Chapter 494: The Future Is Written by Me

This marked the final moment of calamity. Within the entire Floating City, all Arcane Masters except Aks had died. Aks now stood as the sole remaining Arcane Master there.

“Aige? He actually survived.”

Unaware of calamity’s true horror, Aks first felt joy at his friend’s survival. As he felt relieved, memories of Aige clutching the “calamity” resurfaced in his mind—where memories persist, calamity never fades.

“That dark mass…”

Danger approached unnoticed as Aks became increasingly fixated on the “calamity.”

High above, Zuo Meng—who had mostly analyzed the situation—detected Aks’s presence. Since he considered Aks something of a friend after recently staying at his home, he casually extended aid. A finger flick sent ripples of Distortion through the air, an invisible force seeping into Aks’s mind to fade the “calamity” from his memories.

“Huh?!”

Aks halted mid-step. When he tried recalling, only mental fog remained, as though he’d forgotten something vital.

“What did I forget?”

He distinctly remembered seeing something earlier and deciding to investigate. Yet after a few steps, his memory blurred again. This incomprehensible force made his skull throb—the harder he struggled to remember, the more frantic he grew.

“What was it?!”

An insistent voice seemed to urge Aks not to forget the vision, yet the mental fog blocked it completely. This contradiction sowed madness within him. Over time, this conflict would escalate until insanity became inevitable.

Memory versus oblivion!

Memory stemmed from power left by the old Sir Sage, who believed Zuo Meng’s capture of calamity could inspire Arcane Masters as crucial research material. As the world’s peak power level, Sir Sage-tier energy—amplified by the old Sir Sage’s life sacrifice—carried rule-like authority. Aks, merely an Arcane Master, naturally succumbed to this influence. Normally, he’d have joined others in analyzing the “ink” to unravel calamity’s secrets… and die like the rest.

But Zuo Meng disrupted this cycle.

By injecting “oblivion” into the process, he severed Aks’s recollection.

This left Aks in peril.

An ordinary Arcane Master trapped between Sir Sage and Creator-level forces was fortunate not to have gone instantly mad.

“Go back… Find the Former Principal.”

Clutching his splitting head, Aks clung to his last shred of sanity and staggered toward the Arcane Academy. There resided Floating City’s most revered Sir Sage—Arcane Principal Dolo, the elderly sage who’d witnessed Zuo Meng seize calamity before dying. Aks didn’t realize his perceived lifeline had long perished. The compulsion to remember came from the dead Principal’s lingering power.

Unaware of Aks’s plight after intervening, Zuo Meng left this timeline.

The sheepskin book world’s truth became clear after deciphering the ink.

Ink!

This was the second real world’s power.

The first world granted Origin Rules that assimilated external realms, enabling Zuo Meng to weave regulations. The second world permitted writing—inscribing prosperity atop rules. In gaming terms: the first world provided code, the second offered visuals. With both, only the platform remained!

Barring surprises, the third real world would contain this missing force.

Its manifestation remained unclear.

“Time to depart.”

Exiting the river of time, Zuo Meng entered an odd state.

He remained in the world, yet its inhabitants couldn’t perceive him. He could influence anything at will—appearing anywhere, anytime.

“This power is odd. I simply don’t know how to wield it.”

Zuo Meng clutched a swirling mass of pitch-black ink in his palm. This ink represented his greatest harvest from this journey, the ultimate prize from his world expedition. What puzzled him was how unlike the bamboo scroll world’s power that naturally fused with his Origin Rules, this ink remained separate – an external force requiring experimentation to master.

“Never mind. I’ll test it gradually.”

Storing the ink, Zuo Meng prepared to depart.

CRACK!

With his every step, the world fractured like breaking glass. His body began dissolving into stardust. To any observer, it would appear Aige had spontaneously combusted – flames erasing all traces of “Aige” from existence, while Zuo Meng himself ascended with newfound power beyond this realm.

Behind the dimensional gate,

Within an eerie hall,

A thick tome materialized amidst Western-style architecture, its pages flipping autonomously under celestial glimmers. Characters emerged with each turned leaf, coalescing and multiplying until they formed a human figure.

Zuo Meng stood complete.

When the book finally settled on its last page, the frozen image showed the Arcane civilization’s collapse – precisely when Zuo Meng had originally departed. His subsequent journey to the Floating City millennia earlier constituted revisiting prior chapters, not new developments.

“Back at last.”

Zuo Meng’s eyes opened as his essence steadily returned. Like his bamboo scroll world experience, he’d entered the sheepskin book world through consciousness – though this dive proved deeper and more treacherous.

Studying the sheepskin book, a sudden realization struck:

‘The exit point marks the story’s conclusion. Suppose…’

“What if I keep writing?”

The ink in his hand seemed to pulse with understanding. This Second Reality’s purpose became clearer.

Words shape tomorrow!

As if answering his thoughts, two blank pages manifested after the book’s apparent end. Dipping his finger in the ink, Zuo Meng inscribed:

‘After millennia, Arcane tides resurge! The lost civilization stirs…

Amidst the stars, an unknown adventurer unseals a painting –

A hand emerges from the canvas…

The Arcane Emperor Aks returns!’