Chapter 812: Blooming Flowers

812. Blooming Flowers

Lin Ye looked down at the sea that resembled a black mirror. Even in his Sloth state, he felt an urge to jump down.

Deep within that abyssal seawater, something incredibly important seemed to be calling out to every living being that laid eyes on it.

Lin Ye had no desire to approach the surface, let alone create mental constructs here. He had a premonition that the distance between him and that seawater might be much closer than it appeared.

Moreover, as time passed, he was drawing closer to the seawater.

Lin Ye unsealed the Abyssal Eye. This eyeball worked surprisingly well in the mental world.

Lin Ye had no desire to approach the surface, let alone create mental constructs here. He had a premonition that the distance between him and that seawater might be much closer than it appeared.

A Human Face pressed itself right before Lin Ye, wearing a greedy, satisfied smile. It seemed to want to invite him to merge into the seawater along with it.

The stone pillar was slowly descending. Using the power of the Falling Rule Fragment, Lin Ye pulled out the nail, causing the container and black liquid to fall beside the coffin together.

By now, the stone pillar was level with the sea surface. The organs floating on the water didn't make any unusual movements, but they gave off a strange, discordant sensation.

After securing the items, Lin Ye didn't leave immediately. Instead, he poured the black liquid into the bottle, then placed the nail and container back on the stone pillar.

The glowing weed, including the flower bud on it, had turned black and began emitting black rays of light in all directions.

The black seawater had already spread onto the stone pillar and was creeping toward the coffin. Lin Ye entered the coffin and closed the lid just before the liquid could touch it.

The external scene shifted, and the coffin moved to a new area once again.

After that, Lin Ye repeatedly went in and out of the coffin. If the external situation matched something that had appeared in the dialogue with the sea creatures, he would venture out to search for the target item. If the situation hadn't appeared in the dialogue, even if there were suspicious items nearby, he wouldn't crawl out of the coffin.

After passing through dozens of areas, the bottle contained some miscellaneous clutter. The black-light weed had finally opened its petals.

It was a black flower with an extremely complex structure. Layer upon layer of black petals seemed to exist in different spaces, giving it a uniquely beautiful aesthetic.

But this flower hadn't fully bloomed yet. It was probably still missing some specific item to bring out its most perfect form.

Lin Ye closed the coffin lid. The external scene switched, and the coffin moved to an empty expanse of ground.

Area 137 had apparently mentioned this place—a location where there was nothing at all.

Lin Ye pushed open the coffin lid and climbed out.

Beneath his feet was a very flat yellow ground. Above him was a profound, empty void like a desolate universe. There was a certain level of brightness here, but he couldn't find the source of the light.

Lin Ye suddenly turned around. He found that the bone-white coffin behind him had vanished. Now, aside from himself, there was truly nothing here at all.

Lin Ye: ?

'I remember that fish said... what exactly did that fish say?'

Lin Ye's memories became blurry. He couldn't even recall what that fish looked like.

...Was it really a fish?

He hadn't lost his memory. He had simply forgotten everything related to Sea Creature No. 137.

'...In other words, I have to find something completely unknown here?'

That wasn't hard for Lin Ye. He was very good at handling this kind of thing. But the problem now was that there was nothing here at all.

Lin Ye didn't stray far from where the coffin had disappeared. He hesitated for a moment, then looked at the black-light flower inserted in the bottle in his hand.

'If there's really nothing here, then I shouldn't be able to find an item that can make this flower fully bloom... So I can only create a mental construct here that can make this flower fully bloom.'

Lin Ye wasn't particularly skilled at creating mental constructs using mental energy, but he was very good at the act of creation itself.

Creating an item required inspiration, but more importantly, it required knowledge and experience—both areas where Lin Ye excelled.

He himself didn't actually have much talent. Just like the talent ability the system had given him, he could only complete a task through repeated attempts.

If once didn't work, try ten times. If ten times didn't work, try a hundred times. If a hundred times didn't work, try a thousand times. As long as he repeated it enough times, he could fully master a technique.

Lin Ye stared at the flower in his hand, constantly analyzing from every angle in his mind how to make this flower fully bloom.

All kinds of knowledge combined in his brain—beauty, balance, structure, rules, rituals, materials, spiritual energy, mental essence, flesh... even knowledge that exceeded Lin Ye's understanding.

Lin Ye fused all of this together, filling in the missing parts of the flower.

He infused the flower with exactly the right amount of mental energy—not a single fraction too much, not a single fraction too little.

When Lin Ye completed this filling process, the black flower fully bloomed in his hand, radiating a dazzling black light.

The black light illuminated this empty region, and something seemed to appear around him.

Lin Ye vaguely touched something, but that thing was fleeting, vanishing in less than a ten-thousandth of an instant.

'...What the hell was that?'

Lin Ye looked around. He found that the bone-white coffin had reappeared in its original spot, but the lid was already closed. An old man in a black overcoat sat on top of it.

This place was far livelier than Lin Ye had expected. Behind him stood two more people.

The three of them formed an equilateral triangle, surrounding Lin Ye in the center.

Occupying one corner was a man in a blood-red dress. Lin Ye had thought that thing had been gnawed to death by the blood-corpse.

That made Lin Ye feel a bit regretful.

At the last corner stood a woman in a black formal suit, wearing a black veil.

"I never thought you'd actually make it here and make that flower bloom. No wonder you're the system's Trump Card."

Aro let out an admiring sound and bowed his head to Lin Ye.

"I knew he could make it here. It's a pity you all didn't dare to bet with me."

The man looked at the black flower in Lin Ye's hand, revealing a dangerous smile.

"You can have the flower. I want this person."

Medal stared at Lin Ye, speaking in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Miss, he's not someone to be trifled with. Before dividing the loot, I suggest you prepare yourself for the possibility of dying here."

The man warned Medal. It was fine if he himself got nothing, but he absolutely didn't want to see Lin Ye return with that flower.

"Exactly. This gentleman has already killed one near-divinity of the cult and over a dozen Controllers. Even if this isn't the real world, no one can afford to underestimate a Trump Card chosen by the system."

Aro sat on the coffin. He didn't want Lin Ye to escape through the coffin, even if that path was an even more dangerous dead end.