Chapter 216: The Blessing

Chapter 216: The Blessing

In the vast expanse of myriad worlds, the rise and fall of most civilizations and nations are like dust, gently dissipating in the thin mist of time.

But the lost kingdom of "Sombella" is a country that often appears in the legends of mysticism.

— It is said that Sombella is a civilization hidden by the gods.

In a single night, the entire kingdom, with its twelve cities and countless subjects, vanished into the boundless darkness. When the first ray of dawn broke, only a vast plain remained at the site, as if this nation had never existed.

Until here, it seems to be just an extraordinary event... Though the outcome is shocking, such tragedies are not uncommon across the nine dimensions.

"But subsequent events proved that Sombella is different from those nations that were obliterated by dangerous forces," the phone narrated calmly, "It is special because some Ability users claimed to have seen this kingdom in the Shadow Realm."

Unlike the material world, the space of the Shadow Realm is chaotic and discontinuous, and it is inhabited by certain dangerous divine entities, forming a highly exclusive, unknown, and mysterious space.

Due to its unique isolation, the presence of the Shadow Realm is also low. It stands quietly on the other side, beyond the reach of mortals, like the reflection of the nine dimensions.

Therefore, few Ability users dare to enter the Shadow Realm at the risk of danger.

Only occasionally does life get drawn into the shadowy world and, by chance, step into it, leaving behind sparse accounts about that land.

"The legends are scattered in obscure mystical texts, with various interpretations, but they all agree on one point—that normal life does not exist in the Shadow Realm. It is the deep sea of shadows and monsters."

The phone said, "Until an Ability user who accidentally entered the Shadow Realm survived and claimed to have seen Sombella there."

"In the account of that Ability user, the kingdom was still prosperous, with streets, houses, bustling crowds, magnificent palaces, and even the normal alternation of sun and moon."

"But how can there be a sun in the Shadow Realm?"

The mention of ability users immediately caused a sensation, igniting the curiosity of many scholars to explore the Shadow Realm, and also brought the long-dormant name "Sombella" back into the public eye.

Yi Fengchu stroked the key, ignoring the Shadow Bird and wild roses beside him, and speculated, "But their explorations must have all failed?"

Beside him, No.1 tilted her head in confusion but did not interrupt.

In the strict hierarchy of shadow creatures, the actions of the strong need no explanation to the weak and should be assumed as "correct."

Moreover, every powerful being she had encountered had their own peculiarities; even Meng Siyou, who seemed the most normal on the surface, harbored an unusually obsessive side—perhaps it was these quirks and fixations that allowed them to climb higher despite being battered and bruised, refusing to fall even if they had to tear flesh from bone.

No.1 thought it was nothing out of the ordinary for this high-ranking entity to enjoy zoning out and talking to himself; it wasn't a big issue.

There was nothing to be alarmed about.

Thus, the Shadow Bird folded its wings and began to calmly preen itself.

At the same time, the phone in his mind informed Yi Fengchu, "Yes, all the explorers failed... none returned."

Only half of a notebook remains, and because its owner was a member of the True.Rationale Church, the notebook is still stored in the "Saint Lorca" Cathedral of the True.Rationale Church.

"The reason it's called half a notebook is that the front part has been torn away, seemingly by someone who removed the earlier content. The remaining pages are soaked in blood, with only a few lines of blurred, hasty writing—"

"Do not seek Sombella."

"Those who enter the realm will become one of His subjects, forever remaining in His land."

Later scholars believe that "He" might refer to the Mother of Shadows, the Goddess of Misfortune, who cursed Sombella, causing the realm to be lost forever and the entire nation to sink deep into the Shadow Realm.

Since then, Sombella has become a mysterious and dangerous legend. It is known as the Lost Kingdom, the City of the Dead, the Land of Misfortune... it is the captive of the gods.

Yi Fengchu seemed lost in thought.

Recalling the letter from the Goddess of Misfortune, he couldn't help but have a premonition: the day for the exchange of power was drawing near.

Now, he had obtained the key to the Lost Kingdom.

Before long, the heavy key was completely tainted into pure white.

Yi Fengchu suppressed the key's ability to activate shadows, minimizing its harmful effects, but any high-level contamination inevitably came with side effects.

The side effect of this key now was that it would randomly revert the holder's physical and mental state, with unpredictable frequency and duration, all depending on luck.

"If used properly, this side effect could also become a positive force," Yi Fengchu muttered to himself.

He had a feeling that he must have often utilized items in such a way before...

Suddenly, No. 1 screamed, "The jungle is starting to collapse!"

Yi Fengchu wasn't surprised; after all, the key that constructed the Shadow Jungle had been contaminated by him, effectively destroying the soil upon which the jungle thrived. Its descent into imbalance and collapse was inevitable.

The ground beneath them began to tremble, and rocks and pebbles fell, disappearing into the night sky.

Amid the thunderous sound of roots being pulled from the soil, the silver-white branches and leaves of the trees gradually collapsed, their pure, beautiful colors dispersing into points of light, dissolving in the moonlight like a dream slowly fading in one's palm.

Li Yin, groggy from her daze, opened her eyes and, seeing this scene, murmured, "Is this... a dream?"

Her soul, which had been drawn into the jungle, was becoming transparent, about to return to her body.

"It is a dream," Yi Fengchu replied after a moment's thought, "When you wake up, the shadows will no longer haunt you."

"Truly wonderful."

Li Yin's eyelids grew heavier, and she closed her eyes again, her voice as light as a murmur: "Thank you... for bringing me a beautiful dream."

The inverted forest disintegrated into countless points of light, some silver particles drifting to the ground like rapidly melting frost.

The dark clouds over the campus dissipated, and several beams of moonlight pierced through the clouds, instantly making the night bright and clear, with the wind flowing like water ripples. The silver glow mixed in the moonlight shone even more brilliantly.

It reminded one of the lights that illuminate the audience after a play ends.

Meng Siyou stood at the top of the bell tower, extending his hand curiously to catch a few of the falling silver glows.

The system sounded several consecutive notifications:

"Congratulations on obtaining 'Fate's Blessing' +1, Luck Value +1 for 48 hours."

"Congratulations on obtaining 'Fate's Blessing' +1..."

Meng Siyou: "..."

He had thought these were just remnants of the forest's destruction, perhaps with some aesthetic value—how could they actually have real effects?

Turning his head toward the dormitory area, Meng Siyou saw countless tiny points of light falling, drifting to the foreheads of the sleeping people.

"Truly generous..." Meng Siyou couldn't help but murmur.

What a magnificently generous and grand divine blessing.

Meng Siyou himself couldn't quite determine who he was marveling at—seemingly, all high-ranking beings in the realm of fate possessed both indifference and warmth, cruelty and generosity.

Of course, in Meng Siyou's view, Yi Fengchu was the most human and earth-bound of all special existences.

He firmly believed that this seed from the distant stars was taking root in the soil, blossoming into a flower rich with the warmth of humanity.

At that moment, Meng Siyou caught a glimpse of a massive, pitch-black bird approaching—it was No.1 returning.

"Welcome back, you must have worked hard..." Meng Siyou glanced over No.1, a hint of confusion appearing in his eyes, "Uh, where is Yi Fengchu?"

No.1 paused before Meng Siyou, hesitating for a moment before responding, "You mean the high-ranking existence? We resolved the source of the anomaly and obtained a special item. Then, that existence suddenly called out a name, and a very powerful man appeared out of nowhere, taking him and the item away..."

"A very powerful man"?

Meng Siyou's eyelids twitched as he asked, "Was this man blond with red eyes and a gentle demeanor?"

"How did you know?" No.1 exclaimed in surprise, "Do you know him?"

The Shadow Bird shook its head and clicked its tongue, marveling, "How do you know so many powerful figures? We're both workers, yet no one has ever introduced me to anyone important..."

It turned out that the Apostle of Fate had taken Yi Fengchu away.

Meng Siyou nodded, but then felt something was amiss: Yi Fengchu had merely called out, and the Apostle had immediately appeared. Was it the Apostle's response that was abnormally quick, or...

Had he actually been secretly following Yi Fengchu all along?

The most loyal and trusted servant of the deity was also tasked with watching over the deity's offspring... So when they were together, had the Apostle been silently observing them?

Those blood-red eyes, seemingly gentle and silent, might have been watching everyone around Yi Fengchu all along...

Meng Siyou couldn't help but wrap his arms around himself, feeling a chill at the thought of the Apostle of Fate's elusive presence.

He felt that Yi Fengchu wasn’t having it easy—were he in his shoes, he would rather forgo the glory of divine favor than lose his freedom, living every moment under the watchful eyes of his elders.

Pulling himself back to the present, Meng Siyou continued, "What did you experience in the jungle?"

"Let me tell you, that Being is truly formidable! He could corrupt the jungle in return, such overwhelming power..."

Number One transformed back into her little girl form, enthusiastically recounting their experiences to Meng Siyou. Her slender arms gestured in the air as she vividly described everything.

When she mentioned Yi Fengchu obtaining the key and muttering to himself while gazing into the void, Meng Siyou subtly furrowed his brow.

He could probably guess who Yi Fengchu was talking to...

Meng Siyou wanted to say something but ultimately let out a sigh of helplessness.

After finishing, Number One excitedly spun around on the spot and asked, "So, what’s the background of that Being? How does City A have such a friendly high-level entity? Tell me secretly, I won’t tell anyone else..."

"You can’t recognize him?" Meng Siyou was somewhat taken aback.

He had assumed that even if Number One didn’t realize it at first, she would recognize the characteristics of the Fate Apostle, after all, these few individuals had a significant impact on their third-dimensional mystical world...

Number One paused her bouncing, spreading her arms slightly like a bird, and asked in confusion, "Should I have recognized him?"

"Don’t you follow the forums?"

"Work is so busy, where do I have time to play on forums?" Number One answered matter-of-factly.

"Do you not keep up with the latest news in the mystical world?" Meng Siyou couldn’t help but mention, "Like reading 'The Great World News' and other newspapers."

Number One replied, "No, since I’m just one of the shadow avatars of the main body, I don’t need to know much... If I must say, I read every issue of 'Shadow Realm Bulletin' to stay informed about changes in my hometown."

Meng Siyou hesitated, this must be the cultural and informational gap between shadow beings and material beings.

After some thought, he feared that directly revealing Yifengchu and the Apostles' identities would be too shocking, so he just patted No.1's shoulder, hinting:

"Go back and check the reports, you'll see."

"Hmm... Be prepared mentally, don't be too surprised," Meng Siyou gently warned.

No.1 tilted her head in confusion.

Humans are truly strange, she thought.

...

In a distant world, the wind blew over a barren wasteland devoid of any grass.

This was once where Sombera stood, now its former glory faded, leaving only the sighs of wind and rain.

But today, a group of travelers broke the silence here.

They wore white robes with serpentine golden patterns embroidered on the sleeves and hems, their long hair tied back with silver ornaments that matched the intricate designs, silent like a cluster of white ghosts.

The travelers were ascetics belonging to the "Destiny Pilgrimage," guided by their intuition to arrive at the ruins of Sombera today.

Their leader was a seventh-stage Ability user in the Domain of Fate, a handsome young man with brown hair and green eyes, who appeared to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, yet his gaze was steady and aged, etched with the marks of time.

His eyes roamed restlessly, as if searching for invisible information in the air. After a moment, he gave the order: "Here, there is an opportunity we need to wait for."

So the travelers sat down on the ground, some closing their eyes to rest, others whispering in low voices, and still others praying devoutly in silence.

Unconsciously, night fell.

This world has two moons that orbit the planet on different trajectories—tonight, both are full, one radiating silver light and the other a faint blood red, slowly overlapping at midnight like a giant eye with a red iris opening in the darkness.

"The moment has come," the leader whispered.

On the vast plain before the travelers, dark liquid suddenly welled up from the cracks in the ground, forming a towering gate that seemed to reach from earth to sky.

The leader stepped forward and touched the gate, its icy coldness reminiscent of winter's chill, evoking thoughts of shadows, misfortune, curses, and conspiracies.

Trying to push it, the gate remained immovable, silently rejecting the intruders.

"Is this the Shadow Realm our Lord commanded us to seek?"

The leader shook his head steadily. "Not necessarily. But it must be the passage to the land our Lord has promised us."

Divine guidance told the leader that even if what lay beyond the gate was not the Shadow Realm, it would certainly be an essential part of the journey to reach it.

The path ahead may be fraught with countless dangers, but devout believers are fearless and unrepentant.

In just a few minutes, the two moons in the sky were about to separate again.

The believers couldn't help but feel anxious: according to the astronomical laws of this planet, the next time both moons would be full and overlap over the Sombera ruins would be twenty-two years later...

The leader remained silent, waiting patiently.

Suddenly, he sensed something, his emerald eyes turning to one side as he respectfully lowered his gaze. "Your Highness, the Apostle."

Not far away, the golden-haired apostle stepped out of the void, meeting the leader's gaze with a gentle look.

"All along, you have done well, the most devout children under my Lord's feet," Bryce handed a heavy silver-white key to the leader, making a promise on behalf of the divine, "With this, enter the lost kingdom; your courage and devotion will finally receive their due reward—fate will forever watch over and protect you."

"Aye!"

A faint, genuine smile appeared on the leader's usually calm and expressionless face.

He gripped the key and pushed open the deep black door—

This time, the door finally opened a crack.

All the ascetics understood that in the unknown darkness, a dangerous and mysterious world awaited them.

But they were unafraid, stepping through the door without hesitation.