100\% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? Chapter 529 - Return

The fall of the emperor signified that the remaining forces were merely remnants, feigning defiance.

The battlefield recognized this reality before the monsters themselves did.

Lucien and Seran seized the opportune moment without hesitation.

One particularly audacious Monster King attempted to plunge into the silver mist below.

Misjudging the distance, Seran redirected its trajectory, flinging it back within Lucien’s reach.

With a single touch from Lucien, the creature’s essence trembled.

Its foundational existence crumbled.

Another monster king attempted to unleash a final burst of miasma as it faced its demise.

However, Seran’s manipulated reflection of the Moltsage dispersed the very contamination surrounding it, creating an opening. Lucien seized this chance, breaking the structural integrity of the imminent burst, and instead, sent the beast into a controlled dormancy.

His intention was not to reduce them all to mere ash.

While Monster Kings possessed less essence than a Monster Emperor, numerous entities still remained within this occupied territory. Even lesser fuel held considerable value when amassed in sufficient quantities.

Therefore, he adapted his approach.

By the time true silence descended, scarcely anything remained standing save for shattered towers, faintly pulsing goblin arrays, and the peculiar warm radiance emanating from the world above.

Lucien then turned his gaze towards Seran.

Seran met his look.

A synchronized nod passed between them.

No words were necessary.

This was their initial collaborative battle, and they had performed with a synchronicity as if the battlefield itself had prepared them in advance.

Lucien was the first to break the silence with a smile.

"That was unnervingly seamless."

Seran responded with an unabashed grin and a shrug.

"You make it easy to keep pace."

Lucien let out a hearty laugh.

They left the scene as it was.

The battlefield had lost its significance.

Their objective now was the true prize.

...

It didn't take long to locate the world's core.

There, nestled beneath a vast, bowl-shaped depression encircled by fractured obsidian cliffs, the world revealed its inner sanctum.

This was no ordinary cavern.

It was as if the world’s fundamental structure had been split apart, with the space meticulously hollowed out around something too vital to be completely buried.

At the heart of this impossible void stood a solitary, colossal tree trunk, its roots anchored directly into the fundamental laws of the world.

Lucien froze, his movements ceasing.

The tree trunk radiated an overwhelming aura of creation.

Seran remained positioned behind him, understanding there was no need for his intervention at this moment.

Lucien advanced cautiously.

The inherent pressure intensified with each step, yet it did not repel him.

He extended a hand and made contact with the trunk.

And then...

The world itself began to unravel.

The bark transformed into an intricate network of conceptual strings and clauses, so densely interwoven that conventional thought struggled to grasp the spectacle.

Subsequently, it surged towards him.

Within his conceptual domain, directly above the bedrock of his Divine Energy Core, he perceived a nascent sapling.

He watched, his breath held, as the incoming bark dissolved into boundless streams of clauses, feeding into the sapling’s very essence. The diminutive tree absorbed it all. Its roots delved deeper. Its trunk grew sturdier. Its branches expanded outwards.

It then flourished... evolving into something far beyond a mere sapling.

A young tree.

Its roots intertwined with his Divine Energy Core until they appeared inseparable from the entire structure, as if his inner world had always been destined to harbor a living axis of creation at its center.

And then... Lucien’s awareness was utterly submerged in an influx of profound knowledge.

...

His body unexpectedly slumped, and Seran caught him just before he could impact the ground.

The instant Seran’s hand fastened around Lucien’s shoulder, he experienced a potent surge.

Knowledge. Pressure. Unfolding Growth.

It flooded Lucien in waves so immense that even proximity to him made the very air feel pregnant with unspoken truths.

Seran gently lowered him and retreated a step.

"Well," he remarked to the luminous, empty expanse surrounding them, "that appears rather significant."

He then settled into a protective vigil.

Within Lucien’s mind, the newly formed Tree of Creation communicated.

Not through spoken words.

Its communication manifested as intricate structures, sudden revelations, and fundamental truths so vast that language only emerged after understanding had already fundamentally reshaped him.

•••

For three full days, the world around them withered and died.

Seran observed this gradual decay in silent, watchful readiness.

The pervasive warmth was the first to dissipate.

Deprived of the bark's influence, the world could no longer sustain its unique internal state.

The warmth receded.

The light dimmed.

The world's resilience against the encroaching void crumbled.

By the end of the third day, the hidden realm had transformed into nothing more than another lifeless husk, adrift in the vast, unlit expanse where they had initially discovered it.

A dead entity.

Seran maintained his watch throughout this entire process.

He eliminated any lingering corrupted life that approached, deflected destabilizing spatial fractures, and spent considerable time simply observing Lucien with a contemplative, faint smile.

This was because Lucien was undergoing a visible transformation.

The growth within him was palpable.

His cultivation realm ascended even as he slept.

The Sixth Stage of the Celestial Realm was achieved first.

Then, it deepened further.

Subsequently, it climbed once more, bringing him alarmingly close to the threshold of the Seventh Stage without him even stirring.

Seran gazed at him after the second day had passed and murmured to himself, "Absurd."

Which, in all honesty, was the only fitting reaction remaining.

On the third day, Lucien’s eyes fluttered open.

For a prolonged moment, he remained prone, his gaze fixed on a lifeless sky, now devoid of the living roots that once traversed it.

Then, a smile touched his lips.

His grasp on the concept of Creation had deepened to a frightening extent.

He could perceive it distinctly.

His established law hadn't simply intensified; it had become refined, more precise, more discerning, possessing a greater capacity to identify what ought to be completed and what should be denied existence.

Slowly, he assumed a seated posture.

Seran observed him, a grin spreading across his face.

"Well?" he inquired.

Lucien exhaled softly.

"Worth it," he affirmed.

Seran gestured towards the desolate landscape surrounding them.

"You annihilated the place," he stated.

Lucien surveyed the basin and the now-faded root-like veins.

"It was structured for consumption from the outset," he replied.

That, too, held a form of truth.

He got to his feet.

His awareness extended over the world's empty husk, acknowledging its transformation before releasing it.

"Let's depart," he declared.

Seran made no inquiry about any desire to mourn the fallen world.

They turned their backs on the dead realm and re-entered the lightless expanse.

For a duration, their journey was undertaken in silence.

Subsequently, Seran turned his attention to Lucien, posing a seemingly casual question:

"Care to visit an Echo Zone for a quick excursion?"

Lucien nearly sputtered.

The phrasing carried the same nonchalance as suggesting a leisurely stroll through a park.

"Are you hearing yourself?" he asked, incredulous.

"Yes," Seran responded. "I sound inspired."

Lucien let out a subdued laugh.

He ought to have declined the suggestion.

Yet, he did not.

After all, he required additional 'dungeon batteries'.

And the Echo Zones teemed with absurdities ripe for containment, provided one possessed the audacity to attempt it.

Thus, the pair altered their course, venturing deeper into the void.

Reaching the nearest Echo Zone consumed considerable time. The path grew increasingly bizarre as they progressed. Disembodied sounds manifested where no medium existed to propagate them. Glimmers of fragmented memories flickered in regions devoid of stars. Immense, echo-like shells of deceased entities drifted, partially formed, only to dissipate upon direct observation.

Then, they entered the zone.

Absurdity was their immediate greeting.

Void monsters navigated the area without any discernible rational purpose. They were beings driven by primal instinct, a blend of half-formed thoughts and predatory urges, molded by ancient devastation and the ingrained habit of survival within fractured laws.

Some were of a scale that could be mistaken for moving cataclysms. Others appeared deceptively slender and graceful until they turned, revealing configurations that defied all sane biological possibility.

Lucien and Seran did not attempt to confront the entirety of the zone.

They were not reckless.

They approached like hunters entering a toxic sea.

Seran employed Reflection to manipulate distances, luring their targets. Lucien utilized a combination of layered laws, suppression clauses, and the spatial capacity of his Divine Energy Core to capture and contain rather than annihilate whenever feasible.

On several occasions, the operation genuinely resembled a fishing expedition, albeit one involving entities capable of engulfing minor worlds, and where both participants wielded laws potent enough to deem such a feat a mere pastime.

By the time they ceased their efforts, they had successfully captured eight entities.

Three were classified as Threat Tier I: Skybreakers.

Five were Threat Tier II: Void Sovereigns.

This was sufficient.

Neither dared to disturb the more profound presences lurking within the zone.

The Threat Tier III: Extinction-Grade Entities remained undisturbed, vast, unsettling, and not worth provoking without a more compelling reason and substantial preparation.

Lucien and Seran could likely confront one if absolutely necessary, but that was far from desiring such an encounter. In the void, wastefulness was a cardinal sin.

Energy held immense value.

Time was equally precious.

Therefore, they concluded their endeavors while their judgment remained unimpaired.

Lucien examined the secured captures, nodding with clear satisfaction.

"This was a productive detour," he remarked.

Seran chuckled.

At length, they returned to the unadorned stepping world connected to the Big World.

Seran took the lead, as he had previously.

His Reflection ability compressed the distances.

The journey was shortened.

The stepping world materialized before them.

Upon arrival, they did not delay.

Seran activated the teleportation disc.

Space warped and folded.

The corridor revealed itself.

And the two of them finally faced the Big World once more, laden with fresh sustenance for their powers, a profounder understanding, and the quiet conviction that the goblins had just forfeited something they never deserved to possess.