Chapter 408

"What is it?"

"Is something wrong?"

At this point, his sea of consciousness had not yet changed because of Lottie’s warning. It still looked the same as before—a vast ocean surrounding an expansive continent.

Across that continent stood the spiritual structures formed from the mastery of his various Level 5 classes.

Plain, if anything.

No matter how one looked at it, it should not have been enough to provoke such a reaction from Ruluwi.

"I just think..."

"It’s... too magnificent."

Ruluwi lifted her gaze into the distance.

Magnificent?

Kanzaki Rei certainly didn’t think there was anything magnificent about his sea of consciousness right now.

Ruluwi stared upward.

Looking far beyond the horizon of his spiritual world.

Reflected in her pupils—

was a colossal seven-colored crystalline tree, stretching into the heavens, spreading toward infinity.

That tree...

looked exactly like the one from legend.

The legendary Tree of Wisdom.

It was said the Tree of Wisdom granted sentience to all things.

That the spiritual essence of every intelligent lifeform in the world originated from it.

Legend claimed that in the process of reincarnation after death,

all souls passed by the Tree of Wisdom.

And before a fetus was born,

its corresponding spiritual essence would seek it out—

and when the fetus received that essence,

the child would be on the verge of birth.

Though among common folk the Tree of Wisdom was only myth,

to high-rank class awakeners,

its existence was almost certain.

And within the White Tower—

led by Yug, sovereign of knowledge and wisdom—

there were even accurate illustrations and records of the Tree of Wisdom.

A seven-colored divine tree.

Its roots, trunk, branches, and leaves were transparent like flowing radiance,

as though layered from countless streams of light.

Lush beyond imagination—

yet one could still clearly see seven distinct currents of light coursing through it.

Ruluwi gazed into the sky of Kanzaki Rei’s sea of consciousness,

looking toward the far distance.

"Kanzaki Rei..."

"That in your sea of consciousness..."

"Is that the Tree of Wisdom?"

Kanzaki Rei’s spiritual affinity was extraordinarily high.

Though he had increased it through leveling,

the truth was—

his spiritual affinity had already been abnormally high from the moment he first awakened.

That was something Ispalut had told Ruluwi.

No one wasn’t curious about Kanzaki Rei.

Ruluwi was curious too.

She had even gone to Ispalut to ask about him.

But Kanzaki Rei’s strength...

had always defied reason.

Absurd beyond comprehension.

No one knew why his starting spiritual affinity had been so impossibly high.

Even Yuna was an early awakener.

Roughly his age—

in fact she had awakened months before him.

And yet compared to Kanzaki Rei,

her spiritual affinity was far lower.

Why Kanzaki Rei possessed such terrifying spiritual affinity

had always been an unsolved mystery.

But now—

seeing the Tree of Wisdom standing within his sea of consciousness—

Ruluwi felt she had found the answer.

"The Tree of Wisdom?"

But hearing her ask that,

Kanzaki Rei instead became confused.

"The Tree of Wisdom you mean..."

"Inside my sea of consciousness?"

Ruluwi blinked in astonishment.

"You... don’t know?"

"You can’t see it?"

She pointed behind him.

"Over there."

"At the edge of your spiritual sky."

"You really can’t see it?"

Kanzaki Rei looked into Ruluwi’s eyes.

There was no reflection of any tree in them.

Then he followed where she pointed.

And saw—

only clear blue sky.

"Ansu."

"Do you see anything?"

After bringing Ruluwi into his sea of consciousness,

Kanzaki Rei had hidden Ansu farther away in a remote region.

Ansu also looked where Ruluwi indicated.

And saw only blue sky.

"No. I don’t see anything."

How could only Ruluwi see it?

Kanzaki Rei shook his head.

"No."

"I can’t."

"Can you describe exactly what you’re seeing?"

Ruluwi...

you really are strange.

Ansu can’t see it.

I can’t see it.

Only you can...

"The Tree of Wisdom."

"It’s the same one from the Compendium of World Flora Kumironi lent me."

"One of the Three Divine Trees."

After that point, I obtained God-Tier · Deepest Truth.

And even then—

I never saw any Tree of Wisdom.

Of course,

by then he had already met Lottie,

and his sea of consciousness had been transformed into the Cloud Palace Mindscape.

If the Tree of Wisdom had always been there,

and only his perception had been obscured—

then after obtaining Deepest Truth,

he should have seen it.

And even Ansu, an outsider, couldn’t see it.

Which suggested...

the issue was probably with Ruluwi.

Though—

he couldn’t conclude too quickly.

Kanzaki Rei gave a slight nod.

His emotions barely stirred.

"I understand."

Still dazed and confused,

Ruluwi left his sea of consciousness.

After finishing that conversation—

Kanzaki Rei went to the White Tower to see Yuna.

Today was the day she was leaving.

He chose to respect what had originally happened.

And see her off once more.

But this time—

he let Yuna look into his sea of consciousness too.

And strangely—

Yuna could also see the Tree of Wisdom in his spiritual world.

After that,

he sought out Leng Qingying—now rendered consistently as Sayaka.

When Sayaka entered his sea of consciousness,

she too saw the towering Tree of Wisdom suspended in the heavens.

Then...

was it not Ruluwi’s problem?

Is the problem me?

But then—

why couldn’t even Ansu see it?

Questions filled Kanzaki Rei’s mind.

His thoughts raced,

yet he continued repeating everything he was supposed to have already done.

Repeating completed events made everything smoother.

But also unbearably dull.

Afterward—

came class advancement.

After advancing,

he bought passage to Falling Moon Isle.

Though this time,

he had no intention of slowly traveling by ship.

Instead—

he directly extracted the vessel’s attributes,

gaining its enchantment effects.

Boom!

While Ruluwi and Sayaka remained aboard the ship,

Kanzaki Rei alone,

within only a few hours,

arrived at Falling Moon Isle.

Then at the island’s port,

he extracted enchantment modifiers from a Moonsea vessel.

In only a single day,

he went from Falling Moon Isle

to the Hollow Vale.

At this moment—

it was only April 30.

The Pure Moon had not yet arrived.

And he had formed no connection with Lottie.

Half an hour after arriving in Hollow Vale—

Kanzaki Rei stood before that door again.

But this time,

he had not undergone the Level 6 Cryptic Scholar advancement.

He had not obtained Deepest Truth.

Yet notably...

his two wishes

had not been released.

When time first reset,

they had not been freed.

One wish was:

I return to normal spacetime.

The other:

Using the Level 6 Cryptic Scholar talent, unravel the problem of the Time Ruins.

And this—

was the only talent-related effect

that had not been reset along with time itself.