CHAPTER 246: SIMILAR TO FORBIDDEN SEA

Given Carlotta’s previous display of power, no one dared to object anymore. Even the number one expert in the world, despite having the advantage of rank, had been beaten like this, what more could the others possibly say?

Carlotta looked at the group and said, "Next, we’ll integrate all the Impressions. No one is to act alone. If necessary, reveal their true nature as Impressions to them."

"Yes."

Sheena, Brady, Lymes, and others quickly acknowledged.

The previous battle had been more than enough to earn their genuine respect and loyalty towards Carlotta.

Soon, groups from other worlds sprang into action. As for the people belonging to World One, Carlotta had also spoken to them, advising that they avoid exploring the Central Ruins for now if possible, since the ruins had changed and the danger level had increased significantly.

People react differently, no one can predict what choices each will make. However, Carlotta didn’t see the need to tightly control them either. Such matters had to be decided by themselves.

Finally, Carlotta called over Sheena, Brady, and a few other strongest members. "I still have some matters to attend to, I need to go deeper into the Central Ruins, into the depths of the Divine Domain. You can wait for me here in this city."

"We understand."

Sheena and the others raised no objections.

Carlotta had already uncovered most of the city’s secrets and successfully recruited numerous Impressions, which might prove useful in the future. But she herself needed to keep advancing into the Central Ruins.

’The god left behind more than just impressions...’

Carlotta thought to herself.

The entire world was God’s testing ground.

And the Central Ruins were undoubtedly the core area of this testing ground. A single city was merely a small part of it.

After giving her instructions, Carlotta set off with those she intended to bring.

And naturally, the only ones she brought were Amelia and the High Priestess. She didn’t plan on bringing Selina any further, even though the girl still wanted to join her adventure. But Carlotta firmly refused.

"The place I’m heading next, you can’t go. I won’t have the spare attention to protect you."

Carlotta said seriously.

"But Amelia’s going, and her strength is even lower than mine!"

Selina still wanted to broaden her horizons.

"Though her strength is lower, she’s stronger than you."

Carlotta couldn’t help but laugh.

"I don’t believe it!"

Selina refused to accept it.

She thought one overpowered figure like Carlotta was already too much, Amelia shouldn’t be similarly broken either.

In response, Amelia herself stepped forward, politely inviting Selina to fight. Selina didn’t decline.

In the end, without much effort, Amelia, holding the strength of a peak tier Resonator, defeated Selina, an early tier Weaver.

How utterly disillusioned Selina felt was her own business. In any case, Carlotta and her two companions set off.

As they left the city, Carlotta asked, "Amelia, you’ve already become a Weaver?"

Amelia nodded. "I’ll do my best to keep up with you. It’s just... I always seem to fall slightly behind."

"Not at all. You’re truly a genius."

Carlotta smiled.

Next, naturally, they had to fulfill their original purpose, following the guidance of the Lion’s Key to seek information related to the god.

Beyond the city, mountains rose and fell, thick with vegetation stretching into the distance.

Carlotta asked the High Priestess, "Back in that city, seeing all those traces of the past, did you remember anything?"

The High Priestess gazed into the distance, eyes deep. "Yes, I recall some things."

Carlotta perked up. "What did you remember?"

The High Priestess sobbed. "Nothing particularly important. I remember some old acquaintances from that cemetery, and fragments of memories with them. I’d forgotten much before, but this time I’ve recalled a little. Just everyday matters, tea meetings we participated in together, travels, mentoring juniors, attending audiences with the god..."

"Was there nothing useful from the audience with the god?"

Carlotta pressed, unwilling to give up.

"I can only recall going together to attend the audience, but what happened during it, I can’t remember."

The High Priestess shook her head, regret evident in her heart.

Seeing this, Carlotta could do nothing.

She took out the Lion’s Key. Its glow points toward the distance. No one knew how much deeper into the Central Ruins they’d have to go.

They could only keep walking.

After crossing several mountains, they spotted a ruin. But after exploring it briefly, they found nothing, the ruin had already been looted, leaving behind nothing.

So they continued onward.

For the next several days, the trio walked without pause.

Along the way, ruins were numerous, some already explored, others undiscovered.

Yet regardless of the type, very little useful information could be found.

Even ruins untouched by others weren’t necessarily left by the god. They could have been made by Exalted or even Weavers.

In the distant past, thousands of people from other worlds had once arrived in this region under God’s guidance. The traces they left in that ancient era were now what remains as ruins.

During this journey, the High Priestess even sensed familiarity in some of the ruins, traces left by her former friends.

Finally, ten days later, they discovered an important notebook within a ruin.

"Why did the creation of the first batch of Impressions succeed so remarkably, while all attempts subsequently failed completely? Not even god could solve this problem. We don’t know what to do."

The tone of the notebook was extremely heavy.

It was a note left by an unfamiliar Exalted, one from a later generation, relative to the High Priestess.

The information mentioned in the note was extremely important. Carlotta’s expression grew serious as she read it.

"Creating Impressions was this difficult even for a god? No wonder all the Impressions we saw in the city previous were from the same era, subsequent attempts actually failed?"

Carlotta murmured with some emotion.

Besides this, the notebook recorded other details about the creation of Impressions, describing certain parts of the process. From this, it became clear that only a god could possibly create an Impression.

Because the process involves divine creation, the binding of life, and other complex matters.

In the previous city, Carlotta had seen numerous Impressions. No matter how she looked at them, they were indistinguishable from their original counterparts, living, breathing people, fully normal lifeforms.

What the god had done was, in essence creating, entirely new life.

Finally, one last sentence remained in the notebook.

"Are impression entities truly created in preparation for some possible war? If it really comes to something even gods must take seriously, what help could these impression entities possibly provide? Or is it all just an act of divine mercy, allowing exceptional individuals from various worlds to be preserved in another form?"

Who could possibly know the true thoughts of a god?

The notebook’s author suspected that gods were merely preserving sparks of life. Since preserving a person’s true original form across long stretches of time was too difficult, they instead created impression entities as a means of preservation.

They weren’t born for battle. They were merely sparks, continuations of life.

Of course, this was merely the author’s personal speculation.

Yet after reading the notebook, Carlotta and the others felt that this theory held some truth. Perhaps things really were just as the author had thought.

"With even gods having perished, what exactly could a group of impression entities possibly handle? We should just let them marry and have children."

Carlotta muttered.

The High Priestess, hearing her words, fell speechless.

But such a notion wasn’t entirely wrong.

After leaving the ruins, Carlotta and the others continued onward, delving deeper into the Central Ruins.

The deeper they went, the stranger things became.

Sometimes they’d be walking normally when suddenly the void itself would twist into a monstrous beast, opening its jaws to devour them. If they weren’t careful, they might end up lost in another space.

"These are spatial fissures. In areas where space is unstable, they appear unpredictably. Extremely dangerous."

The High Priestess made the judgment.

Besides spatial fissures, all sorts of dangers existed within the Central Ruins.

In one forest, the trees would suddenly go berserk, tearing their roots from the soil and charging to attack. Each tree possessed strength nearly equal to a Resonator’s, utterly absurd.

Yet this state would only last a brief moment. Afterward, the trees would calm down, re-root themselves, and return to normal. No matter how thoroughly they were inspected, the trees appeared completely ordinary, showing no trace of anything unusual.

Elsewhere, mysterious footprints would inexplicably appear in the soil, stretching forward into the distance. But if you followed them, you’d find nothing at the end.

The High Priestess said these might be traces left behind from someone who walked here in ancient times. Due to the overwhelming divine presence in this sacred realm, such imprints had remained.

Later, they discovered blood-stained handprints inexplicably appearing on the cliff face of a valley, looking extremely terrifying.

This time, even the High Priestess didn’t know what caused it. The scene was bizarre, and many things had become impossible to deduce after the passage of time. Everything was shrouded in the unknown.

Along their journey, they encountered numerous strange phenomena, many of which were incomprehensible, odd, and highly dangerous.

Many of these dangers posed severe threats even to Weavers. One misstep, and they might perish here.

"Speaking of which, aren’t these bizarre phenomena somewhat similar to what’s found in the Forbidden Sea?"

Carlotta murmured.

Amelia immediately nodded, "Yes, the Forbidden Sea is exactly like this, bizarre phenomena constantly occur there, which is why it’s considered forbidden. Could it possibly be related to the gods? But the evolution of the Forbidden Sea isn’t that ancient. By then, all gods should have already perished."

This question puzzled both of them.

The High Priestess asked, confused, "Forbidden Sea? What place is that?"

She had only recently arrived in this world. Though she knew much, she hadn’t come across information about the Forbidden Sea before.

Carlotta then explained the situation of the Forbidden Sea.

Originally, their world wasn’t limited to just the Mage Path, the Knight Path, or the Alchemist Path. There also existed a Faith Path, located on the Central Continent.

But later, no one knew exactly what had happened, something terrifying occurred, leading to a devastating war on the Central Continent. The entire landmass sank beneath the sea. As for practitioners of the Faith Path, whether by coincidence or something else, not a single one remained on any other continent. Thus, the Faith Path completely vanished.

With the Central Continent’s sinking, the surrounding sea transformed into a region filled with terrifying phenomena. One bizarre occurrence after another unfolded, with no one able to explain why these strange events plagued the sea. All who attempted to uncover the truth failed, and most were buried forever within those waters.

Over time, the sea became taboo. No one dared approach it anymore, fearing its misfortune might cling to them, bringing uncontrollable disaster.

Carlotta and Amelia had spent a long time on the Moonlight Sea and had approached the Forbidden Sea several times, but never once dared enter. The sea’s horror was enough to stop anyone in their tracks.

After Carlotta finished explaining, the High Priest fell into deep thought.

"Perhaps it truly is connected to the gods. We should go and see, if we get the chance."

The High Priestess said.

"But the destruction of the Central Continent and the birth of the Forbidden Sea are well-documented in history. By that time, the gods had already been gone for countless ages."

Carlotta said.

The High Priestess didn’t understand either, and could only say, "The gods may have perished long ago, but perhaps they left something behind, something that caused the continent’s transformation. After all, what force besides a god could possibly cause an entire continent to collapse and sink? I’m Exalted, and I couldn’t do it. You agree, don’t you?"

Carlotta fell silent upon hearing this.

She was incredibly strong now, yet completely destroying an entire continent and sinking it into the ocean was beyond her capabilities. A continent was simply too vast. What kind of immense power would it take to accomplish such a feat?

And the High Priestess herself admitted she couldn’t do it, she was the strongest being below the gods!

The entire world was the gods’ experimental ground. Even if the Central Ruins were perhaps the core of their experiments, maybe the gods had conducted other experiments elsewhere.

For instance, the sunken Central Continent.

Even the distant Southern Continent might hold something. If they had the chance, they should go and see.

For now, though, they first needed to uncover the secret hidden at the location pointed to by the Lion Key.

That Pirate King from long ago had quite the remarkable fortune.