398: Chapter 397 Returning to Reality

"The Dragon Turtle, wake up!!"

Chu Xuan's roar shook the surroundings.

The hideous mouth, which had been blotting out the sky, suddenly halted. Madness still lingered in its giant eyes, but a hint of confusion had emerged.

"Tuan... zi... The Dragon Turtle?"

A dull voice slowly echoed from the dragon's head. It seemed to have stirred ancient memories, as illusory scenes instantly flickered above it.

These scenes flickered and changed continuously.

No matter how the scenes changed, the figure of a woman always remained, and voices occasionally drifted out from the illusory images.

Sometimes laughing, sometimes angry, sometimes gentle, and sometimes cold.

"The Dragon Turtle, I'll call you The Dragon Turtle from now on..."

"The Dragon Turtle, you've been naughty again. As punishment, you're not allowed to sleep on the bed today!"

"The Dragon Turtle, you're amazing! Since I got you, my strength has improved by leaps and bounds. At the next clan competition, I'll definitely take first place and make my father see me in a new light..."

"The Dragon Turtle, in this vast world, there's only the two of us left now..."

"The Dragon Turtle..."

"The Dragon Turtle..."

Countless voices overlapped, and the Dragon Turtle suddenly let out a long roar toward the sky.

The sound dispersed the clouds. Lightning and thunder in the sky grew more intense, and countless deep spatial cracks flickered. The wind and waves surged, tossing the large ship like a piece of duckweed.

Many on the ship had already gone mad when the Dragon Turtle approached. Although this long roar was directed at the sky, many people still trembled violently, bleeding from their seven orifices.

Some of the relatively weaker ones were even shaken to pieces, turning into a mist of blood.

Amidst the towering waves, Chu Xuan stood in the air, stepping on Black Flame, with the Black Flame spear in his hand ready to strike.

However, following the long roar...

The eerie patterns spreading across the Dragon Turtle's body quickly receded, and the ulceration on its face disappeared. The humanoid outline between its brows, which hadn't fully manifested, also vanished without a trace.

A rain of golden light instantly spread out, abruptly stopping the ship caught in the waves and even re-condensing the figures that had turned into blood mist.

Flesh and blood reorganized, and life was restored!

Those creatures who had previously fallen into madness, with their bodies undergoing eerie mutations and growing various strange organs, also regained their calm under this rain of light.

It was as if everything that had happened before never occurred.

Only this large ship remained lifted by the golden light, floating in the air.

Everyone watched this scene in shock. The dragon's head, larger than a mountain peak, was right before their eyes, leaving them stunned.

However, the dragon's giant eyes were fixed on only one person.

Chu Xuan had regained his freedom and control over himself. The Fire of Nirvana, which far exceeded his current Rank, also disappeared at this moment.

It was as if all his previous changes had appeared because of the life-and-death pressure exerted on him by the Dragon Turtle's mutation.

Now that the Dragon Turtle had returned to its original state, those changes lost their target.

Chu Xuan slowly landed back on the deck.

Unlike the others who were shocked by the Dragon Turtle, his heart was currently surging with turbulent waves.

"Was that Fire of Nirvana just now... a self-protection mechanism in the face of a life-and-death crisis? No! I clearly felt a foreign will just now..."

Chu Xuan lowered his eyes slightly and muttered, "In that state, it seemed as long as I killed this Dragon Turtle, I could... no, it wasn't about killing the Dragon Turtle. I couldn't have killed it!"

Regarding the many thoughts about to dissipate in his mind, Chu Xuan was certain they did not belong to him, especially one thought that was particularly strong.

Chu Xuan spoke subconsciously, "Under the pressure of death accompanied by a strong eerie aura, I will enter that state until I am eventually replaced..."

His whole body went cold. Chu Xuan suddenly opened his eyes and grit his teeth. "There must be something wrong with the Purifier sequence!"

At this moment, Chu Xuan once again remembered the few minutes of delay after waking up from his previous dreams.

Except for the first time when he went to the bank to withdraw money, in subsequent wake-ups, he had stared at his own reflection in the river every time.

That slightly strange expression...

"Now it seems it wasn't sleepwalking at all! Because... the one controlling my body then wasn't me at all!"

"Who was that person?"

A shadow continued to rise in his heart.

Chu Xuan subconsciously thought about how he had been influenced by the Phantom Demon to choose the same sequence, which was so similar to the current situation.

From a minor figure, he had worked hard to reach this stage, suppressing the captains of various cities, deterring all sides, and becoming famous nationwide.

It seemed like infinite glory.

But it seemed he had always been walking on a pre-set path.

Would he ultimately just be doing the work for someone else's benefit?

"Could it be that something went wrong with Future Tang Zheng?"

"Just as the Phantom Demon once said, Future Tang Zheng might not exist, and the other party only appeared based on my Talent..."

"Right, in the previous dream, [Future Tang Zheng] mentioned that after returning from the War Dragon World, he had a communication tool that could keep sending messages as long as he wasn't dead, but I never replied. Could this be the reason?"

In this instant, Chu Xuan felt his thoughts surging, yet he couldn't grasp the main point.

Chu Xuan desperately wanted to enter the dream as soon as possible.

He had too many questions to ask [Future Tang Zheng].

At the same time, he also planned to verify an idea of his in the next dream.

Suddenly.

A slight warm current flowed into his whole body. Chu Xuan felt comfortable all over, and even his tense nerves couldn't help but relax at this moment.

His thoughts returned to reality.

Chu Xuan gently raised his head and met those giant eyes.

"The Dragon Turtle... are you Xiao Luowei's turtle? The Spirit Treasure, the Immortal Longevity Turtle!" Chu Xuan spoke softly.

The dragon's head nodded slowly.

Seeing this, although he already had the answer in his heart, Chu Xuan still felt that all this was truly too mysterious.

"This Dragon Turtle is clearly what The Dragon Turtle looks like after growing up. Could it be that using the random teleportation scrolls in my dreams didn't just take me to another world, but also back to the past?"

Chu Xuan found it somewhat unbelievable.

Just then, the Dragon Turtle spoke again, its voice drawn out: "Chu Xuan, I remember you..."

Hearing this, Chu Xuan's eyes suddenly narrowed: "You remember me?"

It was one thing for the dreams to be continuous, but it actually affected reality?

Chu Xuan was shocked. While finding it unbelievable, he also felt that if he could truly go back to the past through dreams and influence the present...

Then, that place was very likely his chance to turn things around.

Wait!

Chu Xuan's expression suddenly turned stern as he stared at the Dragon Turtle and asked, "How do you know my name?"

In the dream, although he had talked a lot with Xiao Luowei, he had mostly just listened and hadn't said much about himself, including his own name.

And now, the Dragon Turtle actually stated it directly.

What was the reason for this?

The Dragon Turtle did not answer.

The golden light around it faded as it slowly sank toward the seabed, leaving only a long cry echoing in Chu Xuan's ears:

"Chu Xuan, help me... find my master, tell her... I've been here, waiting for her..."

As the last word fell.

The Dragon Turtle had completely disappeared from everyone's sight, leaving only the giant mountain like an island, with peaks piercing the sky.

Boom!

Without the support of the golden light, the large ship fell heavily into the water.

"Eh?" Yilan suddenly showed a look of great joy: "The Tide-Crossing Ark is no longer taking on water; it can float freely on the sea!"

"Don't be happy too soon! The space here is about to shatter, we're in danger!" Lie Shan's cry of alarm rang out, and everyone noticed that there were even more lightning bolts in the sky.

Those weren't lightning bolts at all.

They were spatial cracks, one after another.

The sound of booming and cracking continued.

A commotion broke out on the deck.

They had just escaped danger; were they going to die again?

Many orcs and dwarves were almost in despair.

Moro jumped up and shouted, "Quick, go toward the teleportation array! This is our last chance. If we can't repair it and return to the Ancestral Star, we'll all die here!"

"It seems that's the only way!" Yilan immediately changed direction and asked, "Moro, how much confidence do you have?"

Moro grit his teeth and said, "Only thirty percent, but there's no other choice. Even if it's only ten percent, we have to do this!"

Lie Shan suddenly rubbed the beast-tooth necklace around his neck. With a flash of light, he took out a purple stone block engraved with complex patterns and asked, "What if I give you this?!"

"What? You actually have a Magic Stone?" Moro was both surprised and delighted. "With a Magic Stone like this, I have at least fifty percent confidence!"

"Good, then we'll go back!" Lie Shan roared loudly. "We will definitely be able to return to the Ancestral Star!"

"Back to the Ancestral Star!"

"We will definitely be able to go back!"

The orcs and dwarves shouted with bloodshot eyes, emboldening themselves with these roars.

At the same time, Fatty Hu's face looked extremely grim as he said, "Boss Chu, the time is long past, but there's no repulsion force. We might not be able to go back!"

Tan Ziming, Su Qiaoqiao, and Xu Shuya also had grim expressions.

"Are we going to follow them to the so-called Ancestral Star? Although I don't mind, they just said themselves that the chance of repairing the teleportation array isn't absolute, just fifty-fifty..." Tan Ziming's expression wavered.

"Don't panic, we can go back. But everyone be careful, the space here is already unstable. We will encounter spatial turbulence on the way back, so everyone prepare your best defenses!"

Lin Jie's voice suddenly rang out. As he checked his own protective items, he said expressionlessly:

"I saw blurred images. We encountered spatial turbulence. In those images, Su Qiaoqiao and Fatty Hu died first, then me..."

Hearing this, Su Qiaoqiao and Fatty Hu quickly put on their protective gear, as did Xu Shuya and Tan Ziming.

"Remember, do not struggle in the spatial turbulence! Because the more you struggle, the faster you'll die!" Lin Jie's voice was incredibly calm now, as if he had grown much more after what just happened.

Chu Xuan swept his gaze over.

He immediately discovered that Lin Jie had already reached Rank 7, and all four of his attributes were maxed out. His entire temperament was different.

"The stronger a person is, the easier it is to attract damage from spatial turbulence. Brother Chu Xuan, you'd better be careful..." Lin Jie suddenly looked up at Chu Xuan and grinned.

This smile was full of deep meaning.

Chu Xuan's brow twitched slightly. "Are you still Lin Jie?"

"Of course I'm Lin Jie..." Lin Jie said mysteriously. "I've always been Lin Jie, it's just... I might not always be Lin Jie."

Just as he finished speaking, a repulsion force appeared.

Tan Ziming and the other three cried out, unable to resist, and vanished instantly.

Next was Lin Jie. Before his figure finally disappeared, he left a blurred sentence: "Brother Chu Xuan, in a future crisis, I never saw you by my side. I hope you can stay alive, stay alive forever..."

Before he could finish, Lin Jie disappeared completely.

Finally, Chu Xuan also felt the repulsion force. By now, he had put on the night cloak and allowed the force to take him away.

Moro suddenly turned his head, tears welling in his eyes, and shouted loudly, "Master, are you leaving? I really can't bear to let you go..."

Chu Xuan clearly sensed the uncontrollable joy in the other party's emotions. Before his figure vanished, he chuckled, "We'll meet again."

At the moment he completely disappeared, Chu Xuan heard Moro curse, "Damned devil, it's best if we never meet again. I don't want to see you at all!"

...

...

In a daze.

Chu Xuan slowly opened his eyes.

His vision was filled with darkness.

Pain!

Heart-piercing pain, as if being cut by a thousand knives!

"Are you awake?"

In the darkness, a soft voice whispered, "Shh! Don't speak..."

Hearing this, Chu Xuan stopped moving and opened the System page.

[health points: 325]

[Status: Heavily Injured]

[Warning: You have been severely injured by spatial turbulence. Your body is self-healing, but you are still in a continuous bleeding state. In your current state, you will lose 10-15 health points per hour.]

Chu Xuan's eyes flickered.

He then looked closely; the countdown for the start of the Global System was still continuing.

[02:05:18]

Chu Xuan estimated it should be around midnight, and about ten hours had passed since leaving the Tianxing Mountains.

"Unconscious for so long..." Chu Xuan recalled the scene of being ejected from the spatial turbulence, similar to when he returned from the War Dragon World.

Chu Xuan felt an indescribable weakness.

He immediately took a small bottle from his Exclusive Space.

"bixue restoration dew, luckily I haven't used it before..."

Chu Xuan muttered to himself, then took a deep breath and opened the stopper.

This was the healing medicine he had snatched from the two Disciples of the Five Qi Guiyuan Sect he had first encountered.

According to the System prompt, even if health points were below 5%, as long as one was still breathing, this medicine would take effect immediately.

It could restore 300 health points in 10 seconds and continue to restore 500 health points over the next 30 minutes.

As Chu Xuan drank it in one gulp, the System soon sent a prompt.

[You are using bixue restoration dew...]

[Your health points +300]

[Your body is being repaired...]

Chu Xuan immediately felt his condition improve. His weak body gradually regained some strength, and along with it, his surroundings became clearer.