Chapter 278: Gate of Truth
Through fantasy transmutation, alchemy raised his proficiency without limit.
And because proficiency rose without limit, alchemy itself was lifted in an instant into an infinitely high field.
Both were indispensable if he wanted to reach the Realm of Infinite Concept Transcendence.
Without the proficiency template’s infinite upgrades, the alchemy of Legend of the Empire could never have broken past the limits of this world on its own.
Left foot stepping on right foot.
Right foot stepping on left foot.
A spiral climb into the sky.
There was no better way to describe it.
Alchemy already possessed the ability to transmute concepts. After being infinitely raised by the proficiency template, Caelum stepped straight into the Realm of Infinite Concept Transcendence.
His perspective rose without limit.
The surrounding space and time shrank without limit.
In that instant, the world of Legend of the Empire floated in Caelum’s palm like a drop of water in a vast sea.
He looked around.
The deep void stretched endlessly.
The distance between story worlds could not be measured by the naked eye. In truth, it could not even be observed that way.
A mass of indescribable black matter drifted through the boundless void, twisted and strange.
It was an existence that had completely Transcended a single story world.
Caelum’s appearance violently shook the void near the infinite story worlds. The black thing could not help looking curiously toward the world of Legend of the Empire.
The instant it looked directly at Caelum, it burst apart.
Endless pressure crushed that indescribable black life into nothing.
Both were existences that had Transcended story worlds, but Caelum was fundamentally different from other Transcendent beings.
The moment he Transcended a story world, he had directly touched the ceiling of the infinite story worlds.
Infinite Concept Transcendence.
This time was the same.
And yet.
Even though he had clearly stepped into Infinite Concept Transcendence, his proficiency was still rising wildly. The system prompts on the template flashed nonstop.
Alchemy: Proficiency plus 100,000,000,000,000,000,000
Alchemy: Proficiency plus 100,000,000,000,000,000,000
Alchemy: Proficiency plus 100,000,000,000,000,000,000
Alchemy: Proficiency plus 100,000,000,000,000,000,000
...
Alchemy Proficiency: ???
On the proficiency template, alchemy proficiency could no longer display a concrete number.
Only three question marks remained, filled with a sense of infinity.
"In terms of Realm, I have indeed stepped into Infinite Concept Transcendence. And from the look of it, this really is the ceiling of the infinite story worlds. But..."
Caelum was somewhat puzzled.
His strength still seemed to be rising.
His Realm had already reached the limit. He had clearly arrived at the top, yet he could still feel himself growing stronger, unable to stop at all.
It was utterly unreasonable.
At this moment, even if another Infinite Concept Transcendent stood before him, Caelum had the confidence to sweep away all enemies.
On the surface, he still seemed to be an Infinite Concept Transcendent.
In reality, his essence was undergoing infinite transformation and infinite elevation.
The kind that could not be stopped.
Forget one Infinite Concept Transcendent. Even a group of them would be slaughtered.
An Infinite Concept Transcendent could not die?
That concept would be broken in Caelum’s hands.
Under such circumstances, even Caelum could not tell exactly how strong he was, nor did he know what he had become.
In any case, he had become far beyond the standard.
Caelum’s eyes lit slightly.
Could he seize control of the game system with this power?
After thinking it over, he still chose not to act now.
According to the plan, he would test his hand on the hostile system first.
If he failed to deal with the hostile system and cut off his own retreat in the process, that would be troublesome.
He descended back into the world of Legend of the Empire.
But Caelum appeared inside a pure white space.
Before him stood an enormous stone gate.
Carved upon the stone gate was an inverted tree.
"The Gate of Truth."
This was the ultimate mystery that existed only in legend.
It was also the lifelong pursuit of countless alchemists.
As long as one pushed open this gate, one could embrace infinite truth.
"It has been a long time since anyone came here. After two thousand years, you are the first alchemist to arrive."
A ball of white light bloomed before the Gate of Truth and formed a small white sphere.
On that sphere was only a crescent shaped smiling mouth.
It looked especially strange.
Before reaching Infinite Concept Transcendence, Caelum had always had a question.
If the ancient alchemists had reached the level of fantasy transmutation, then they should all have been extremely powerful.
Why had they vanished completely by this era?
Now he understood.
Caelum said, "The ancient alchemists who disappeared all entered this gate and became part of this world’s truth, did they not?"
"Completely correct!"
The smiling ball of light smiled even wider, its voice carrying a seductive tone.
"Opening the Gate of Truth is the ultimate pursuit of every alchemist. You long to touch truth as well, do you not? Then push open this gate."
Caelum answered with interest.
"What if I do not?"
"Hehe."
The smiling ball of light did not answer.
Its smile only turned sinister.
Then the Gate of Truth suddenly opened.
Countless black hands stretched out in an instant, wrapped around Caelum, and dragged him into the gate.
The Gate of Truth slammed shut.
It was as if nothing had happened.
The smiling ball of light let out a dark laugh.
"Becoming part of truth. That is the final fate of every alchemist."
Alchemy came from within the Gate of Truth.
Its final result was destined to return there.
Before truth, alchemists had absolutely no power to resist.
This was the truth behind the extinction of alchemists.
Just as the smiling ball of light thought everything had settled, a heavy impact erupted.
Caelum punched through the Gate of Truth from within and shattered it.
His hand reached out, grabbed the smiling ball of light, and dragged it together with him into the endless truth inside the gate.
"How is this possible?"
The smiling ball of light was caught completely off guard. When it reacted, terror flooded it.
"No... no, I do not want to go back inside. Let me go. I do not want to go back!"
Amid its screams, the smiling ball of light was completely swallowed by truth.
Caelum, however, walked out from within unharmed.
The damaged Gate of Truth returned to its original state, then disappeared.
Caelum returned to the real world.
He no longer intended to waste time.
With a single thought, Javier, who was thousands of kilometers away, suddenly exploded into a mist of blood.
Mission complete
Reward obtained: Universal Game World Revival Gem
After Javier died, he immediately returned to the hostile system through some kind of connection with it.
At the same time, Caelum captured that connection.
His figure flashed.
He chased after Javier at once.
A moment later, Javier opened his eyes.
Only then did he discover that he had not returned to his own world at all.
Instead, the hostile system had revived him and thrown him into an unknown world.
"What is going on?"
His face was blank. He had no idea what had happened.
Right then, the world barrier before him was torn open.
Caelum walked out from within, his expression calm.
In an instant, Javier felt a chill crawl across his entire body.
"Owl?"
What was happening?
No way someone had followed him back along the connection, right?