Chapter 360

"Then I’ll just touch it."

The most frustrating part was that he didn’t really have any other options. In a simulated run, once the time expired—or if he ended it manually—he should be able to leave.

But what he wanted wasn’t merely to exit the simulation.

He wanted to determine what was real and what was illusion—to obtain information that actually mattered.

Kanzaki Rei stepped forward.

To the naked eye and through sensory probing, the stone looked no different from any ordinary rock.

Before touching it, he used his "Core" to make contact first.

[True Stone]Used as an anchor to distinguish reality from illusion.Creator: Elia Yumi, Hidden Knowledge: Legendary Level 9 Illusionist

This person... had appeared in his memories before.

But his memories themselves should be nothing more than dreamlike illusions.

From what he remembered, this being was a "Sealed Archivist," someone who delighted in burying secrets.

A Level 9 illusionist...

There were many known gods—at least, quite a number within Kanzaki Rei’s awareness.

But known Level 9 class evolvers? Very few.

Of the ones whose names he knew, there were only two: Ansu and Dif.

Dif was a Level 9 Architect, and was even suspected to have stepped into the transcendent Level 10 realm.

Beyond that, Kanzaki Rei didn’t know anyone else.

Elia Yumi.

...Alright. He’d remember that name.

After assessing the danger level, Kanzaki Rei reached out and placed his hand on the True Stone.

Ding—

In an instant, he felt a crisp, lucid sensation—like a droplet falling into the sea of his consciousness...

A vast, clear resonance spread through his mindscape.

Oh...

Now he understood why touching the True Stone could reveal whether one was in an illusion or reality.

He felt his consciousness detach from his body. At the same time, his mindscape, after a moment of clarity, began to churn violently—

As if his soul had left his body.

From above, Kanzaki Rei looked down upon the world.

The world remained stable.

Meanwhile, his mind roiled like a storm. Countless fragments of chaotic, fragmented information surged into his body.

He watched as his physical form began to swell and mutate.

Things beyond this world—beyond its dimensional understanding—poured into him.

If this world were fake...

Then as his cognition changed, the illusory world should fluctuate, distort, and shift accordingly.

But...

The world remained utterly still. Not the slightest ripple.

Exhale—

After a period of transformation, his body gradually returned from its distorted, swollen state back to normal.

The flood of maddening knowledge was expelled from his system.

This place... was not an illusion.

Kanzaki Rei arrived at a deeply reassuring conclusion. A profound calm settled over him.

"Done?" Xin Qianhuan asked.

"Yeah. It’s done. Thank you."

Xin Qianhuan replied, "Oh..."

"This only helps you determine whether your current state is real or false. But like I said before, everything you experienced earlier was real—not an illusion."

"But I suppose this gives you peace of mind."

As she spoke, a white door opened beside her.

"I’ve guided you this far."

"The rest... is your own path."

Kanzaki Rei paused, then asked, "If I pass the trial, can I take someone out of the Deep Layer?"

Xin Qianhuan tilted her head. "Who do you want to take?"

Kanzaki Rei replied, "There should be a girl named Luluwi... from the Holy Spirit race."

Luluwi wasn’t a pure human.

"Oh."

"If you successfully obtain the inheritance rights of the Deep Layer, you’ll have the authority to take away certain unimportant individuals."

"Unimportant?"

Kanzaki Rei frowned slightly.

"There are important ones too?"

Xin Qianhuan nodded. "Mm."

"There are beings in the Deep Layer that are absolutely not allowed to leave—for example, Elia Yumi."

...

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