Chapter 2468: Chapter 2468: Leaving

After passing the first line, the color of the sea suddenly turned a deeper blue.

Many shining stars could be seen deep in the blue Sea of Truth, and the chillness that penetrated into the souls was emanated from the stars at the bottom of the sea.

The Truth Boats slowly trudged onward in twos and threes. These people had just crossed the first line; it would take some time for them to adjust and adapt to their new surroundings.

Two Truth Boats that had followed Zen to cross the first line quickly tried to catch up to him.

“Friend, thank you for your help just now!”

A husky voice shouted from one of the Truth Boats.

Zen had practically carried the group on his shoulders when he crossed the first line. While he did all the dirty work, the rest of the group had, more or less, taken advantage of his strength.

“Friend, it seems like you didn't consume any soul pills.”

Another voice chirped from the other Truth Boat. Though his soul strength wasn't that weak, he had needed the help of the soul pill in order to cross the first line. Still, he had the leisure to observe Zen with the remaining strength he had. “I wonder where you're from. I'm from —”

“It's improper to ask such questions,” Dora interrupted. “Don't you know the rule in the Sea of Truth? The one who takes the lead to cross the first line has the right to charge others soul pills. If you have soul pills left, show your gratitude now.” There was a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

Zen remained silent. He hadn't been aware of this rule.

However, he wasn't going to refuse free soul pills!

Having a supply of soul pills would come in handy in the future.

While he was able to cross the first line without using the soul pills, he didn't know if the case would be the same for the second or third line. He realized now that the Sea of Truth was not as simple as he had thought.

“Ha-ha! Of course I didn't forget this rule,” the man with the rough voice exclaimed. With a gentle wave of his hand, three soul pills flew towards Zen.

The other man gave Zen five soul pills.

It was obvious that they both wished to befriend Zen. Who was this powerful guy?

If they could just follow Zen, it would save them a lot of trouble in the future. However, the moment Zen received the soul pills, Dora steered her Truth Boat in between theirs and Zen's. “Alright, you're free to go now!”

Zen didn't try to stop Dora. Even though they couldn't see each other's faces in the Sea of Truth, Zen was wary to be around other people. He knew too little about the Source World. Saying the wrong thing might cause great trouble for the divine land.

When the two men saw that Zen wasn't defending them, they drifted off in another direction in a huff.

“You haven't answered my question yet. Are you going to go for the second line? If you want to give it a try, I can keep you company,” Dora offered.

Zen pondered this for a while, but eventually shook his head.

He had been in the training tower for some time now. Even though the time flow rate was faster inside the training tower, a considerable amount of time had passed in the outside world as well. He didn't know what the current situation on the Floating Islands was. Ꞧа₦ố𝔟Ё§

Now that he had successfully entered the Sea of Truth, he had achieved his goal of closed-door cultivation. Now, it was necessary for him to exit to see if everything was still okay.

“To pass the entirety of the Sea of Truth isn't a day's work. I'll stop here for now,” Zen said.

“I agree!”

Dora said with a smile. She too was itching to tell her grandma what transpired in the Sea of Truth!

“By the way, what is the Illusion Breaking Rune that is used to leave the Sea of Truth?” Zen asked sheepishly.

Up until now, he had to rely on No. 9527 to exit the Sea of Truth. Although No. 9527 lived inside his body, he didn't want to trouble it every time.

“How could you not know the Illusion Breaking Rune? How did you manage to leave just now?” Dora was puzzled. Although she was aware that Zen knew very little about this place, she was aghast that he didn't know the Illusion Breaking Rune.

Zen smiled but didn't respond. He couldn't admit to her that he was usually taken out of the Sea of Truth forcefully by No. 9527.

Suddenly, a sharp sword materialized between Dora's eyebrows and shot toward him.

It looked like some kind of soul attack, but Zen wasn't alarmed. He was sure that Dora didn't have anything against him, so he didn't even flinch.

When the sword reached Zen's eyebrows, he felt no pain. Instead, information seemed to flash before him; he now knew how to use the Illusion Breaking Rune.

Zen was somewhat stunned. 'It's interesting how Dora used a soul attack to send messages!'

Then, Zen focused on learning how to use the Illusion Breaking Rune.

He soon realized that theoretically, the spell was not complicated. The Illusion Breaking Rune was, as the name implied, meant to take someone out of an illusion. However, the Sea of Truth wasn't just any illusion. Zen wondered if the spell would work.

Once he understood what to do, he noticed there was a small soul mark hidden in the energy.

Before he could ask, Dora pleaded, “Please don't erase that soul mark!”

“What's this for?” Zen asked.

“I just want to be informed when you enter the Sea of Truth next time,” she said guiltily. She was well aware that it was impolite to leave a mark on another person's soul.

Zen frowned slightly, feeling somewhat displeased.

To him, it wasn't that big of a deal if the soul mark was only to track his position inside the Sea of Truth. However, if it could locate him in the divine land, that would be troublesome.

“What do you think, No. 9527?” Zen queried after some thought.

“It's just an ordinary locating mark. It's impossible for her to find you across the chaos, at least not with her current ability,” No. 9527 replied calmly.

“Well then...”

Zen shrugged. He figured it wouldn't do him much harm. “Fine then,” he said to Dora. “I won't erase it.”

After all, Dora knew much more about the Sea of Truth than he did. If she could tag along, she could possibly save him the trouble of navigating alone.

After promising to keep the soul mark, Zen proceeded to try to use the Illusion Breaking Rune.

It wasn't difficult for Zen to grasp the fundamentals of the Illusion Breaking Rune, and he successfully used it in his second attempt. It felt as though he had triggered something in the Sea of Truth, causing it to collapse in front of him. This was vastly different from being forcibly taken out by No. 9527.

Because Zen had left, Dora followed suit shortly thereafter and left the Sea of Truth.

Whoosh!

Dora blinked. She was back in the palace.

“Thank goodness! You're finally back!” Ademar shouted with excitement.

Although Dora's body had returned to normal after she crossed the first line, he had still been very worried about her. Seeing her come to her senses was such a relief to him.

“Am I that weak in your eyes?” Dora said with a pout.

Ademar turned red with embarrassment and let out a howl of laughter. The tall, beautiful woman beside him asked, “Dorothy, did you try to cross the first line with your own strength?”

Dorothy nodded wistfully. “I failed. I ended up using a soul pill.”

The woman nodded as though her suspicions were confirmed. “Don't worry, there's no need to get ahead of yourself. Very few warriors at your age can cross the first line without the help of the soul pills.”

Dorothy's eyes gleamed, and her lips turned up into a wide smile. “I happened to meet one today!”