Chapter 367

Chapter 368: Black Church

Darkness descended, and Yu Sheng let his mind soak in a familiar, gentle calm.

He did not try to shift his awareness back to the Otherworldly Hotel to “wake early.” Instead, he relaxed and enjoyed this brief peace, using the rare stillness to think in silence [not that rare], letting his thoughts drift as all his memories and sense of self spread into the boundless quiet of the dark.

He remembered everything he had seen on the back of that Behemoth.

Clearly, the torn planet was the Grand Void Spiritual Axis. He had witnessed an ending from before history, a destruction that happened before birth.

Thinking of the Assault Titans he had seen in the desert and the inscriptions inside them, the answer was obvious.

This eerie Otherworld beneath the Nethermoon mine seems to reflect random scenes from the last days of the old world for whoever visits.

But why? He had never heard of this kind of Otherworld, and everything he had learned from Bai Li Qing and from Immortal Yuan Ling had told him one thing: all “information” from the old world was blocked behind the event barrier of the Second Singularity Outbreak and should never “leak” to this side.

[Did someone send old-world intel here? Did something deep in that Otherworld record it? Or is the event barrier being pierced by some force so old-world things are seeping through?] He paused, then added another thought: [Or maybe all three.]

His mind drifted in the chaos, spreading free now that it was unbound by a body. He revisited many details he had overlooked, kneaded all his memories together, and spun out countless guesses. After who knows how long, he felt his scattered thoughts draw back together. His mind began to Ascend. He felt himself crossing the edge of chaos, passing a hazy, barren wilderness.

In a daze he “saw” the darkness retreat and “saw” Luna, golden hair shining, leading her Knight Order on patrol across that wasteland. He “saw” Bronze Knights guarding a great Bonfire that had somehow started burning again, and a pitch black cathedral standing between an unnamed hill and the Bonfire plain. The cathedral blazed with light inside while a thin mist rose outside.

Yu Sheng thought nothing for a beat: “…”

He had almost come “back to life.” His mind had climbed nearly beyond the post-death darkness, but as he crossed the critical point he glanced toward the Sanctuary Wasteland, and at once got locked down.

[Wait, what weird thing did I just see? Something is off. Go back and check.]

With a thought, now that his soul was awake, Yu Sheng guided his awareness downward and “landed” on the Sanctuary Wasteland.

In the gray, quiet wilds, he tilted his head and stared, a little dazed, at the Black Cathedral that had appeared from who knows where, bristling with spires and towers. After a long moment, he stepped forward.

A solemn, heavy church door, like black cast iron, swung open by itself as he approached. The creaking echoed through the thin fog around the church.

He suddenly felt a strong illusion, like triumphant music with a woman singing would kick in any second, and then a health bar would pop up over the roof of the church.

He shook his head, threw those messy thoughts aside, and walked on with a mix of curiosity and doubt.

He passed through a corridor a dozen meters long behind the doors, crossed the front wall with its narrow lancets and rows of spires, and reached the courtyard. Pale flagstones paved the ground. On both sides lay many beds and plots. In the dark soil, pallid or gray plants grew, with unknown flowers blooming quietly in big and small beds. Yet none of the plants showed any sign of life, as if they were dead things frozen in place.

Yu Sheng crossed the courtyard and entered the main building.

The heavy doors opened for him. A wide, deathly silent chapel came into view. Rows of empty pews stood beneath a vaulted ceiling and tall, narrow windows. A dark red carpet ran down the length of the nave. Black standing candelabra stood here and there. They held no wax or oil, yet clusters of pale flame floated above them and lit the space.

He walked slowly past the pews toward the far end of the nave, when hurried footsteps reached his ears.

He looked back just in time to see someone push open the chapel door: a figure in silver-white women’s plate, golden hair pouring like a waterfall, a shining Holy Sword at her waist.

Luna smiled with relief as she hurried over and said, “It really is you! Irene was outside telling Foxy you were about to wake up. I felt something stir at the church, so I rushed back with the Knight Order.”

Yu Sheng listened, stunned, then had to cut in: “Hold on, let me ask first: what is up with this church?”

Luna blinked, then remembered and said, “Right, I forgot to tell you. This is the Flame Warden Knight Order Headquarters.”

Yu Sheng stared and asked, “Come again?”

With a straight face she explained, “The Flame Warden Knight Order. It’s what we named ourselves. Although, counting me, we only have thirteen knights right now.”

Yu Sheng understood, but that did not stop him from being shocked as he asked, “You built this church?!”

She answered without hesitation, “Yes.”

He almost popped his eyes as he asked, “How did you even build it? Last time I was here it was just open ground. No, forget the how. Where did you even find building materials?”

Luna thought carefully, kept her serious face, and said while looking into his eyes, “By thinking it into shape.”

Yu Sheng made a face that said, “Why is this stern knight suddenly saying that,” then, after a moment of eye contact, he began to get it.

He asked, “You learned it from me?”

Luna nodded and said, “Yes.”

He asked, “You copied how I shaped houses in the Valley?”

She nodded again and added, “Watching you shape things in the Valley, I felt I ‘understood’ some knowledge. Then my knights and I realized we could do something similar in this wasteland ruled by souls and mind. There was nothing here, and everyone needed a place to live, so we discussed it and decided to build a base for the Knight Order.

“Of course, all of this is a crude imitation of your craft. If we had not seen your shaping in the Valley, we would never have learned this.”

Yu Sheng listened, dumbfounded, then his eye twitched. He looked up at the grand, solemn chapel, at least seven or eight stories of artistry, and after holding it in for a while, he still had to ask, “So… you designed all this?”

She said, “Yes, mostly me, but everyone gave lots of ideas. We broadly referenced some styles from our homeland and some scenes from games Irene likes to play.”

At once, he knew why the place felt like the kind where soaring music might start and a health bar might grow above the roof.

He hesitated and asked, “How long did it take you to build?”

Luna started to answer, then seemed to realize something, coughed twice, and said awkwardly, “It actually took a long time. Building a church like this isn’t easy. We made many mistakes. Some structures still aren’t ideal. We’ll be adjusting them over and over.”

Yu Sheng asked, “How long?”

Head down, Luna admitted honestly, “About half a day.”

Yu Sheng went silent: “…”

Seeing his face, Luna rushed to make it better as she said, “What you created in the Valley is clearly grander and more majestic, especially that magnificent Portal Nexus.”

Yu Sheng looked up at the ceiling and said nothing.

What could he say? The candlesticks in their church even had the Hotel’s logo, while the main way to get from the second floor to the first in his Portal Nexus had been to hop. [There is an elevator now, though.]

He waved it off and said, “Alright, as long as I know you built it. How are things outside?”

Luna answered, “Everyone is at Parted Clouds Palace. They’re discussing what happened in the Otherworld and waiting for you.”

Yu Sheng nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll go back too.” His figure began to fade as he added, “See you in the world of the living.”

Smiling, Luna bowed slightly to his fading afterimage and said, “We will see you in the world of the living.”

At Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain, in the Grand Hall of Parted Clouds Palace, a Phantom Door appeared out of thin air.

The door swung open, and Yu Sheng stepped out.

Right away he heard Foxy’s cheerful voice nearby as she said, “Benefactor, you’re back!”

“I’m back,” he said, steadying himself as the living world’s colors and sounds pressed in. Smiling, he reached out to rub the fur behind Foxy’s ear as she poked her head over, then looked at the group and said, “Everyone’s here.”

From the back of the crowd, Luna lifted her head and gave him a small wave.

Irene stood with hands on hips and said, “We’re all here and waiting for you. Where did you run off to?”

Yu Sheng scratched his head and said, “Check out the Sanctuary Wasteland later. There’s a surprise.”

Irene blinked and said, “?”