Chapter 488: Depletion

“The Arcane bloodline had been drained. This person had decent talent, but draining their Arcane bloodline left them completely ruined.”

After examining the guard, Zuo Meng instantly recognized the cause of death.

In this era of Arcane depletion, the more talented they were, the more gruesome their deaths became.

Passing the guard, Zuo Meng advanced further. The path grew littered with corpses, while survivors clung weakly to life. Severe cases showed brain damage and erased Arcane memories. The sight chilled both Zuo Meng and Jones – what enemy had the Arcane Masters angered to warrant such root-level annihilation? At this rate, Arcane legends might vanish entirely within three centuries.

“Nothing left. No valuables remain.”

Zuo Meng circled the Floating City ruins, finding only corpses. He’d hoped for clues during this transformative phase, but discovered nothing useful.

Mission: Find the Lost Arcane Civilization.

This mission now seemed unachievable.

Not only had he failed to uncover ancient history, he couldn’t even determine the current catastrophe’s cause. He’d expected victors to emerge and claim rewards like in human power struggles, but reality proved different. Perhaps their enemies never considered Arcane Masters worth noticing, or unknowingly destroyed them through casual actions.

“Will this depletion… spread further?”

Jones stared at the dried corpses, dread coiling in his gut.

The crisis affected him more than Zuo Meng. While Zuo Meng’s foundation was Martial Arts, Jones’ owl form was Arcane-made. Recent attempts to contact his kind revealed severed connections, with only staticky radio fragments responding. This confirmed Arcane-modified beings were deteriorating too – at this rate, his fate looked grim.

His old fantasies of peaceful death now seemed childish.

This world!

Since when did it care?

All things were equal in its gaze!

“Move. Solutions exist somewhere.”

After their long companionship, Zuo Meng considered Jones half-friend. Helping him mattered, but more crucially, the Arcane collapse shook Zuo Meng deeply. If Martial Arts faced similar denial next, would he too die forgotten in ruins like these Masters?

Zuo Meng returned to royalty.

The three Sword Saints reappeared too, having failed to breach the Arcane radiation zone. Their awe for Zuo Meng intensified, further cementing the Aige family’s rule – even as Valen slipped into senility.

Zuo Meng stayed quiet while stars raged.

Few dimensions had protectors like Zuo Meng’s Snow Wolf Empire. Fewer still matched its weakness.

The Floating City’s prime saw countless dimensions suppressed, some nearing its level. For top-tier realms, the City wasn’t mere myth – some regularly visited it. When the catastrophe struck, these powers plundered Arcane legacies, shattering celestial peace.

War raged for 150 years.

A new order emerged afterward.

The Floating City era died. The Radiant Alliance and Mechanical Empire rose as dual superpowers. The faith-driven Alliance summoned otherworldly beings, while the tech-focused Empire deployed mechanical swarms to match them.

Amid chaos, Zuo Meng meditated.

150 years drained Zuo Meng’s lifespan alarmingly. With thirty years left, he faced crisis – especially since single experiments now took multiple years. Thirty years couldn’t cover one proper trial.

“What’s this mission’s true meaning?”

Zuo Meng hadn’t wasted the century.

He gradually understood system missions weren’t rewards but guides. The system never issued impossible tasks. He’d likely misapproached “Find Lost Arcane Civilization” from the start. After exhausting all alternatives – collecting Arcane relics, studying ancient texts, replicating experiments – he finally grasped the truth.

Find the lost Arcane civilization!

The core was searching.

The lost civilization wasn’t in people or books. The mission pointed to a location – its true goal being to lead him there. Understanding this, Zuo Meng abandoned his laboratory.

The Aige family no longer concerned him.

After a century, Valen had died. New generations viewed Zuo Meng with fearful awe rather than kinship, only offering tedious schemes. Better to leave such nuisances unseen!

“Brother, I’m leaving. I’ll return with salvation.”

Zuo Meng glanced at the frozen owl specimen – Jones, the simpleton bird who’d followed him from Floating City ruins. 150 years meant little to Zuo Meng, but comprised Jones’ entire lifespan. Actually, Jones had collapsed eighty years prior. Despite avoiding the Floating City, the Arcane collapse still eroded his modified biology. His century-life expectancy crumbled at sixty-plus. Lacking solutions, Zuo Meng had cryogenically preserved him.