100\% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? Chapter 476 - Journey

The group pressed on with reading the notebook.

Lucien hadn't bequeathed them a frantic confession or a final emotional entry penned by a trembling hand that had yielded to destiny.

He had provided directives.

Directions for returning to the small world. Essential items within the room. Things to avoid touching recklessly. Who was permitted to enter. Who must stay behind no matter what.

The deeper they delved into the pages, the more eerie the chamber seemed.

Each line in the notebook delivered a subtle defiance against death. Lucien viewed his demise not as an enigma, but as a matter of logistics to handle.

By the time they arrived at the notebook's concluding page of guidance, the mood in the room shifted.

Grief lingered on.

Yet underneath it, a new force rose firmly.

Purpose.

Luke shut the notebook only after scanning the final directive twice more. Then his eyes rose to the shelf Lucien had highlighted.

"There," he declared.

They advanced as one.

Upon the shelf rested two items Lucien had prepared precisely for this instant: a see-through black cube and a storage ring.

The ring proved straightforward to grasp. Luke's inspection revealed exactly what the notebook described.

The cube felt more peculiar.

Spiritual senses probing within unveiled its depths like an unfolding realm.

Within lay the Obsidian Tower.

"That’s our transport," Cienna murmured softly.

Moments later, they stepped into the black cube and traversed to the Tower’s lower floors.

That was when the other gift from Lucien came into view.

The five vacant vessels.

The very ones Lucien and the elemental women had utilized as interim bodies during their ascent to the Celestial Realm. Their souls had been extracted long ago. Now they waited in quiet stillness, so realistic they appeared merely asleep at first sight.

Shortly, they ascended the Obsidian Tower.

The fused Origin Core Fragment Lucien left occupied the central pedestal atop the topmost level.

That fragment fueled the entire edifice.

Marie grasped the control mechanism ahead of the others.

Her cheat regarded the Tower...

...and instinctively comprehended it.

In under an hour, she led the group through the path alignment process, while the rest observed with a mix of awe and frustration.

The Tower would function.

At least that uncertainty had vanished.

Then arose the true challenge.

Who could enter?

Luke voiced it first.

"The small worlds have protection on them," he stated, glancing at the group. "The Primordial Slime never left them undefended. Anyone above the Ascendant Realm will be rejected."

Seran, who had stayed with them thus far, nodded deliberately.

"Brother and I discussed that earlier," he explained. "It’s not merely about gaining access. Small worlds struggle with intense law-pressure. A being too powerful forcing entry can disrupt the native laws."

A brief silence.

"And destabilized laws lead to lost coherence. A small world differs from the Big World. It lacks the flexibility to bend and mend similarly. Overloading it with power might destroy it before we access its secrets."

Quiet ensued.

In the chamber, only Luke and Cienna met the criteria effortlessly.

Both remained under Ascendant.

That settled part of it.

The elemental women resolved their issue swiftly too.

Marie spun toward the inactive vessels below.

Her eyes grew wide.

"Oh," she uttered.

Kaia realized it moments after.

"Right."

Sylra let out a breath.

"Of course."

The solution was straightforward.

Their present true forms had surpassed into the Celestial Realm and couldn't enter the small world safely.

But the vessels...

The vessels held no active cultivation realm.

They stood empty.

Moreover, those forms had undergone profound refinement in the Abyssal Pool, granting them strength beyond typical vacant shells.

Thus, the elemental women could shift their awareness into the vessels and access the small world without their full Celestial bodies.

Luke eyed them thoughtfully.

"That would work," he affirmed.

Marina offered a subtle grin.

"My prince truly prepared for every contingency."

However...

Not all could join.

Seran couldn't. The ancient beasts definitely couldn't.

And then the room's secondary emotion emerged fully.

Lilith remained utterly motionless.

She grasped the reality before eyes turned her way.

She couldn't go.

For a harrowing moment, a savage impulse surged, nearly turning to deed:

Shatter the Celestial body. Drop to Ascendant. Enter regardless.

It was no idle notion.

Another realization countered it swiftly.

And upon his return?

Would arriving diminished better shield him?

Would shrinking her strength to reach him quicker leave her weaker at his side?

Lilith clenched her jaw.

Shadows crossed her features.

Eirene spotted the shift instantly.

Luke did as well.

Several breaths passed in wordless tension.

Seran then sighed softly, offering a weary yet knowing smile.

He withdrew from the cluster.

"This is sufficient for me," he declared. "Learning he schemed past death grants more mercy than I anticipated."

Kaia glanced upward.

"Leader, you’re not coming?"

Seran shook his head.

"No. I won’t trespass on a path reserved for those destined for the next threshold."

His smile twisted faintly.

"And if Brother Luc orchestrated this silently, without confiding in me, then missing this leg he didn’t assign fits my due."

He spoke casually.

Yet its weight hung heavy.

Eirene, in turn, had her resolution.

Soundlessly, she drew a vibrant petal from her hair.

The petal settled in her hand.

Then it bloomed open.

A diminutive fairy, scarcely larger than a palm, emerged, mirroring Eirene’s visage in tiny form, wings aglow in soft green light and moon-flower gleam.

The small entity floated midair and dipped its head in submission.

"It will obey my command," Eirene stated. "It’s not my complete self, but sufficient for watching, reasoning, and aiding. If small world laws gauge presence over source, it ought to succeed."

Luke examined the familiar intently, then approved with a nod.

"It should."

That stranded Lilith motionless, solutionless.

Eirene eyed her briefly.

"Do you want to come too?"

Lilith held back her reply.

When words came, they sidestepped the query.

"I’m leaving for a while," she announced.

Several heads swiveled her direction.

Lilith’s tone stayed firm.

"What he dreaded for my safety, he’s already eliminated. The barrier to my reckless pursuit there is gone by his deed."

She halted briefly.

Then pressed on, voice hushed yet edged keener.

"I’m heading to Starforge’s conquered world. Upon return, I’ll be fit to guard him."

That quelled the room more potently than sorrow ever could.

For her resolve burned without doubt.

Pure, icy purpose forged in bereavement.

Eirene observed her at length.

Then faced ahead, lips hinting the barest approval.

"Then be careful, horned mammal."

Lilith’s gaze sharpened.

"Cut it, flower bitch."

The tiny fairy blinked.

Marie glanced between them, whispering, "Are they fighting or comforting each other?"

Kaia answered eyes closed, "Yes."

Even amid mourning, it drew faint chuckles from the gathering.

And somehow, that eased the ache.

They set departure for the following day.

Preparations remained.

•••

Come morning, the Obsidian Tower rose in a vacant spot of Lootwell.

Full truth stayed concealed from the masses.

Not yet.

No open words on Lucien’s Echo Bloom, the small world, or hope teetering on ruin.

They shared merely:

"When we return, we will bring good news."

And that sufficed.

Lucien’s form rested in a cryogenic chamber from the storage ring he provided.

Prior to setting out, all convened again.

This exchange turned pragmatic.

The ancient beasts, Shadow, and Seran would press the western healing efforts. Seran resolved that having journeyed this far, with Lucien’s hope alive, idleness would mock the fallen worst.

The West demanded further securing.

Lootwell’s people bore shocked expressions, yet vigor stirred. Building persisted. Readiness advanced. The domain refused stagnation in homage.

Even in death, Lucien led them.

To many Desert Folk, it simplified further.

Sarin flanked Khasari and kin.

To them, Lucien transcended lordship.

He embodied sanctity.

A desert god might vanish. Might slumber. Might retreat into quiet.

But such an existence didn’t cease.

They needed only await his resurgence.

Finally, Luke and Cienna approached the Obsidian Tower.

Empty vessels flanked them.

Marie, Kaia, Sylra, and Marina had shifted souls into them. True forms lay nearby, pallid and inert, vigilantly watched.

Soul-splitting and Eclipse Array reactivation backlash lingered, sapping strength.

Vessel eyes flickered open sequentially.

The fifth vessel stayed secured.

Eirene’s flower-fairy buzzed close to the party.

From afar, Eirene joined the send-off crowd.

Lilith stood near.

Her expression calm, eyes honed to perilous gleam.

Much of Lootwell assembled remotely to witness.

Luke cast a last backward glance.

At the folk. The settlement. The cryo pod. The legacy Lucien and allies forged, now entrusted differently.

Then Luke and Cienna entered the Obsidian Tower.

Vessels followed suit. The flower-fairy zipped in final.

The dark tower thrummed once.

Surrounding air warped.

And under Lootwell’s gaze—

The Obsidian Tower faded from the city, merging into neighboring planes.

The trek to Lucien’s small world commenced.

And alongside it—

the initial genuine strides to retrieve him.