Chapter 1722: Return

"Oh... if you want to go back, you can just go back directly."

An Qingyu pointed in the direction of the candlelight. "You were rejected by the world because the Red Star power in your body exceeded your capacity. Now that I have sealed the excess part of that power within you, you won't be rejected when you cross the barrier."

"However, I must make it clear to you: after you go back this time, you won't be able to use the same method to get out again..."

"Are you really sure?"

"...Yeah."

Chen Ling patted the dust off his theatrical robes, his ruby-like eyes fixed on the direction of the candlelight.

He had hoped to learn more about the Red Star from An Qingyu, but now it seemed they were also helpless against this star... Since that was the case, there was no need for him to waste time here.

This Red Star was coming for them, and the only ones who could solve it were themselves.

"Then we'll take you there."

An Qingyu didn't say anything more. He took Chen Ling and soared into the air. With one step, he crossed an unknown distance in the next second and arrived before that hazy candlelight.

The candlelight flowed before Chen Ling's eyes, and vaguely, he could see a thin, membrane-like barrier attached to the void.

"Cross this barrier, and you can return to the corresponding candlelight world." Jiang Er's voice sounded in Chen Ling's ear. "However, the time flow of the candlelight world is different from the outside... You should be prepared."

"Yeah."

Chen Ling turned around and bowed to An Qingyu and Jiang Er. "Thank you both for saving my life... If I ever have the chance to come out again, I will definitely find a way to repay you."

"You're too polite." An Qingyu smiled lightly. "Alright, hurry up and go, otherwise... you'll regret it."

Chen Ling didn't say anything more. His figure in the theatrical robes turned into a stream of light and crashed directly into the membrane-like barrier!

Because Chen Ling was originally an existence of this world, the barrier had no effect on him, and he disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The candlelight flowed silently in the void.

Outside the world, a faint smile curled the corners of An Qingyu's mouth.

"What are you thinking about?" Jiang Er asked softly.

"Chen Ling..."

An Qingyu took a deep look at the surging candlelight world, turned around, and slowly walked toward the direction of the meteor shower filling the sky.

"Perhaps it won't be long... before we have one more comrade who is unimaginably powerful."

"I have to go back and tell the Captain about this..."

"I'm sure he will be looking forward to it as well."

……

Chen Ling felt as if he had returned to the "Deep Sea" once again.

Only this time, he wasn't floating up uncontrollably in the deep sea, but falling at an astonishing speed. He could feel time and space flowing through his fingers, and countless lights and shadows streaking past his eyes.

Chen Ling's consciousness was clear. He counted the time in his heart. After about a minute or so, the flickering lights and shadows before him finally condensed into a lead-gray sky...

A figure draped in theatrical robes fell whistling from the lead-gray clouds like a meteor.

Boom—!!!

The theatrical robes crashed down, and a visible shockwave swept across the rugged land.

As dust flew, smaller Calamities were blown away on the spot. The surrounding Calamities, as if sensing some extremely dangerous aura, also fled in all directions like crazy.

After an unknown amount of time, a ghostly figure in red slowly crawled out of the crater...

Chen Ling saw this familiar gray world and actually felt a sense of peace.

He was back...

When his feet stood on this black land again, the memory of Chen Ling just leaving the world barrier and meeting An Qingyu and Jiang Er felt like a dream, with a sense of extreme unreality.

The candlelight world, the meteor shower, the Nightfall squad, Mr. Ji... these things were too far away from him.

His primary task now was to solve the Red Star first.

Chen Ling took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. After adjusting his mindset, his gaze swept across his surroundings.

Right... the last time he entered the Era Archive, he had brought the other Nine Lords to save Chu Changqing. After encountering the Calamity of Mockery, he had stayed behind in the Gray World alone to cover the others' retreat.

"Almost forgot..."

"At this time, the Gray World and Earth haven't officially converged yet... I'll have to be trapped here for a long time."

Chen Ling sighed softly as if he had remembered something.

When the time limit for the Era Archive ended, he was still in a life-and-death struggle with the Calamity of Mockery...

What about the Calamity of Mockery?

Chen Ling looked for a long time but didn't see any sign of it.

Logically, Chen Ling should have returned to the point in time of his last entry into the Era Archive, which was the moment of his great battle with the Calamity of Mockery...

Now, the Nine Lords should have just brought Chu Changqing back to Earth, and then, driven by fate, gradually headed to their respective bases, sheltering refugees, protecting a large number of people in the chaotic world, and forming the prototype of the future major domains.

Once he went back, he should be able to visit the major bases one by one, set Su Zhiwei and Yao Qing up together, and hold the wedding in advance...

Whoever restarts the world, their Era Archive is the only calibration object. The owners of the other two Era Archives will also be forced to return to the same point in time. He wondered where Liu Qingyan and Ying Fu would be randomly teleported to?

Although he was back, there was nothing he could do. Since he couldn't go back to Earth now, Chen Ling could only wander aimlessly in the Gray World...

Chen Ling had thought about taking this opportunity to find trouble with other extinction-level Calamities, but his current strength wasn't enough to solo any of them. If he attracted the Calamity of Mockery of this world, things would be troublesome again.

Helpless, Chen Ling could only restrain his aura and take a walk on the land of the Gray World.

According to his calculations, it would be at least a few months, or possibly a year or two, before the official convergence of Earth and the Gray World... However, he was now the Calamity of Mockery, his lifespan was almost endless, and he could afford to wait; it was just a bit boring.

Right... why not go to the Civilization Embers and chat with Shen Qingzhu?

He shouldn't be affected by the restart while in the Civilization Embers.

It just so happened that he had just met An Qingyu and Jiang Er. If he told him about this, perhaps he would be interested... It's just that this time, Chen Ling had nowhere to buy cigarettes.

Chen Ling thought as he walked toward the Civilization Embers. The Calamities he encountered along the way all retreated frantically as if they had seen a ghost, clearing a path for him.

Chen Ling walked for about half an hour. Just as he was calculating how far he was from the Civilization Embers, a rugged and blurry outline gradually took shape at the end of the horizon.

"...Huh?"

Chen Ling frowned. He didn't remember anything like this in the Gray World.

He changed direction and headed there almost without hesitation. As he approached, the shadows of human buildings appeared in his field of vision, stretching for an unknown number of kilometers, like a massive, magnificent super wall!

Chen Ling stopped abruptly!!

He looked at the scene before him, his pupils contracting in disbelief...

"How is this possible..."

"This is..."

"A human domain????"