Chapter 1 The Return

After many changes of hands, Nesser City finally returned to the Nesser family.

In the last days, the meaning of bloodlines was infinitely diminished. After all, human reproduction was only to pass on one's own bloodline, or perhaps some were accidental. But if everyone knew that the end was coming, and would inevitably arrive, would humans still be willing to reproduce and bring new life into this doomed world?

Regardless of what people thought, the reality was that the closer they got to the end, the lower the birth rate became. As for ancient families and sacred bloodlines, they were even more meaningless.

However, this did not include families like the Nesser family, who ruled over a sanctuary. Their existence signified the existence of the sanctuary. Even though the aristocratic system had disappeared centuries ago, people still used the ancient titles to refer to their 'rulers,' and addressed these powerful individuals who established great arrays and protected one side with loving respect.

After eliminating the evil, Su Zhou had nothing else to do. The rest was up to Elias. He left the square, not wanting to steal the other's thunder, and found a place to sit down and cultivate.

Although Su Zhou's talent was frighteningly high, he was also more diligent than most cultivators in this regard. Whenever he had free time, no matter where he was, he would meditate and cultivate, even when watching a movie in the cinema, during boring scenes.

Elias, despite his young age, was organized and well-mannered. Taking advantage of the public's cheers brought about by the killing of the three enemy elites, he immediately took a series of actions to stabilize the people's hearts.

Relying on the deterrent force brought by Su Zhou's strength, Elias first publicly proved in the square the fact that his Grand Duke's bloodline could resonate with the sanctuary's grand array. Then, he began to rectify order, reorganize the city guard, and arrest the armored soldiers who had remained in the city, attempting to interrogate them.

But regrettably, most of the armored soldiers chose to commit suicide before the interrogation. Those who did not commit suicide were all killed by soul restrictions. After death, many of them transformed into strange marine races resembling fish-men, which caused everyone to marvel.

Since interrogation was impossible, Elias could only skip this step. He took the corpses from the gallows around the Grand Duke's mansion and returned them to their respective relatives and friends. Each victim's family received corresponding compensation, and the locals who had chosen to assist the evildoers were also dragged out one by one for public trial to vent the public's anger.

In fact, it was far more than that. That night, Elias did many other things, such as sorting out the current situation of the sanctuary's grand array, calculating the losses caused by Su Zhou's city destruction, and confirming whether there were any hidden hands left by the enemy in various regions...

Among them, the most important was the destruction caused by Su Zhou. After all, half of the Grand Duke's mansion had been destroyed. One could see the expression of pain on the young man's face as he calculated the losses: "Well, at least half is left. If it weren't for Mr. Su, I wouldn't even be able to inherit this half. Overall, it's still a gain."

After consoling himself, this series of events left Elias, who was only a formal professional in the early stage, the Awakening stage, covered in sweat, his shirt soaked through.

"This little guy is doing a pretty good job,"

Su Zhou was nearby, not interfering with the other party's gradual regaining of his rights. Although this gray-eyed youth was indeed doing all this so neatly because of his deterrence, they were just in an employment relationship. Su Zhou didn't feel any dissatisfaction, and even felt a little emotional: "If I were at this age, I wouldn't be able to pull off such delicate operations."

Indeed, Su Zhou had never been good at this kind of planning. Similar things on Earth were all handled by Shao Qiming or other companions, while Su Zhou only needed to rush up and kill.

"Mr. Su Zhou, sorry to keep you waiting."

A little over half a day passed, it was 5:43 AM.

Elias, who hadn't slept all night, found Su Zhou, who was sitting aside cultivating. He perked up and said somewhat tentatively, not sure if he should disturb the other party, "I'm here to pay the promised reward..."

"Alright."

Su Zhou didn't stand on ceremony. He opened his eyes, stood up, and followed Elias into the half-destroyed Grand Duke's mansion.

Although most of the Grand Duke's mansion had been destroyed by Su Zhou's previous battle, it was still a fortress-level building. Being half-destroyed didn't affect the remaining half's normal usage. Coincidentally, the Nesser family's study was located in the back half of the Grand Duke's mansion, and it hadn't been affected by Su Zhou's attacks.

The Grand Duke's study was very large, a hemispherical hall with all the walls filled with various books. The building itself had an independent magic array defense, which appeared magnificent, exquisite, and grand.

"This, there are actually collections of spells from all four major elemental systems, and even rare derived spell books!"

After entering it, Su Zhou merely glanced around, and his eyes widened slightly, knowing that this was a treasure trove. The magic system of another world, although it was also a transcendent system that utilized 'spiritual energy,' was vastly different from the spiritual cultivation that Su Zhou often saw.

The stones from other hills can be used to polish jade. Now that Su Zhou held the inheritance of many Immortals and Gods from the Zheng Nation lineage, he needed these special and different nutrients to grow. The Nesser family's rich collection could undoubtedly greatly improve his understanding of this system!

"If I can remember and digest all the books in this study, then my understanding of the essence of spiritual energy cultivation will definitely reach a new level." Thinking this, Su Zhou couldn't help but smile.

"Mr. Su." Seeing Su Zhou's expression, Elias knew that he was very satisfied. He probably knew that Su Zhou might not understand the language of Nesser City, so he kindly reminded him, "Most magic books have the function of spiritual inheritance. If you need it, please use it."

"Alright."

Su Zhou agreed straightforwardly. With the added learning speed brought by the Fruit of Wisdom, he didn't mind learning the local language. Anyway, he could roughly master it in two or three days, and he could more deeply understand the original meaning of the magic books. But since there was spiritual inheritance, there was no need to be so troublesome.

At worst, he could read and learn at the same time, reading it several times, and he would always gain something.

"Liquefaction Technique? That's a bit interesting. This kind of spell that uses spiritual power to temporarily modify the body's structure is also related to the cultivation of the True Body." Without the slightest restraint, Su Zhou immediately picked up a water-based magic book, sat on a cashmere chair, and began to read, as if this were his own home.

He was someone who didn't know how to be polite.

On the other side, Elias's expression seemed somewhat hesitant. He thought for a while, but in the end, the young man still took off the spatial ring on his hand and handed it to Su Zhou.

"I'm sorry, I only found out after checking just now that the 'Subspace Crystal Iron' used to forge this ring is indeed not in the Nesser family's secret collection. It was an ancient treasure that our ancestor obtained by accident—but I can't go back on my word, so this spatial ring is given to Mr. Su."

Saying this, he closed his eyes and simply shoved the ring into Su Zhou's hand. One could see that Elias's ears were a little red, as if he felt ashamed for not fulfilling his promise.

"Hmm..."

Closing the magic book in his hand, Su Zhou didn't immediately refuse. He took the ring from Elias's hand and held it in his hand, carefully sensing it.

Then, he sensed that behind this seemingly small silver metal ring, there was a dead space.

Subspace Crystal Iron itself was a small subspace, a material projected into reality. Rings forged from it could only store inanimate objects. After all, there was no light, no air, and no soil in the subspace. Even bacteria couldn't survive. The forging process of the storage ring made the energy flow in this space almost stagnant. Although it could preserve something for a long time, it strangled the source of life.

However, with Yala's secret method, a personal space cultivated using Subspace Crystal Iron as raw material didn't have this restriction. The cultivator of this divine power was the sun of the personal space. If Su Zhou succeeded in cultivating it, then his excess spiritual power would pour into this personal space as a source of spiritual energy, providing it for the creatures within.

In addition, Su Zhou could also use spiritual objects like Spiritual Jade Marrow, or kill other creatures and use their corpses as fuel to supply the personal space.

Of course, merely having spiritual energy was not enough. The premise for creatures to survive was that there was soil, air, and water in the personal space, but Su Zhou was not worried about this.

"At worst, I'll go to the Kunlun Secret Realm, dig up some soil, draw some Yaochi Spiritual Liquid, and absorb some of the local spiritual energy. That way, the Wisdom Tree will also live comfortably." Su, the Scraper, Zhou thought this way, without the slightest shame of encroaching on state-owned assets. Yala sensed Su Zhou's thoughts and couldn't help but click his tongue: "This kind of matter-of-course face is truly worthy of being a Demon Lord."

"The Kunlun Secret Realm is so big, what does it matter if I dig a little!"

Replying to Yala in his heart, in reality, Su Zhou raised his head. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Elias: "Tell me, who gave you this ring? Was it your father, your mother, or other ancestors?"

While sensing the essence of the spatial ring, he also noticed an aura on the ring that was very different from the Nesser family's aura.

"Huh?" Elias, who had thought that he would be reprimanded, was stunned for a moment after hearing this somewhat abrupt question. But soon, he reacted and replied in a low voice, "It was my grandmother... when I turned 14 earlier this year and held my coming-of-age ceremony, it was a gift from my grandmother."

Even if it was a hidden piece, he was still a member of the Nesser family. Not only to ensure the loyalty of the hidden piece, but also because Elias was indeed their relative. Any member of the Nesser family who knew of the young man's existence was willing to give goodwill to their younger generation, and for their young grandson, the elder of the Nesser family was even willing to give their treasured spatial equipment.

However, in the series of assassinations a few months ago, Elias was now the only seedling left in the Nesser family—which was why the young man's expression was somewhat dim at this time.

"Well, keep it for now." Su Zhou didn't say that he didn't want it. He handed the ring back and continued to raise the magic book, saying lightly, "I'll stay in this place for a while. When I'm about to leave, if I haven't found any other Subspace Crystal Iron or other spatial equipment, then I naturally won't be polite."

Anyway, this world did have spatial materials, so there was no need to take what others loved. Su Zhou's personality was not so self-centered, and within his ability, he was willing to understand other people's feelings.

"More than this, Elias, most of those members of the mysterious organization who attacked the Nesser family are marine demi-human races. Do you have any clues about this?"

"Ah..."

The gray-eyed youth blankly took the spatial ring from Su Zhou's hand. He looked at the 'youth' with a calm expression in front of him, and a great sense of strangeness rose in his heart.

From the moment he encountered him until now, this wilderness walker had shown a feeling that was out of tune with this world everywhere.

He didn't love money, which was understandable, after all, wilderness walkers rarely used money.

He liked knowledge, which was not strange, after all, knowledge was power, and what wilderness walkers needed was power.

However, whether it was the kind attitude towards the common people, or the resolute decision to directly take action against unknown forces without any hesitation, was not something that could be explained by the identity of a wilderness walker. And the spatial equipment was even more so—clearly, finished spatial equipment was more precious, but he only needed the raw materials.

It was as if he had a ready-made feast and didn't eat it, but insisted on a pile of raw fish and shrimp.

Elias didn't know that the most important thing about the personal space that Su Zhou wanted to cultivate was the personal imprint. Spatial equipment had been shaped once after all, which was equivalent to being branded with a layer of imprint. If he wanted to use it as raw material for cultivation, it would undoubtedly be twice the effort with half the result. If there was no choice, he didn't intend to do so.

"Thank you very much for your generosity and tolerance!" In any case, Elias gratefully nodded and saluted Su Zhou, and then he answered Su Zhou's question: "As for the source of those enemies, this, I don't really know..."

Saying this, Elias's tone was obviously also puzzled: "Nesser City was once part of the Thousand Lakes Kingdom, and indeed, there are mermaids with human bodies and fish tails, and fish-men with fish heads and human bodies in the Thousand Lakes Kingdom. They are among the most prosperous races in the Thousand Lakes Kingdom besides humans. But the strange octopus-like creatures before, and the forms that looked like giant shrimp, are ones I've never seen before. What's more, both mermaids and fish-men went extinct hundreds of years ago."

"However, in ancient legends, it is said that in the era when there was an endless lake called the 'Ocean' in the world, there were indeed various strange marine creatures in the sea who formed countries and cities and established prosperous civilizations. The current mermaids and fish-men are just a part of that huge empire—of course, it's just a legend. To be honest, except for the fish-men in the Thousand Lakes Kingdom, who still have stories of the Endless Sea circulating, other races basically think it's delusion."

Speaking of this, Elias seemed to find it funny, and he casually loosened his collar to breathe, shaking his head and saying, "Speaking of which, what about the whole world being surrounded by water, and most life living in the water, this is indeed only a legend and delusion that fish-men would have."

However, Elias, who thought he was just telling a joke, unexpectedly saw that Su Zhou, who was sitting on the cashmere chair, suddenly became serious.

"No sea?"

He slowly stood up and asked the young man in front of him in confusion: "You guys here, there's actually no sea now?"

"Ah? Yes, yes."

Elias was only 160 cm tall, while Su Zhou's natural height had increased to 182 cm after the development brought about by cultivation. Of course, with Su Zhou's current cultivation, he could become taller, and he could become shorter, but in any case, when Su Zhou stood up, the natural spiritual pressure and aura subconsciously made Elias take a step back.

Swallowing, the gray-eyed youth didn't know why Su Zhou was suddenly so serious, and he nodded somewhat perplexedly: "Tartadis (World Name) is originally composed of endless plains and mountains, lakes and rivers are just embellishments... The Earth Father God's Book of Creation indeed writes it that way, and it's also the truth."

"Earth Father God and Book of Creation, huh... well, first show me the map of this world." Su Zhou didn't have any intention of pretending to be a person from this world, and he unhesitatingly asked for a map, and then, like an RPG player who skipped most of the plot settings, he began to ask Elias about the settings of this world: "By the way, if you have time, please explain to me what exactly is the specific situation of this world—whether it's the Earth Father God, the Book of Creation, or other things, just treat me as an ignorant recluse and explain this world to me."

"Okay, Mr. Su." Although he felt strange, Elias nodded somewhat perplexedly and agreed: "No problem."