Chapter 618 - 377: The Composition of the Abyss

Chapter 618: Chapter 377: The Composition of the Abyss

’Luoti might have influenced my mind.’

Even though Lu Cang had been warned by An Su, he didn’t feel any sense of crisis. ’At worst, I’ll just have to take a long-term view on this matter. Luoti probably doesn’t intend to harm me anyway.’

’Besides, that guy An Su is always claiming others are plotting something, thinking everyone is out to get him.’

’Heh...’

’If I listened to him, wouldn’t I be unable to trust anyone?’

The thought felt perfectly natural.

As a result, Lu Cang still held a considerable amount of trust in Luoti.

After leaving the port, Lu Cang and the others went directly to a large, nearby city named the Dark City.

As usual, they checked into the most expensive hotel in the city.

The most expensive was often the best.

And right now, money was the one thing Lu Cang didn’t lack.

Lu Luwei and the others, meanwhile, were getting along well with Xiumi’s Adventurer’s Guild.

They had already started discussing going on an adventure together.

’That’s good...’

’It saves me the trouble of them thinking I’m going on an adventure without them, which might have led to some arguments.’

’Now that Lu Luwei is adventuring with Xiumi and her group, it’s like someone else is looking after her for me.’

The passage here leading to the Abyss was a one-way path. One could travel from the Empty Valley to the Abyss, but it was difficult for Abyss Creatures to come out this way...

All over the world, one could find fragments that could open an Abyss Rift.

Using these fragments, one could temporarily open rifts similar to Dungeons. Once a rift was opened, Abyss Creatures would pour out from within...

And at that point, prepared Adventurers would hunt these Abyss Creatures.

Abyss Creatures were incredibly valuable.

Therefore, after finding a fragment, an endless stream of Adventurers would arrive in the Empty Valley.

It was certainly a dangerous affair.

But the profits were too great. It was like knowing smoking is harmful, yet finding it hard to ban due to the flow of money involved.

Even with the risk of Abyss Creature rampages causing massive destruction, a constant stream of Adventurers still came here to open Abyss Rifts.

A portion of the profits earned by these Adventurers would also be divided among the nations of the Empty Valley.

For example—

Before opening an Abyss Rift, the key to open it had to be handed over to the Abyss Appraisal Office. Only after the level of the rift the key opened was assessed would permission be granted.

If this step was skipped...

it would be considered illegally opening an Abyss Rift, a serious offense that would result in a warrant for arrest from all the major empires of the Empty Valley.

Of course, there were plenty of poachers as well.

To catch these poachers, the nations of the Empty Valley had trained a large number of Observers and established many outposts across the continent...

Beyond that, profits from selling Abyss Creatures, crafting Abyssal Equipment, and so on...

...also flowed between the nations, constituting a considerable fortune.

Right now, Xiumi had taken the Fallen Moon Fragment to be appraised. Once she returned, she would probably grind the Abyss with Lu Luwei and the others.

’Hmm...’

’While they’re off grinding the Abyss fragment, I can use this time to get the Forbidden Magic.’

As for Luoti’s ritual, Lu Cang planned to use Future Preview to take another look at it.

In truth, Lu Cang hadn’t noticed any problems during the preview.

Even after the ritual was completed, Luoti didn’t harm him, nor did she turn on him in any way.

’Luoti, An Su...’

’One is a god, the other seems to be a once-great and glorious Level 9 Reincarnator.’

They should be existences on the same level.

But these two probably each had their own schemes, and Lu Cang didn’t intend to completely trust An Su’s side of the story.

After all, if he could cooperate smoothly with Luoti, the rewards would be immense.

Compared to the unstable "White of Death and Destruction"...

..."Mind and Fantasy Luoti" was clearly much more reliable. At least she wouldn’t try to destroy an entire sea region the moment she appeared...

And there was also the Divine Artifact that Luoti had promised.

’Plus... if Luoti really becomes a Moon, I’ll basically have a genuine Moon as my backer.’

’It’s not that I just want to be a freeloader or rely on others.’

’It’s about giving myself another option.’

Besides, having another backer didn’t mean his own strength would stop growing.

It was only his first day in the Empty Valley, so Lu Cang wasn’t in a hurry to get moving.

After booking the rooms, he first went to the White Tower.

He registered his identity as a visiting Scholar.

The person in charge of registration glanced at Lu Cang’s information and couldn’t help but exclaim.

"Tier Five?"

"You are... a Tier Five Scholar?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

Before leaving Atlantis City, Lu Cang had already submitted his promotion application for Tier Five Scholar. It seemed his promotion had been fully approved.

Lu Cang had quite a few research papers on hand.

After all, with the knowledge Lu Cang currently possessed, he could casually produce information that most ordinary Level 5 Scholars would never have access to.

It was easy for him to churn out a few papers with it.

With a higher Scholar authority, there were more things he could do.

After registering, he smoothly entered the White Tower.

And just after he entered, the clerk who had just registered him forgot who it was he had just served...

The academic focus of the White Tower varied from region to region.

The White Tower in the Empty Valley contained a lot of information about the Abyss, and it was filled with numerous research papers related to it.

*The Configuration of the Abyss* ℯℯ𝑙.

*The Three Types of Abyss*

*On the Origin of the Abyss*

*A Discourse—Is the Abyss the Origin of Darkness?*

...

There was a lot of information about the Abyss, but it remained a place full of mystery in the world. Even An Su didn’t know too much about it.

There were three types of Abyss in total.

They were the "Abyss of the Sea," the "Fallen Abyss," and the "Celestial Abyss."

Each type of Abyss had different entry conditions.

The Abyss of the Sea could be reached by diving to a certain depth in specific sea regions.

In theory, it wasn’t necessary to be in a specific region. One could reach the Abyss of the Sea from any body of water, as long as one dived deep enough.

The required diving depth simply varied.

However, because this theory hadn’t been fully proven, the common belief was still that the Abyss of the Sea could only be entered from specific regions.

The Fallen Abyss, on the other hand, was the type that could be entered from the Empty Valley.

If one entered this type of Abyss, they could only go deeper and deeper, with no way to ascend again.

It was currently known as the most terrifying type of Abyss.

Once inside...

...one could never return to the mortal world.

Within the "Fallen Abyss," no matter which direction you moved, you would always be moving downward. So, no matter what, entering the Fallen Abyss meant you would only get deeper and deeper.

No one would want to enter the Fallen Abyss.

Entering it was equivalent to entering a forbidden zone from which there was no escape.

Perhaps a legendary Level 9 Reincarnator might have a way out, but in any case, it wasn’t something an ordinary person could even consider.

As for the Celestial Abyss.

It was even more mysterious.

It was said that the entrance to the Celestial Abyss was only in the Celestial Realm.

However, the Abyss and the Celestial Realm were fundamentally two completely opposite regions. How could they possibly be connected?

The Celestial Abyss was the most mysterious of all.

Even An Su said it was just a legend. Its very existence was something that perhaps not even the Angels knew about. But if it did exist, it might hold another secret to eternal life.

This answer reminded Lu Cang of that Level 10 Miracle, the Eternal Life Ladder.

That place he wasn’t allowed to ascend.

Lu Cang climbed directly upward inside the White Tower.

The White Tower here was no longer pure white. Its surface was covered in purple-black patterns, a special type of marking that represented the Rules of the Abyss.

The White Tower in the Empty Valley had been established with special priority.

This was the White Tower’s research center for the Abyss, and its scale was much larger than those on most other continents.

This White Tower was massive and soared into the clouds, with over a thousand floors.

...

SWOOSH—

Lu Cang directly undid the Restriction and arrived at the Tier Eight level of the White Tower.

Stored here were several round, black stones.

[Fallen Reversing Stone]

[Creator: None—Hidden Knowledge: It is native to the world.]

[A stone that miraculously moves upward in the Fallen Abyss.]

A stone that could move upward within the Fallen Abyss.

Next to the stones was an experimental log titled "Reversal Record."

The White Tower had also tried to have Blacksmiths or Enchanters forge these stones into corresponding equipment, wanting to see if wearing it would allow one to ascend within the Fallen Abyss.

This would, in turn, allow people to explore the Fallen Abyss.

But...

...the final experiment ended in failure.

Wearing equipment forged from this stone while moving within the Fallen Abyss... led to an extremely peculiar phenomenon.

The stone ascended, but the person descended.

Eventually, the person and the equipment were completely separated... It was simply unworkable.

Lu Cang gently touched the stone before him.

[Divine Level Extraction]

A translucent, crystalline stone materialized in Lu Cang’s palm...

[Enchantment Stone·Abyssal Walking]

[Enchantment Effect: Grants the wearer of the Enchanted Equipment the ability to ignore the gravity of the Fallen Abyss and walk freely within it.]

’Of course just forging this stone directly into equipment wouldn’t work.’

’The stone’s effect is, ultimately, only an effect on itself.’

’It’s not an effect that applies to a person.’

’To make it useful, you have to extract the Enchantment...’

After the extraction, Lu Cang had no intention of taking the stones. He simply turned and left.

As for the books and knowledge within the White Tower, he could view all of that during his previews. There was no need to take them in the real world.

It would only cause unnecessary trouble.

However...

The Eighth Tier consisted of fifteen floors of the White Tower, and in a remote room on the tenth floor...

...there was a Level 8 Scholar.

At this moment, he was reading a report about the Abyss, completely unaware of Lu Cang’s arrival.

But Lu Cang saw a book on his desk.

*Book of Answers*

’This book is a Divine Artifact... probably one granted to him by Yug.’

’It was such a shame I couldn’t take the Divine Artifact from Yelieya back then.’

’If I hadn’t let Yelieya and her Divine Artifact go, I wouldn’t have suffered so much afterward.’

’And now, I’ve found another Divine Artifact.’

’If I don’t take it this time, I’d really be letting myself down, wouldn’t I?’

An utterly shameless thought arose in Lu Cang’s mind.

’Is doing this wrong?’

Lu Cang had no intention of reflecting on this question, nor did he feel there was anything wrong with doing it.