Chapter 619 - 378: I Am Not Cruel

Chapter 619: Chapter 378: I Am Not Cruel

The White Tower in the Empty Valley was a key area within the Moon Sea. It seemed only natural for a rare Level 8 Scholar to appear here.

A Level 8 Reincarnator...

Even across an entire sea, you might not see two of them.

If there was ever an event where more than two Level 8 Reincarnators appeared, it inevitably meant something major was about to happen—something that would shake the world.

One time was when An Zheng fought desperately to ascend to Level 9.

Another was during Luoti’s simulation of Aertemi’s Ritual for the Moon.

Only on these two occasions had Lu Cang seen multiple Level 8 Reincarnators.

...

But as for a regular Level 8 Reincarnator seen in the real world—not in any simulation or Trial...

The only one besides An Zheng was the man right before him.

Date of Death: 65 years.

His life was already a candle flickering in the wind.

The lifespan of a Level 8 Scholar was only 500 years.

’He doesn’t have much time left. As long as I watch him for a little longer, he’ll die on his own...’

’No battle necessary. There won’t even be any evidence linking his death to me.’

Lu Cang simply stood still.

And stared.

Like a stone statue, he remained motionless, gazing into the distance for a long time.

Finally...

The being in the room produced an exquisite, delicate dagger. His eyes were filled with loss and despair.

One could tell from his eyes alone.

He had already lost the will to live. At this moment, his mind was consumed by the thought of suicide.

SHUNK—

Fresh blood stained his pure white scholar’s robe.

The delicate, sharp dagger had been plunged simply into his own abdomen.

Suicide...

His date of death had arrived.

His life ended here.

A Level 8 Scholar, without any struggle or conflict, had just... chosen to end his own life.

"What a shame."

Three minutes passed after he ended his own life.

Only then did Lu Cang re-enter his residence.

He drew close to observe the corpse of the Level 8 Scholar.

"Kid."

"You’ve really become quite ruthless."

Lu Cang, however, calmly replied in his mind, "What are you talking about, An Su?"

"His death has nothing to do with me. He just happened to commit suicide in front of me, and I happened to see it."

An Su gave a cold laugh. "You know better than anyone how he died."

"Even if you can fool me, you can’t fool yourself."

Lu Cang paid An Su’s words no mind and directly picked up the Storage Bag from the body.

’Not a bad haul.’

’Taking out a Level 8 Reincarnator so easily... it was like putting down a stray dog on the side of the road...’

’Still, his death was a little too easy.’

’Logically, a Level 8 Reincarnator should have extremely sharp Intuition. He should have noticed me cutting his lifespan short.’

’But he showed no reaction at all, right up until his Death.’

’In the end, he just calmly committed suicide.’

’He calmly accepted the Destiny of his death.’

A Level 8 Scholar.

Lu Cang touched the corpse, and at the same time, a shimmering stone materialized in his hand.

Enchantment Stone·Tower of True Sight

Enchantment Effect: Grants the wielder a structure in their Sea of Consciousness that allows them to see through to deeper truths.

So this was the Enchantment Stone formed from the corpse of a Level 8 Reincarnator...

’Though, this wasn’t the first time I’ve gotten it in a simulation.’

In fact, this wasn’t the first time Lu Cang had killed him.

He had simulated arriving in the Empty Valley many times. And ever since he first found this Scholar named Yinda, the man had died by his hand every single time.

"Killing the innocent, trampling on a life weaker than yours."

"Heh..."

An Su’s words echoed in Lu Cang’s mind.

Lu Cang felt a flicker of annoyance.

’Level 8... how is that weak?’

’Besides, he didn’t have many years left to live anyway. And this Divine Artifact is absolutely crucial to me.’

"The reason he despaired and killed himself was that he saw a truth he was completely unwilling to accept."

"And I am the one who can change that truth."

"He exchanged his own life for my help in changing that terrible Future."

"That’s not too much to ask, is it?"

An Su just gave another cold laugh. "As long as you’ve convinced yourself, I certainly have no objections. But you’d better realize just how cruel you are, and soon."

SHWISH—

The report the Scholar had just been reading materialized in Lu Cang’s hand.

It was an observation report.

The entrance to the Fallen Abyss was losing its long-standing balance. Once that balance was completely gone, the Empty Valley would gradually begin to fall into the Fallen Abyss.

The entire island would fall...

Then, the sea itself would also fall into the Fallen Abyss, and the entire Moon Sea would become part of it.

This was the report he had seen.

In the future, decades from now, the Moon Sea might become a bottomless Fallen Abyss. And all life that failed to escape in time would meet the fate of falling.

Falling into the Fallen Abyss, never to escape.

They would only fall deeper and deeper into the bottomless Fallen Abyss with each passing day.

’However, I happen to be here to save the world. If I complete the Ritual for the Deep Land, this entrance will transform, leading to the Deep Land instead of the Fallen Abyss.’

’The Moon Sea will naturally be spared the trouble of turning into a Fallen Abyss.’

’I’m helping him solve his problem, so collecting a little interest isn’t excessive.’

’Calling me cruel... isn’t that going a bit too far?’

Lu Cang didn’t feel he was being cruel at all. He picked up the Divine Artifact from the desk: the *Book of Answers*.

A Divine Artifact from Yug.

This Scholar was also someone esteemed by Yug.

His profound research into the Abyss and his outstanding contributions to Abyssal Science had earned him Yug’s recognition.

The *Book of Answers* was a branch of the legendary *All-Knowing Solution*.

The *All-Knowing Solution* was rumored to be a book in Yug’s possession that recorded all known knowledge in the world. Yug was said to know its entire contents.

And while the *Book of Answers* didn’t provide all known information, if you wrote a question within its pages, the book would reveal how to find the answer.

’In this world, just knowing how to find an answer saves an immense amount of effort.’

He took the *Book of Answers* and the man’s Storage Bag.

SHWISH—

Behind Lu Cang, the figure of a hollow-eyed, slightly bearded old man materialized.

’Why did I have to kill him?’

’It wasn’t just for the Divine Artifact.’

’After killing him, I could obtain a true Level 8 Scholar as an Undead.’

’If I were truly cruel, I would have just killed everyone in this entire city and turned them all into my Undead...’

’Lu Cang didn’t take the body. Because he was a peaceful and kind person. Leaving the corpse intact for the White Tower to find and learn of the man’s death was proof that he was, in fact, a human with a conscience.’

Lu Cang left the White Tower.

By his side now was a hollow-eyed old man.