Wizards begin with Occlumency.

Chapter 423 Mystery

The universe has multiple parallels.

The wizarding civilization recognized and proved this long ago.

The concept and phenomenon of "strangers" originate from this, both internally and externally.

"Internal" refers to the universe within which the wizard civilization resides, while "external" refers to parallel universes or other universes within the universe where the wizard civilization resides.

Clearly, both Link and Iris Clark are "strange guests" whose true spirits come from other universes.

From the perspective of the wizarding civilization, this applies to external affairs.

One thing is certain: Link's true spirit, this "strange guest," does not originate from the universe where the Celestial Civilization resides.

Similarly, he was not the special "strange guest" prophesied by the Saint of Nostrodam before his death; it was Iris Clark.

Indeed, Iris Clarke opened, accepted, and passed the trials borne by the special ruins world.

Although it was passed with the help of external forces, namely the High Council.

But the passage connecting the universe of the wizard civilization and the universe of the immortal civilization was eventually opened.

Whether naturally, or under guidance, or not, Link had been ignoring a problem until now.

There is still no definitive answer as to which universe Iris Clark's spirit originated from.

Logically speaking, since Iris Clarke can serve as the "key" to opening the passage between the universe where the wizard civilization resides and the universe where the immortal civilization resides, she must be closely connected with both universes.

She was born in the Wizarding Civilization Universe in this life, and she was also born in the Wizarding Civilization Universe in her previous life. In her previous life, she must have been born in the Immortal God Civilization Universe.

Link had always thought so.

But now, Link has doubts about this, and deep doubts at that.

Because the "Light of Life" was at the coordinates of what should have been the center of a special ruined world, it was affected by an unknown force, and the whispered content was the word "Iris".

The language used is neither the common language of the wizarding civilization nor the common language of the immortal civilization, but rather Link's mother tongue from his past life, which is imprinted deep in his soul but has long been unfamiliar to him.

"That's very interesting."

Link muttered something to himself, then stopped lingering at the empty Earth's center coordinates and activated the Starship's teleportation function.

A beam of light, about the thickness of a thumb, emanated from the starship and instantly fell upon Link.

The next second, Link appeared in the cockpit of the Starship.

"Return to base."

Link gave an order to the starship, which was in intelligent navigation mode, and then removed his innate construct and sat down to rest.

Despite not engaging in combat or facing any pressure, and having only spent a short time in a star field that should contain special ruined worlds, Link felt extremely tired.

Especially after reaching the Earth's core, and using the methods of a Divine Realm Immortal Martial Artist to understand one's true nature and actively activate the light of life.

That period of time, which seemed to last only a few seconds, gave Link the feeling that many years had passed.

It was as if time of varying speeds was being applied to Link simultaneously.

After sitting for a while, the fatigue did not improve; in fact, it worsened, and my eyelids kept drooping.

Since you're tired, you should get some rest.

Link stretched out his arms, yawned, and decided not to push himself any further. He put down his chair and fell asleep fully clothed.

The moment his head touched the cushion, a soft snore began.

I fell asleep instantly.

And he slept extremely soundly.

While Link was asleep, the Elemental Saint met with Master Xu Jing.

The Elemental Saint took a sliver of life force from Link, and the Celestial Master Xu Jing took Link on a journey through the timeline of the Wizarding Civilization universe. The two obtained different clues through their own methods.

Two different clues led the Elemental Saint and the Celestial Master Xu Jing to the same place.

This is a point on the boundary line between the wizard civilization universe and the immortal civilization universe.

Based on celestial coordinates, it is not far from Link's natal world, the World of Human Immortal Martial Arts.

Here lies a unique ruined world that disappeared after two cosmic passages were opened.

The Elemental Saint and the Celestial Master Xu Jing stood side by side in the starry sky, silently watching the special ruined world that was recovering its vitality.

After a long silence, Celestial Master Xu Jing broke the silence and asked, "Sage, it has already become Iris Clark's natal world, hasn't it?"

"Yes."

The Elemental Saint gave an affirmative answer.

"Do you think Iris Clark was forced to choose it as her home world, or did she do it willingly?"

Master Xujing asked again.

"How should I know? Weren't you setting up the final test for Iris Clark? You should know best."

The Elemental Saint turned the tables on them.

"How could I possibly know the answer best?"

With a smile, Celestial Master Xu Jing calmly said, "I am not a sorcerer, which is why I asked the sage."

"Yeah?"

The Elemental Saint declined to comment, and even seemed to refuse to communicate.

Master Xu Jing remained unconcerned and continued to ask, "Sage, has Iris Clark realized it, or hasn't she?"

"What do you mean by 'you'?"

The Elemental Saint turned to the side, gazing intently into Celestial Master Xu Jing's eyes, and asked seriously, "Are you referring to the identity of the White Lotus Holy Mother, which wasn't something you arbitrarily assigned to her, or are you referring to her not dying under the two imitations of the Yangping Zhidu Merit Seal and the Nine Elders Immortal Seal, given her identity and status as the White Lotus Holy Mother?"

"The sage knows perfectly well what is going on, so why pretend to be confused?"

"Am I pretending to be confused, or are you just making conversation for the sake of it?"

"Okay, I admit it, I was just making conversation, wasn't I? It was all to get closer to the Saint."

"There's absolutely no need for that."

The two exchanged a few words, then fell silent again.

The Elemental Saint remained calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever, while Celestial Master Xu Jing smiled, appearing quite pleased.

I wonder what Master Xujing was enjoying.

This special ruined world, which had become Iris Clark's destined world, coincidentally underwent a significant change at this time.

It is so clear that you can see it very clearly even when you look into the starry sky.

Starting from the ruins of the Magic City, which Link had visited twice, the collapse spread throughout the entire Special Ruins World metropolis, with skyscrapers and low-rise buildings all crumbling.

Then decompose it.

Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, metal to metal.

Beneath the surface of this special ruined world lies a giant waste recycling system, which is reclaiming everything that can be recycled.

The collapse and disintegration lasted for a long time.

The Elemental Saint and the Celestial Master Xu Jing were extremely patient, standing in the starry sky watching.

This wave of changes in the special ruins world, the collapse and disintegration of the metropolis, is only the beginning, not the end.

Throughout the entire planet, all man-made structures will eventually be "recycled," and all traces of human activity will be completely erased. Only one "thing" will be preserved.

That's Iris Clark, or rather, the geographical situation that many people are familiar with.

The way it was preserved was also unique.

With all the "man-made" collapses and decompositions over, the special ruins world returned to its wild state, and the real upheaval—the movement of tectonic plates in the earth's crust—was just beginning.

Scattered landmasses and islands, under the control of a certain will, are "glueed" back together into a single continent.

All of these are natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and earthquakes.

After various impacts, the continent was torn apart and scattered, forming land and islands.

At this point, the geographical situation of Iris Clark, which is familiar to many people, was roughly formed.

This also means that this wave of major changes in the special ruins world has come to an end.

Working backwards from this, Iris Clark must have successfully advanced to the sixth level of Sage.

Otherwise, the special ruins world wouldn't have undergone such a significant change.

Next, what Iris Clark needs to do is to transform the special ruined world, which is also her destined world, into a truly civilized world and make up for its shortcomings.

Only in this way can one continue to advance to the rank of Great Sage.

Of course, this is Iris Clark's own business.

Neither the Elemental Saint nor the Celestial Master Xu Jing cares about this.

What they cared about was simply what Iris Clark had to do with the second light!

The "ruins" whispered by Link's life light—is the direction it points to a special ruined world?

"Holy One, what should we say now?"

Having indirectly witnessed Iris Clark's promotion, Master Xu Jing broke the silence and asked a question.

"I don't really talk about it, anyway, I'm not in a hurry."

The Elemental Saint spoke calmly, as if nothing had happened.

"The Saints aren't in a hurry, and neither is the Supreme Council?"

Upon hearing this, Celestial Master Xujing asked in return, then chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Anyway, the Heavenly Court is in a real hurry. I don't know why they're suddenly so anxious to ascertain the exact situation of the second beam of light. They had so much time and so much room to maneuver before, yet they weren't in a rush. Now they're all scrambling around, it's really a headache."

"It wasn't the right time before, so there was no rush."

The Elemental Saint offered a brief explanation.

"What time is it now?"

Taking the opportunity, Celestial Master Xujing asked questions to uncover some secrets that even he, with his rank and experience, did not know.

"If you want to know, go ask the Celestial Master."

The Elemental Saint wouldn't tolerate Master Xu Jing's behavior; he wouldn't hold back, saying, "If you ask me similar questions again, I'll arrest you as a spy."

A saint's every word and deed must be genuine.

If that's the case, the Elemental Saint will definitely do it.

Master Xu Jing was not a stubborn person; he was also a person of basic competence, so he naturally would not "provoke" the Elemental Saint after the Elemental Saint had drawn a red line.

Besides, there wasn't much left to see in the special ruins world, so after saying goodbye, Master Xu Jing was the first to leave.

Although this trip still couldn't determine the exact situation of the second beam of light, it at least provided another direction for investigation and another specific object to focus on.

It's better than nothing, at least.

They can report back to the Heavenly Court.

The Elemental Saint stayed a little longer, but did nothing, before leaving.

After a long period of time, Iris Clarke, who had returned to the Wizarding Civilization universe at some unknown time, came out of her home world into space.

She looked at the spot where the Elemental Saint and Celestial Master Xu Jing stood without any concealment, her face expressionless and her heart unmoved.

After watching for a while, Iris Clark returned to her home world, and then, through the anchor point between her home world and the Wizarding World, returned to the Wizarding World itself.

Just then, Link woke up from his sleep.

"A month and a half?"

The first thing Link did after waking up was to check the time. He was surprised to find that he had slept for so long.

Sage-level wizards generally do not need sleep unless they are severely injured.

I wasn't sick, injured, or hurt this time, I just felt tired, so how did I end up sleeping for so long?

"Forty-five years?"

Not long after, Link let out another exclamation.

Just now, as if struck by a sudden inspiration, he sensed his own lifespan and suddenly discovered something even more bizarre.

I actually lost 45 years of my lifespan!

The only thing I did before going to sleep was to ignite the light of life at the coordinates of what should have been the core of a special, ruined world, and listen to whispers.

I never expected the price I paid would be so high.

It seems that the superposition of different universes and different time flows is not an illusion, but a real phenomenon.

Physical fatigue stems from this cumulative state, as does the decline in lifespan.

After exclaiming in surprise, Link quickly calmed down.

What's done is done; there's no need to let your emotions continue to fluctuate.

Problems are problems, and difficulties are difficulties.

It's not a good thing to have your emotions constantly affected.

Link quickly suppressed the effects of having slept for so long and losing so much lifespan, and got down to business, checking if the Starship had reached the destination he had set before going to sleep.

This starship, which was stolen from Lotesno, truly lives up to its reputation as the export version of the highest-grade starship from the Immortal God Civilization.

Detecting that Link was asleep and unfit to handle matters, the system automatically changed its flight plan and began stealthy cruising near the destination coordinates set by Link.

They neither strayed too far from their destination nor missed many passing interstellar warships and reconnaissance missions.

"Let's find another one to get Jasmine to use."

With a muttered command, Link input the instructions and steered the Starship toward its destination.

Before long, Link returned to the Wizarding World.

On the way back, he also sent a message to Iris Clarke to ask if she had returned to the Wizarding Civilization universe.

In his conversation with Iris Clark before returning to the Wizarding World, Link, though not explicitly stating it, gave hints based on tacit understanding.

Iris Clarke would certainly understand Link's invitation to meet Iris back in the Wizarding World.

When the Starship was granted permission to enter the Wizarding World, Link received a reply from Iris, along with a set of coordinates.

After some applications and a teleportation, Link finally met Iris Clark.

On the lakeside lawn of Rivoss College Junior School.

The first time Iris Clark spoke the word "television" to Link in fluent Mandarin.

Iris Clark mischievously kissed Link on the cheek.

Years have passed, but the lakeside lawn remains the same as it was back then.

Of the two wizard apprentices from back then, one is now a level six sage, and the other is a level five sage whose combat power cannot be measured by level.

Iris stood by the lake, her hair blowing in the breeze, serene and composed, no longer mad or suffering from a split personality.

Link slowly approached, his face still resolute, but the fear in his eyes was no longer hidden.

Things are wrong.

"Link, what happened during the time we were together?"

Iris turned around to face Link and asked softly,

"do you remember?"

(End of this chapter)