Chapter 305

"[Oxygen has become thinner. Gravity has also changed. All of these transformations occurred within a single day. No one knows why this mutation happened. The government quickly issued a notice, claiming it was a normal phenomenon—part of a new scientific experiment.]"

"[The sun has disappeared! God is punishing us—one day, the Lord will descend!]"

"[The Buddha said the five aggregates are empty...]"

"[Is today... the end of the world?]"

Different people had recorded that day’s catastrophe in different ways.

The anomaly began on January 28.

And after February 5—

There were no more records.

It was as if—

From that day onward, every human on Earth had vanished.

Looking again at the monsters roaming the streets—

The conclusion was almost certain.

These people...

Had all turned into monsters.

Earth was never supposed to be here.

It had been dragged here—

By something.

Whoosh—

In the next instant—

Kanzaki Rei returned to Shanghai.

Back to the airport.

He steadied himself.

Slowly closed his eyes—

Then opened them again.

His spiritual perception surged, boiling even more intensely.

The airport was the most heavily destroyed area.

Almost completely obliterated.

Shanghai’s airport had once been massive—

But now, only a scorched, blackened plain remained.

There was no trace of an airport anymore.

Rei crouched down, touching the ground.

The charred marks contained no residual magical fluctuations.

It didn’t look like the result of magic.

But—

A different pattern began to form in his mind.

Beneath this burned, ruined surface—

There was information that had been erased.

[God-Tier · Information Backtrace] activated.

Across this land—

A massive ritual formation had once been carved.

An extremely complex ritual.

So complex that even with Rei’s current mastery of ritual studies—

He could barely comprehend it.

And it wasn’t just on the surface.

It extended deep underground.

Every layer—

Every plane beneath the earth—

Had been inscribed.

In other words—

Within solid rock—

Without cutting it open—

The ritual patterns had been etched directly into its internal layers.

Something like this—

Was impossible with Earth’s level of technology.

A classed individual had come to Earth.

And not just any—

A high-level one.

At least Level 8.

Rei carefully traced the residual clues.

His Decipherer mindset activated, assembling fragmented traces into a coherent conclusion.

The timing...

May 2026?

If the one who created this was a ritualist—

Then at minimum, they were Level 7.

If not—

Then definitely Level 8 or higher.

Even if ritualism wasn’t their main class—

It had to be closely related.

This wasn’t something an unrelated class could create.

Rei himself wasn’t ignorant of ritual studies.

Classes like Death Priest or Mage—

Even if not specialized in rituals—

Still required exposure to them.

His proficiency might not be mastery—

But he was far from a novice.

"My transportation... wasn’t an accident?"

"Ansu... do you recognize this ritual?"

He directed the question inward.

Ansu, within his consciousness, also perceived the multi-layered, deeply embedded ritual.

But what it saw—

Was only the reconstructed form within Rei’s mind.

Externally—

The original traces had already been destroyed.

Ansu couldn’t help but feel a jolt of shock.

This kid...

Can even reconstruct erased information?

Just how many abilities does he have?

"This ritual... is extremely profound."

"It might have been set up by a Level 9 class holder."

As expected.

Rei continued:

"What’s its function?"

"Heh. If you asked another Level 9, they might not know either."

"But luckily—you’ve got me."

"This ritual..."

Before Ansu could finish—

Rei had already extracted the necessary information directly from its thoughts.

He couldn’t determine the ritual’s full purpose—

But at least one function was clear.

It guided spiritual essence.

A tremendously powerful spiritual-guidance ritual—

Designed to draw down a form of higher-order spirituality.

And higher-order spirituality...

Rei had already learned from Ansu.

Among the Seven Divine Trees—

The Tree of Wisdom was the source of all spirituality.

Every leaf upon it—

Represented the spiritual essence of a living being.

Each time a person underwent reincarnation—

They would once again witness the Tree of Wisdom.

At birth—

A leaf would fall—

Becoming that person’s spiritual essence.

That was the origin of spirituality.

But upon the Tree—

There existed several unique leaves.

Each one corresponded to a special type of spiritual essence.

As for further details—

Even Ansu didn’t fully understand.

This was knowledge on the same level as the Origin of Death.

The ritual before them—

Was undoubtedly connected to spirituality.

After all—

As a Death Priest, Ansu constantly dealt with souls, death, and spiritual essence.

It was well-versed in such matters.

"Heh... kid."

"You said this is your homeland."

"Then the reason you possess such high spiritual essence..."

"Could very well be because of this ritual."

"I’d wager... someone plucked the highest leaf from the Tree of Wisdom—and guided it into you."

Rei recalled everything that had happened.

It all...

Seemed to connect.

"But why me?"

"If someone plucked it, wouldn’t they use it themselves?"

"Why involve me at all?"

Ansu chuckled.

"Why?"

"Because the highest leaf..."

"Cannot be possessed again by someone who already has spiritual essence."

"Unless..."

"They find an extremely rare vessel."

"A shell—born without spiritual essence—to carry it."

"Perhaps... you just happened to be that vessel."

Rei immediately refuted:

"How could that be?"

"Before I arrived in the Secret Sea, I lived a completely normal life. I was no different from anyone else."

Memories surfaced.

He had grown up in a good family.

Studied at a private high school in Qingdao.

Had a few close friends.

Scored decently on the college entrance exam—

Got into a Project 211 university.

Through hard work—

Built a solid résumé.

Eventually joined a major tech company.

No matter how you looked at it—

It was a decent life.

Maybe not extraordinary.

But certainly not the life of an empty shell devoid of spirit.

"Heh. I only offered a possibility."

"I never said you were a shell."

"And besides... lacking spiritual essence doesn’t necessarily mean lacking thought."

"But I’ve heard... the highest leaf of the Tree of Wisdom grants unimaginable spiritual power."

"And comes with an extremely powerful talent—at least God-tier."

"Whether you obtained it or not..."

"You should know best."

"And if you really did obtain it..."

"Then from the moment you were transported to the Secret Sea..."

"Someone has been watching you."

"After all..."

"What you carry..."

"Is something that was meant for someone else."

"It’s merely being kept with you—for now."

"Heh... this reminds me..."

"I used to store precious souls within living bodies."

"They’d gain flesh—and believe they were still alive."

"But in truth, those souls belonged to me."

"And I always intended to reclaim them."

"Kid..."

"A ritual of this scale..."

"Just gathering the materials could have taken over a century."

"Do you think the one behind it would just hand you the highest leaf out of generosity?"

"What you carry..."

"Will be taken back—sooner or later."

"So think carefully."

"Who has been by your side from the very beginning?"

"And ask yourself..."

"Are they truly acting in your best interest?"

"Don’t say I didn’t warn you."

"In this world..."

"The ones best at deception..."

"Are those with the richest spiritual essence."

...

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