Chapter 90: The World of Rebirth |
As Kyle continued ascending, the surrounding light gradually began to brighten.
The feeling these lights gave off was very strange; it was neither sunlight nor moonlight from the real world, but a soft, omnipresent radiance.
Kyle felt that this must be the light of souls.
Such brilliant radiance seemed to indicate that the path of rebirth lay just ahead.
When he stepped onto the platform at the very top, the staircase behind him silently vanished, and the surrounding scenery abruptly changed—
It was a boundless silver ocean, reflecting the equally silvery-white sky like a mirror.
Countless shimmering soul fragments floated slowly within the ocean like jellyfish, adorning the entire world like a dreamlike river of stars.
The sky and ocean formed this vast white world; if not for the lingering sense of up and down, he might not have been able to tell where the sky ended and where the sea began.
He extended his translucent palm into the silver seawater, and an incomparably refreshing sense of comfort spread through his entire body, causing his soul to tremble.
Kyle stood there waiting for a while, but the long-anticipated judgment never arrived.
“What exactly is this third trial? Why hasn’t it appeared after all this time?”
Confused, Kyle looked around; the surroundings remained peaceful and tranquil.
Why wasn’t there even the slightest clue?
Aside from the ocean and sky, there were only a few floating soul fragments and nothing else.
He himself also felt no abnormalities whatsoever.
Somewhat puzzled, Kyle simply jumped into the sea and dove underwater to see if there were any clues there.
After swimming around for quite some time, he still made no progress.
Kyle suddenly realized something—
“Oh no! Could this be a test of time?”
This time, Kyle was truly somewhat at a loss.
What he feared most was boring waiting!
This endless, tedious waiting!
No!
What meaning could such a trial possibly have?
After the world was destroyed, even if he remained alive, would he only be left to face endless loneliness and nihilism?!
Unwilling to give up, Kyle began swimming toward the glowing soul fragments, wanting to see whether there was anything special about them.
But the result left him greatly disappointed!
These truly were just ordinary soul fragments, nothing special at all.
Only the simplest biological awareness remained within them—laughter, tears, regret, hope, and so on.
There was no guidance, no clues.
After swimming around fruitlessly, Kyle returned to the platform and sat down cross-legged once more, forcing himself to calm down and think.
This time, the path of rebirth had truly given him an enormous problem.
Whether in the past or present, whether in fantasy or reality, the concept of time had always been the most powerful and mysterious.
He did not believe that the path of rebirth would present an almost impossible trial.
If understanding the mysteries of time were truly required to pass—
Then he dared to assert that throughout history, the number of people capable of passing this trial would absolutely not exceed ten.
But as far as he knew, quite a few geniuses had passed the Trial of Rebirth.
Therefore!
There absolutely had to be some clue or method he had overlooked!
Unfortunately, because of the contract, those who passed the Trial of Rebirth could not leave behind any clues related to it for him to reference.
After thinking for a long time and still finding no answers, he could only cast his gaze toward those soul fragments once more.
They were the only somewhat special things here.
***
The Netherworld.
This place was completely different from the cold, lonely, desolate world imagined by living beings.
It was an ocean of luminous bands formed from countless flowing lights and shadows, connecting innumerable worlds like bubbles.
The Netherworld was not a place of punishment, but a gigantic and precisely operating soul-processing center, one of the most unique existences within the Sea of the Universe.
After all living beings died, their souls would pass through the luminous bands here, undergo memory purification, and then be diverted into different worlds for reincarnation according to the weight and contamination level of their souls after death.
Souls heavily polluted and filled with sin would often fall into chaotic and evil lower worlds.
Those pure and beautiful souls would ascend into orderly and radiant upper worlds.
Whether punishment or reward, all would be realized through a new life journey.
If a sinful soul could bloom with light amidst chaos, then after death it would naturally ascend into a higher world; otherwise, it would forever wander through lower worlds.
Of course, there were exceptions.
If Saint-level souls entered the Netherworld, they had the right to choose their reincarnation world, or become administrators of the Netherworld.
At this moment, an ancient white tower, naturally formed from souls and laws, floated silently outside the bubble representing the Great Oak World.
Inside the tower, countless shining runes and contract scrolls slowly revolved like stars.
At the center of the room, a red-haired woman wearing a long white dress curled herself up as she slept peacefully within a gentle glow.
She was the Netherworld Executor of this world—Yolanda.
Suddenly, her long eyelashes fluttered slightly as she unwillingly opened her eyes and lazily yawned.
Only then did she cast her gaze toward the “culprit” who had disturbed her “rest”.
“Oh? Someone actually activated the Trial of Rebirth?”
“And… a vampire? Interesting.”
Yolanda became somewhat interested. Resting her chin on one hand, she observed Kyle’s actions as though watching a play.
Watching Kyle attempt to jump into the sea before returning to shore to ponder deeply, Yolanda nodded.
“Her temperament is very steady; she doesn’t act blindly or recklessly.”
But the longer she watched, the more she suddenly felt that something was wrong.
“Wait… she seems to be searching for something? Is she looking for the trial content?”
Yolanda blinked, and then, as though recalling something extremely important, her expression suddenly changed.
“Hiss—!”
She abruptly sat up from the light and waved her slender hand. A thick book with golden reincarnation runes embedded in its cover flew out from among the countless scrolls and landed before her.
The pages rapidly flipped on their own, and soon, a spatial model recording the Trial of Rebirth unfolded before her.
“Ahhh! Damn it, damn it! I actually forgot to preserve the later trial content?!”
Yolanda fiercely grabbed her fiery red hair.
Ever since taking over the position of the previous Netherworld Executor, because no one had triggered the Trial of Rebirth for such a long time, she had long since forgotten to regularly maintain and update the trial content!
Unlike the first two fixed trials, the third and fourth trials required frequent updates and maintenance to ensure their stability and effectiveness.
According to the original design, the third trial required the participant to choose three different soul fragments from the Sea of Obsession and resolve the obsessions within them.
But so much time had already passed. Within the Sea of Obsession, the obsessions inside those soul fragments… perhaps they had already completely dissipated?
Yolanda’s gaze pierced through space and time, looking toward Kyle, who was still wandering through the Sea of Obsession, while an awkward and irritated expression appeared on her face.