Chapter 3310: Chapter 3310: A Cold Civilization

When they were in Stage Thirteen of the Other Shore, Elvinia had given all the things stored inside her Sumeru space back to Zen.

Afterward, when they stepped into the Dark Region in Stage Fourteen of the Other Shore, Zen had returned two candles to her.

In fact, by that time, Elvinia had become a purified being and already mastered the Great Sanskrit Light. She could easily maneuver her way through the Dark Region, rendering the need for the candles useless. Even so, Zen had asked her to bring them along as an added precaution had the need occurred. Not thinking much of it, she put them away with her.

However, during their venture in the Dark Region in Stage Fourteen of the Other Shore, she never got to use them.

Once that memory flashed in her mind, she instinctively raised her right hand. Suddenly, a blast of blue light took the shape of a square as a candle slipped out of the Sumeru space.

“Puff!”

When the flame that rested on her palm brushed across the tip of the candle, it caused it to ignite in response.

A “Soul Candle” had unique characteristics that set it apart. Once it was lit, it would be impossible to extinguish its flames. Even if it was placed in the Sea of Truth, it would still be insufficient to put out its flares.

As soon as the candle was lit up with compelling flames, Elvinia wasted no second and jerked her hand upwards to violently throw it in the air.

The strength of Elvinia's corporeal body was by no means weak. In fact, she was a force to be reckoned with. If she wanted, she could throw the candle at an unbelievable height of hundreds of thousands feet high, let alone a few thousand feet high.

“Woo!”

An eerie sound coming from the soul cloud filled the air as if to pierce through the nerve-wracking atmosphere. The giant hand that entrapped Elvinia suddenly began to close around her as it exerted strenuous pressure. The feeling of being crushed rang like a jolt of electricity on her bones as she faced the repercussions and let out a painful cry. She desperately held onto every last thread of life she had left in her.

Fortunately for her, Zen had instructed her to refine a fair amount of Body Strengthening Jades for her safety. If not for that, her bones would have been reduced to dust, and her body crippled beyond repair.

As she processed her thoughts, her eyes met the other giant hand stretching out from the soul cloud. When she followed its direction, she realized it was heading towards the candle at an incredible speed.

“No!”

One after another, Elvinia felt her spirits crumble in unison with every bone that cracked under pressure. Even though her corporeal body acted as an armor to protect her soul underneath, the sensation of her body slowly going frail felt real. It wasn't hard to fathom the excruciating pain that came with having all bones broken as if they were nothing.

Despite her situation, she kept her gaze fixated on the candle as her last beacon of hope.

“Dang it!”

Zen was quickly alerted when he saw the floating candle. His eyes flashed and widened all of a sudden.

But when his eyes fetched the scene of the giant hand trying to grab ahold of that candle, the overwhelming sinking feeling in his heart caused his body to slump.

However, he suddenly had made up his mind as he clenched his fists.

“Whoosh!”

Within a split second, he had jumped off the ladder without a second thought.

At this point, both the candle and the giant hand had ascended to a height of three thousand feet. It wasn't far from the cabin with a spire. As Zen closed the distance between himself and the candle, he effortlessly grabbed the candle, securing it. At the same time, he used the back of the giant hand as a boost as he lightly touched it with his tiptoes. 𝖗ÃΝŏBÈs̈

With this strategy, he gained enough momentum to boost himself upwards back on the ladder. Then without wasting a second, he used both his hands and feet to climb his way towards the cabin with a spire.

“Waah...Waah...”

Earsplitting cries erupted from the soul cloud.

Dark clouds of rage clouded around the big dark blue eyes that now looked as frightening as ever.

Soon, the entire Soul City was filled with traumatized Souls of Light that shook unwillingly after being exposed to such strong negative emotions. The intensity of its rage was so overwhelming that they couldn't resist, and they were scared out of their wits.

Meanwhile, the giant hand that outstretched from the soul cloud made its way towards Zen in an attempt to capture him.

However, before it could even brush over him, Zen's free hand suddenly burst out a spark of soul force, causing it to momentarily flinch. Taking advantage of the window of time, he rushed up the ladder and rolled himself to safety in the cabin.

Even with all odds stacked up against it, the monster in the soul cloud refused to accept its defeat. It continued to extend its hand towards Zen's direction in hopes of dragging him out from the cabin.

However, the moment the giant hand made the slightest contact with the door of the cabin, it was quickly blocked by an invisible barrier. It refused the monster any access inside.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

Still continuing its efforts, the monster struck the door with its massive fist three times, each blow stronger than the last. But the invisible barrier remained firm and refused to let down its guard. Feeling defeated, the giant hand retreated reluctantly.

Zen had no time to waste on stressing over the giant hand outside the cabin. With the candle in his possession, he quickly turned it around and pointed it towards the mouth of the golden pot.

“Buzz...”

At this gesture, a wisp of flame formed at the mouth of the golden pot. Soon, the candlelight in the cabin with a spire shone brightly once more and lit up the entire place.

“Woo...”

As if its demise was triggered, the dark blue eyes that were once filled with rage showed a hint of sorrow as they gradually closed. The giant hand that entrapped Elvinia loosened its grip and returned back to the soul cloud.

Following suit were the golden souls that also rushed towards the soul cloud while the others vanished into walls or sank into the ground.

“Rumble...”

With a rustic sound, the gate of the Soul City opened up slowly.

As if an immense catastrophe was averted, the Souls of Light from various races across the Source World heaved a deep sigh of relief.

Whatever might have happened, for them, it was satisfying enough to see the gate of the Soul City open before them.

Once the gate was opened, they felt much safer. No accident had been reported inside here when it was open for the past countless years.

However, after having experienced their fair share of traumas just now, they all walked towards the gate of the Soul City.

“Princess Elvinia!”

Libby, Gabriel, Carver, and the other members from the Oneness Sky Palace quickly rushed to Elvinia's side.

Libby crouched down next to her and closely examined her profile before heaving a sigh of relief. “Luckily, Princess Elvinia is just unconscious after what she just faced. There is nothing to worry about. We must move her out of the Soul City first!”

Of course, she was saying these things to Zen.

In fact, everyone knew full well the mess was nothing but Zen's fault. He was the root cause behind it.

Libby was unaware of what Zen had discovered above to have caused such a mishap. Even so, due to being a member of the Oneness Sky Palace, she had no choice but to give him support. Moreover, after the closing of the gate of the Soul City, many Souls of Light of the Oneness Sky Palace were lucky to be unscathed. Only Elvinia ended up injured.

So she hoped Zen would take the opportunity to explore the top of the Soul City instead of coming down to check up on Elvinia.

Zen's paced breathing didn't take a second's worth of rest until he heard the news from Libby from below.

How could he live with himself if he were to become the cause of Elvinia's death?

He stood inside the cabin with a spire and continued his search. With the golden pot still in his hands, he rotated it from all sides to observe it intently.

The table and carpet inside the cabin had been reduced to dust. There was nothing worth a second glance other than the golden pot in his hands.

“Is this golden pot the key to the gate of the Soul City?” Zen muttered to himself, his voice now low with disappointment.

The Primeval Lord of Heaven seemed very calm.

Although he also entered the cabin with his expectations high, he knew this kind of disappointing result was common.

In fact, the Primeval Lord of Heaven had explored a few similar relics before, such as the end of the Sky Cloud Water Road in Stage Thirty-two of the Other Shore, and the grey white house in Stage Thirty-three of the Other Shore. Those things couldn't have been built by the Element Spirit race. The civilizations on the Other Shore weren't gifted with such an ability. They could only have been left behind by the Instant Civilization.

However, the Instant Civilization appeared to be devoid of all emotions or thoughts. They would not leave any trace or information in the relics, which was somewhat abnormal.

Many civilizations that had entered the Other Shore would bear extreme disappointment towards the Other Shore after staying there for a period of time. They would end up killing away all the creatures of their civilization, which meant that they would commit mass suicide together.

But before they wiped out all the creatures of the civilization off the surface of the map, they would build a temple and leave information and something else there to vouch for their existence.

In contrast, the Instant Civilization hadn't left any information whatsoever. The relics they had left behind all looked cold and empty. They appeared to scream with arrogance, “We once existed, but we don't need your understanding. You are not qualified enough to find us.”