Chapter 587 The Exit Appears

Many people are prone to the illusion that protecting the ecological environment is the same as protecting the Earth itself, and even frequently use the slogan "protect the Earth." However, the ecosystem and the Earth are completely different concepts in terms of scale.

For a celestial body as vast as Earth, even the largest organisms are merely microorganisms clinging to its surface, their ecosystems resembling a fungal carpet. From the origin of life to the present day, ecosystems have only existed on Earth's surface. Even organisms that live underground reside only in very shallow layers. Their utilization of the Earth's crust is pitifully low, let alone approaching the mantle.

Just as the collective unconscious of humanity, as the narrow sense of Naraku will, cannot be compared with the broad sense of Naraku will representing all life, the broad sense of Naraku will cannot be compared with the natural will of the planet, much less be confused with it.

They are not even in the same league.

After hearing my words, Xiaowan seemed a little hesitant, but she quickly became firm and said seriously, "I can confirm that the Naraku Gospel is the natural will of the planet. As for why Huangquan calls it the generalized Naraku will, I'm not entirely sure."

"It's possible that Huang Quan also misunderstood the truth of Naraku's Gospel, or it's possible that the two are indeed the same entity, but we lack the relevant knowledge and information to connect them for the time being."

"Knowledge……"

I recalled the sealed documents I had encountered in the Luoshan Archives, which contained a passage in a taboo and cryptic tone: Before the afterlife is established, souls have other destinations... Could this be related to the common ground between the Naraku Gospel and the natural will of the planet?

"Number Seven, what do you think?" I asked the other person.

"I'm very sorry, I'm not entirely sure about that either," Number Seven shook his head.

"Can I understand this to mean that even the Lord of the Divine Seal cannot grasp the details of the Naraku Gospel?" I asked.

Number Seven was silent for a moment, then said, "...You should also understand that the current Lord of the Divine Seal is not in his complete form. He can only know most things that happen in this world, but there are some things that are outside his knowledge. For example, things related to the apocalypse, and for example..."

Although she didn't continue, I could roughly guess what happened next. Matters related to the afterlife were beyond the comprehension of the Lord of the Divine Seal, or perhaps too difficult to ascertain. After all, the Lord of the Divine Seal didn't even seem to know the true origin of the little bowl.

So why is his understanding of the afterlife so vague? Is it because his omniscience is also a power based on the principles of divination, making it difficult to utilize in the afterlife? However, I don't really want to connect the omniscience of the Divine Seal with divination; that doesn't fit my mysterious impression of the Divine Seal's power. As for other clues…

Perhaps it's because there are very few fragments of divine seals in the afterlife? I suddenly realized this direction.

The Lord of the Divine Seal once said that the number of Divine Seal Fragments is at most between twenty-one and thirty-five. Considering that each Void Realm Apostle is bound to at least one, and combining the number of Void Realm Apostles in the real world, as well as the number of Divine Seal Fragments that can be counted so far... just adding up the Divine Seal Fragments I have obtained and those that Shenzhao possessed before his death, there are already eleven. How many have the other Void Realm Apostles and Luoshan Dawuchang collected?

The total number of divine seal fragments left for the afterlife must be very small. If the power of the master of the divine seal is closely related to the fragmented divine seal, then it is understandable that he cannot have much perception of the afterlife where the number of divine seal fragments is scarce.

I then steered the conversation back to its original course.

“I believe your conclusion, Little Bowl. The Naraku Gospel is the natural will of the planet. But if that’s the case, why is the moon the symbol of the Naraku Gospel?” I had this question again. “If it’s the natural will of the planet, shouldn’t its symbol be the Earth itself?”

The little bowl replied, "—Perhaps it's because the moon is the embodiment of the earth."

"You mean... because the moon is Earth's satellite, it can be considered 'Earth's subordinate'?" Number Seven asked tentatively.

After shaking his head, Xiao Wan said, "That's not what I meant. In the field of astronomy, there is a widely accepted 'giant impact' hypothesis to explain the formation of the moon."

"This theory posits that 4.5 billion years ago, a planet called 'Theia,' roughly the size of Mars, collided with the proto-Earth. Eventually, the alien planet was absorbed and swallowed by Earth, while a large number of stellar fragments generated during the collision were ejected into the orbit of the proto-Earth's satellites, eventually forming the Moon as we know it today."

"In other words, a large part of the Moon itself comes from the primordial Earth. In fact, scientific analysis of lunar soil shows a high degree of similarity in isotopes between the Moon and the Earth today. Judging from the cause of its formation, it can be directly regarded as a celestial body originating from Earth. That's why I call it an incarnation."

"The image of the moon is most fitting as the 'tentacle' of Earth's natural will extending into the afterlife."

I don't know if it's because she has regained all her past memories, especially all the knowledge she gained from Zhu Jiu and Zhu Shi's childhood, but it feels like Xiao Wan is not only very smart now, but also has suddenly become exceptionally knowledgeable.

The evidence that Naraku's gospel represents the natural will of the planet seems to be increasing.

Later on the way, out of curiosity, I asked Number Seven about her subjective speculations on the Naraku Gospel. She couldn't explain the Naraku Gospel itself, but she had a lot of knowledge about the Great Demons who were considered incarnations of the Naraku Gospel. I benefited a lot from her advice.

About twenty minutes later, we finally arrived at our destination.

What appears to be a town area is instead a scene of utter devastation. It's as if a hundred colossi have wielded shovels the size of skyscrapers, churning the land and causing chaos. The surrounding buildings are all broken and collapsed, and the soil is in such a horrific state that even digging three feet into the ground wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Many buildings had even their underground structures uprooted, reminiscent of radishes roughly pulled out and scattered everywhere. The "fifteenth-floor basement" we found was no exception.

Xiao Wan led me to a piece of concrete debris about the size of a house, with exposed steel reinforcement on the outside, and then pointed to it and said, "The basement should be in here."

I summoned the Slag Straight Sword. With a flash of light, a square, door-sized opening was cut into the concrete wall. Then, with a gentle push, the square of concrete collapsed to the ground, revealing the interior clearly to my view.

Two-thirds of the classroom space, gray concrete walls and floors, gray shelves lining the floor like a run-down convenience store, and a white candle burning quietly in the center of the room…

This is the fifteenth-floor basement I once entered.

In the past, I could only enter this place through bizarre means; but now, I actually walked to the outside of this space and forcibly "broke down the door," as if I could just walk in normally. Such a huge contrast filled me with a sense of wonder.

Xiaowan's reasoning was correct. The fifteenth-floor basement, which should have existed in nothingness, was also connected to the afterlife!

Normally, with Number Seven present, I probably wouldn't have been able to encounter this place. It seems Little Bowl made some adjustments behind the scenes, making Number Seven also allowed to approach.

I was the first to step through the "doorway" and into the interior of the "basement," with Little Bowl close behind. Number Seven followed, looking around.

I picked up the white candle from the ground and looked at the flickering flame.

It's true what they say: you can't force a flower to bloom, but a willow planted unintentionally will thrive. Who could have predicted from the beginning that after escaping the fifteenth-floor basement, I would painstakingly study how to reopen its entrance through a ritual array, only to fail repeatedly? Ironically, it was this ordinary white candle, which I had forgotten in the basement, that became an indispensable key to my return to this place?

I took out a piece of "slag" and placed it where the white candle had been. Although the size of this piece of "slag" was only a drop in the ocean compared to the Slag Straight Sword, it contained an extremely large amount of compressed fire magic.

The "slag" itself won't disappear upon separating from me and retains its binding force on the flames. Given the sheer number of flames within it, it would probably take four hundred centuries for it to evaporate completely naturally. Therefore, this piece of "slag" can replace a white candle, serving as a signal marker left in the fifteenth-floor basement.

"So... what's next?" Number Seven asked curiously. "How are you going to get back to the world of the living from here?"

Xiao Wan looked at me. I closed my eyes, trying to recall how to draw the ritual circle in the basement on the fifteenth floor. Although I could remember it without much effort, I didn't want to handle anything related to this place lightly.

Then, I opened my eyes, raised my hand, and pointed to the basement ceiling. As if returning to the past, my flames carefully traced the missing magical symbols from Agent Kong's ritual array on the ceiling.

Even I, at this moment, can't help but feel nervous. Whether the exit will appear next depends on the ambiguous force of "fate." Is the fate between me and Asahi truly enough to allow me to cross the boundary between life and death and return to her side?

After doing all this, I looked ahead anxiously, waiting for the exit to appear.

However, exports have not materialized.

Did I draw the wrong spell symbol? Or is the bond between me and Asaha not strong enough to make the exit appear?

Disappointment welled up inside me, but then I remembered something and deliberately took a few steps back.

A gray concrete staircase appeared abruptly where I had been standing.

Number Seven looked surprised, carefully examining the gray staircase, then looked up at the end of the staircase.

There was a light brown wooden cap embedded in the ceiling.

(End of this chapter)