xianyao? How come she disappeared?”
“My friend took her away. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.”
“Like hell I’m worried about her.” He Xu spat on the ground. “Let’s go and help Old Shi.”
“There probably isn’t a need to anymore,” Su Chen replied. “The physical illusion realm was destroyed, so the entire Projection Void will collapse next. Better get ready to return to reality.”
As Su Chen spoke, they watched as the entire projection castle began to tremble. Those inanimate spirits began to cry out:
“No, is our world about to collapse?”
“We’re going to die.”
“No, I don’t want to leave this world!”
“Thos damn bastards! They destroyed the nucleus of this world. Our end is near.”
The whole castle began to clamor.
At the same time, the tremors running through the castle grew stronger and stronger. Parts of the building began to collapse, and the walls began to turn to dust.
This time, however, they wouldn’t return back to normal.
“What are you doing?” He Xu discovered that Su Chen was holding an Origin Formation Disk in his hand and was pointing it in all directions at his surroundings.
Su Chen replied, “I’m recording this. The collapse of a Projection Void is something that is very difficult to witness. Once I get back, I’ll be able to more deeply understand the working principles behind spatial techniques, allowing me to further strengthen and refine the spatial techniques I already know.”
He Xu rolled his eyes. “I’m in awe of you.”
“Actually, I’m pretty in awe of myself as well,” Su Chen said with a slight smile.
Boom, boom, boom!
Sounds of the castle crumbled off in the distance as Su Chen and He Xu slowly returned to reality.
They found that they were standing in one of the hallways in West Laina Castle that was completely analogous to the one in the Projection Void, but at this moment it was fluctuating in between reality and illusion, as if the two were superimposed over each other. As the Projection Void grew fainter, West Laina Castle’s physical appearance began to fade in until Su Chen and He Xu were fully returned to reality.
Standing in that hallway, Su Chen felt like he was free-falling, as if death were claiming him to hell. Finally, he discovered that he had arrived in a completely different world……
“What a strange feeling.” Su Chen raised his head and stared at the ceiling. The castle faded back into existence and the final illusory traces disappeared.
Everything had returned to normal just like that.
The sounds of a still-ongoing battle could be heard off in the distance.
That was Shi Mingfeng and the others, who were still fighting against Pall.
Su Chen smiled. “There’s no need for us to waste any more time here.”
As he spoke, he walked in the opposite direction. After traversing through two different hallways, he came to an unassuming wall and began to search the surface of the wall. Suddenly, the surface of the wall became reflective, like a mirror. The scene that appeared in the mirror was the battle between Shi Mingfeng and the others and Pall.
Pall, leader of the Sand Race, had five Lotus Platforms, and was incredibly powerful. However, Zhu Baiyu’s Demonic Emperor Bloodline wasn’t just for show – both sides seemed evenly matched, with no one claiming an advantage. Because the Projection Void had come undone, they had also been returned to reality, and were currently locked in furious battle within the main hall. This time, the destruction was real, so their exchange sent chunks of rock flying everywhere. The castle trembled violently again and again; if this went on, it would probably collapse very quickly.
“I’ll go and help,” He Xu said when he saw the situation.
“There’s no need. Just stay here and watch,” Su Chen replied.
As he spoke, he pulled out a six-cornered crystal and waved it slowly a few times in front of the mirror. The main hall suddenly began to glow with an intense golden light that surrounded the wall. Next, streaks of thunder began to boom out from the castle walls, raining mercilessly down on Pall and his subordinates.
The onslaught was incredibly fierce, each strike filled with enough energy to obliterate anything it came into contact with. One of the Sand Race subordinates couldn’t dodge in time and was immediately burnt to a crisp.
Everyone who saw this frightening power was completely shocked.
“How did you do that?” He Xu asked.
“Do you remember when we were looking for Kapius’s secret stores in this place before?”
“Of course. But weren’t you guys just searching for Origin Formations at that point in time?”
“I thought about it at the time and realized that I wouldn’t be able to keep my identity a secret forever. What if I was discovered by them ahead of time? At that point in time, getting Old Shi to help me wouldn’t be possible, so wouldn’t I be in huge trouble? That’s why I also got Old Shi to pass along a few offensive Origin Formations as well and secretly set them up.”
“Oh……” He Xu said. “You’re really quite sly.”
Actually, the other important reason Su Chen had chosen to do so was because he wanted to study a few more Origin Formations.
There was no way he could do any research while in the castle. Su Chen, who valued his time as much as his life itself, needed to think of other things to do. He also still had some apprehension about Zhu Baiyu and the others, so he had secretly set up all of this.
Unexpectedly, he ended up not using it on the Zhu Clan but on Pall.
At this moment, West Laina Castle’s main hall was filled with the booming peals of thunder. Even Pall himself was put in a terrible position.
He finally realized that the situation wasn’t good and howled, “Get out of here!”
He was trying to run.
“Stop him! Don’t let him get away!” He Xu said excitedly.
Su Chen restrained him by the shoulder. “Forget about it. With our strength, we might not be able to stop him and could actually put ourselves in mortal danger. In addition, letting him get away isn’t completely without its benefits.”
“Hm?” He Xu was stunned. “Why do you say that?”
“Have you never thought about what might happen after Pall is killed?” Su Chen countered.
“After Pall is killed……” He Xu paused. He hadn’t thought about it for a long time.
Su Chen sighed. “The Zhu Clan……”
He Xu was enlightened. “Yes, the Zhu Clan will definitely turn against us.”
The Zhu Clan’s and the Immortal Temple’s alliance was established because of Pall. Without Pall, the Zhu Clan and the Immortal Temple would definitely immediately turn on each other.
This was something that Su Chen did not want to happen.
“Now that you mention it, I was the source of the conflict between the Immortal Temple and the Zhu Clan, so let me put it to rest first,” Su Chen sighed.
“You aren’t worried that after this is all over, the Zhu Clan will try to come and make trouble for you?” He Xu asked.
A strange gaze flashed across Su Chen’s eyes. “Whether or not the Immortal Temple is here, they probably won’t forget me for a long time.”