Chapter 418: Return to the Space Tower

Chapter 418: Return to the Spatial Tower

Lewei remained atop the stone bridge's wreckage, waiting for the teleportation array of the Spatial Tower to return to normal.

By noon, the sun hung high in the sky.

There wasn't a single cloud around; the scorching sun blazed down upon Lewei, raising the air temperature to forty or fifty degrees Celsius.

If Lewei had been an ordinary person, he would have already begun dehydrating and faced life-threatening danger.

The seawater had completely submerged the once-sunken island.

Only the solitary remnants of the stone bridge protruded from the flat ocean surface.

It became the sole foothold amid the sea, the only isolated islet.

Sitting on the stone bridge, Lewei gazed at the azure waters surrounding him before lifting his eyes toward the glaring sun overhead.

He attempted once more to teleport back to the Spatial Tower—again, it failed.

"How come it still doesn’t work after half a day?"

Lewei felt somewhat helpless.

Was this it? Was he going to be lost forever within the Endless Sea?

This place was nothing like the Western Desert Wasteland.

The Endless Sea dwarfed even that desolate expanse.

Truly getting lost here meant there might never be land again—for a lifetime perhaps.

And Lewei certainly didn’t want to spend eternity drifting across these endless waters.

Although…this place was rather suitable for cultivating the Blazing Sun Meditation Technique.

Suddenly, several small black dots appeared on the horizon.

Lewei rubbed his eyes and quickly stood up, squinting hard as he peered into the distance.

"What are those things?"

After about ten minutes, the dark specks grew larger.

Finally able to make out what they were, his face lit up with excitement.

Without delay, Lewei took off toward them.

Those tiny figures turned out to be people—

Mages from both the Spatial Tower and Elemental Tower.

Due to the effects of the Meteor Fireball Spell, mages from the Spatial Tower couldn't directly teleport onto the island itself.

They could only manage transport near its vicinity,

then fly over manually.

But since the island had vanished entirely,

finding Lewei amidst the vastness of the Endless Sea proved quite difficult.

It took the joint efforts of mages from both towers nearly half a day before finally locating him.

As soon as Lewei spotted them, he soared upward into the sky, flying eagerly toward their group.

Seeing that Lewei was alive brought visible relief to all present.

In truth, however, their primary purpose hadn't actually been searching for Lewei.

From their perspective, his chances of survival seemed slim indeed.

Rather, they came mainly to investigate exactly how such a forbidden spell had occurred—

Why had a forbidden incantation suddenly emerged atop Twin Peaks Island?

"Elder Heris! It’s wonderful to see you!" Lewei exclaimed joyfully.

Heris recognized Lewei immediately and nodded approvingly. "Your surviving an assault by a forbidden spell truly is remarkable."

Quickly explaining himself, Lewei said, "I owe my life to someone who told me where safety lay—I wouldn’t have made it otherwise."

Beside him, Victor—the spatial mage—eyed Lewei closely and asked pointedly, "Why didn’t you simply return to the Spatial Tower when needed?"

Hearing Victor speak triggered recognition inside Lewei—he realized now that Victor must’ve been the one who warned him earlier.

"I tried returning," replied Lewei earnestly, "but the teleportation failed. Honestly, I don’t know why."

Victor observed Lewei carefully but chose not to press further questions just yet.

Details could wait until they returned properly to the Spatial Tower.

Their main objective here had always centered around uncovering the source behind the emergence of that forbidden spell.

Heris glanced briefly at Lewei and instructed gently, “Come along with us first—we’ll bring you back shortly.”

Nodding gratefully, Lewei responded, “Of course, thank you Elder.”

Together, the party circled the area where the island had sunk beneath waves.

Some even ventured deep underwater to examine what shape remained of the submerged terrain.

When Victor surfaced from beneath the sea, confusion flickered through his gaze.

What he sought was nowhere to be found.

His sweeping glance passed momentarily over Lewei, suspicion stirring silently—he suspected Lewei may have taken it.

That particular item shouldn’t have been destroyed by the forbidden spell.

Yet given its importance, confronting Lewei openly in front of others clearly wasn’t feasible right now.

Such matters would need to await resolution back at the Spatial Tower.

Once sufficient information had been gathered, everyone departed the chaotic spatial zone and teleported safely home—to the Spatial Tower.

Upon arrival, Lewei finally allowed himself a breath of relief.

"At last...back again. Hopefully no suspicions will fall upon me regarding that forbidden spell incident."

So ran Lewei’s thoughts inwardly.

During their investigation of the sunken island site, some questions had naturally arisen concerning Lewei.

They'd asked whether he noticed anything unusual prior to the appearance of the forbidden spell—

Had anyone else shown up unexpectedly on the island?

Naturally enough, Lewei denied everything outright.

Deny everything—that was his answer whenever questioned.

No one entertained doubts about Lewei being responsible.

His level of power simply did not align with casting something so immensely destructive.

Unless...

Unless he used fragments from ancient magical texts detailing forbidden spells.

Speaking of which, Victor discovered something alarming:

The fragment stored within the stone bridge by the Spatial Tower—it too had vanished without trace.

Li Wei, as the sole survivor.

Victor harbored deep suspicions that it had been taken by him.

Others even raised the possibility—could it be that the remnants of an ancient forbidden spell had been accidentally activated?

That would explain how such a taboo incantation could appear without warning.

Naturally, the Spatial Tower was unwilling to shoulder the blame and denied everything outright.

Asked about it, they insisted such a thing was absolutely impossible.

After returning to the Spatial Tower, Li Wei did not regain his freedom. He was quickly summoned for further questioning on more detailed matters.

It wasn’t until nightfall that Li Wei concluded the interrogation and managed to slip away.

“I wonder if I can bluff my way through this,” he muttered, shaking his head slightly, feeling the odds were rather slim.

Still, at least no one suspected him—for now.

That, at least, was good news.

If he could just stall things a bit longer, Li Wei planned to leave the Spatial Tower and return to the Elemental Tower.

By then, whatever happened wouldn’t matter much.

As Li Wei recalled the earlier interrogation, a faint sense of doubt stirred within him.

When he had been alone with Victor, the man had asked whether he’d discovered anything unusual on the deserted island.

Victor hadn’t mentioned the Ancient Catastrophe Beast Nethro, but Li Wei immediately thought of the Purple Star Crystal.

Of course, he had denied everything outright.

Victor hadn’t pressed further.

Although only the two of them had been present, others hadn’t been far off.

Victor, too, was reluctant to reveal too much.

Walking down the path, lost in thought, Li Wei felt that Victor might come looking for him tonight.

Halfway along, he ran into Erica.

She greeted him cheerfully. “Hey, Li Wei! I’m so glad you’re alright.”

“I heard someone was left behind in the secret realm—I was worried something had happened to you!”

Li Wei shook his head. “Nothing serious. Just a minor accident.”

“Oh, so what actually happened in there?” Erica asked with great curiosity.

“The elders won’t say a word about what went on inside, and those who came back said the sun fell from the sky.”

She had participated in the final battle in the valley, but had been poisoned and teleported out of the secret realm before she could witness the aftermath.

Li Wei paused, thinking. Since the senior elders refused to speak of it, he didn’t want to bring trouble upon himself either.

He replied carefully, “I’m not sure. I was unconscious at the time.”

Erica looked disappointed. “Oh, so you don’t know either.”

After a moment, she let the topic drop.

She said, “The exchange tournament ended early because of the incident. I wonder if we’ll still get the rewards?”

Only then did Li Wei remember—the rewards from the tournament were still unresolved.

During today’s discussions with the elders, he thought he had overheard them talking about it.

Naturally, he hoped the rewards would still come through.

(End of Chapter)