Chapter 2720: White Spiritual Realm
Xu Huo walked forward, first passing through the younger version of himself—this personality formed by years of pain and repression—then crossing the threshold through the teenage version of himself—this self that had been abruptly split off due to a sudden upheaval severing past and present—followed by his childhood self—the child who had accepted Dr. Zhang's training at a naive age and become cruel...
Each time he passed through a door, these personalities merged into his body, subtle yet distinct forces passing through him, some lingering, others flowing away, ultimately calming the turbulent spiritual realm.
White spread from beneath his feet, gradually replacing the original black, until the entire world turned pure white.
At the same time, Xu Huo himself began to fade. First his clothes, then his props and instruments, then his skin and hair. Gradually, his entire being became transparent, eventually merging into this white world.
The silent white flowed soundlessly toward the distance, like a calm ocean, quietly eroding everything around it. It spread over the rugged underground passages, over the colorful glowing mines, covering the mutant plants growing everywhere, passing through the vast underground world, following the air currents and wind, all the way to the exit of the sinkhole...
But this state did not last long. The white ocean began to recede, gradually withdrawing to Xu Huo's original position, forming a white square table.
The four people sat back down at the table. Before the childhood personality lay nothing; before the teenage personality lay the Ace of Hearts playing card; before the young adult personality lay a sheathed dagger.
At Xu Huo's seat, there was no one, only a white book placed there.
The three personalities sat quietly for a moment, then the white spiritual power spread outward along the table again. The vanished spiral staircase reappeared, followed by the library tower. But this was not all. After the complete formation of a library tower surrounding the spiral staircase, a new ring-shaped library tower rose at intervals of several dozen meters. Layer upon layer, in an instant, dozens or even hundreds of ring-shaped library towers rose from the ground, expanding the core world by more than a thousand times!
And as these library towers took shape, rooms on different floors began to slide out like drawers, floating, detaching from their original positions, and freely exchanging with rooms from library towers in front, behind, left, and right. They could even pull out entire floors, replacing them front to back by reducing or increasing the number of rooms—these chaotic combinations turned this library tower core world into a truly free world, where no one could grasp their patterns.
Xu Huo appeared from a library tower in the middle. The moment he stopped in the corridor, the floor beneath him turned into a spiral staircase. The staircase carried him downward and sideways, the surrounding library towers making way one by one, until he arrived at a desk. The moment he sat down, the entire spiritual core world fell silent.
Xu Huo opened the book before him. The first time he opened it, a dagger pattern appeared inside. He turned the page again, and a playing card pattern appeared. The third time, the page was filled with black, forming no pattern at all.
He looked at the childhood personality. The childhood personality had lost its former innocence and ignorance, nodding calmly at him.
The teenage personality and the young adult personality also displayed some of their own characteristics, no longer as emotionless as before.
Of course, they were all components of Xu Huo, all Xu Huo himself.
However, the many emotions had already subsided before the white spiritual realm contracted. The key to what Xu Huo had always wanted to know had been in his hand since the game world appeared. Today, the answer was finally before his eyes.
Closing the book, he and the other three personalities disappeared from the square table at the same time.
Xu Huo opened his eyes and found everything before him hazy white. He had not moved from his original position. Only the growth of the King Fungus was not entirely an illusion. The defense suit had long been corroded by some plants, and the wounds on his body came from them. However, after the King Fungus reproduced rapidly, it cleaned up these toxins while also occupying the growth soil of the mutant plants.
Pulling off the fungal threads and residual mutant plants covering his face, he stood up and moved his limbs, confirming that his body had no major issues before walking out of this white cocoon-like nest.
Yan Jiayu and Pu Yu and the others were nowhere to be seen. He wasn't sure if they had unknowingly gotten separated or if they had been moved elsewhere by mutant plants or other things after being hit. However, when his spiritual realm expanded earlier, he had discovered something else.
Following the underground passage, he stepped ten thousand meters away in one stride. Waving his hand, he swept away the dense mutant plants and flipped out a metal box underneath.
The strange plant patterns looked somewhat familiar. The special metal structure, completely different from ordinary containers yet possessing spatial attributes, could not be placed in the item slot but could be stuffed into the luggage compartment...
Xu Huo also had a box like this. Because he was wary of the strange things that might be stored inside, he had never opened it. And because of that box, he had even been hunted by bounty hunters. Judging from the plant pattern with eyes on the box, it seemed to have some connection with this district.
Re-equipping his protective suit, he opened the box before him. Unexpectedly, three people were hidden inside.
The moment the box opened, the man lying on the edge opened his eyes. With several hidden weapons and a strong impact force, Xu Huo and the box lid were blasted apart. The three inside jumped out one after another, but they did not continue attacking. Instead, they confronted Xu Huo.
"You don't look well. Can you hold on?" Xu Huo said unhurriedly, taking his time.
The three indeed had trouble concentrating. They seemed unable to confirm what state they were in, struggling to keep their bloodshot eyes wide open, as if staring at Xu Huo. But looking closely, their gazes seemed a bit unfocused, not quite locking on.
However, among them was a familiar face. The golden-eyed player standing at the front was the bounty hunter who had tracked him across multiple districts. After the Ember Maiden instance ended, this person had even extended an invitation to him.
The three were somewhat sluggish, belatedly activating their protective suits. But soon, one of them lost his mind. Even with props, he didn't use them, instead pounding the air with his fists, screaming maniacally.
The golden-eyed player went back, knocked him out, and threw him back into the box. He pulled the lid over and fastened it, then leaned on the box and looked at Xu Huo. "We all stumbled in here by accident. There's no deep hatred between us. You've seen it—the box is just our hiding place, nothing else. Let's go our separate ways and not interfere with each other."
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow slightly. "You don't want to leave?"
Having been reduced to hiding in a box, instead of thinking about how to get out, they wanted to stay. That was abnormal no matter how you looked at it.
He chuckled. "It's not like you're here looking for something too, is it!"