After witnessing the awe-inspiring spectacle of the great whale devouring clouds, Wen Wen smacked his lips, feeling a sense of unfinished business.
"Was that a disaster-level existence trying to descend just now, only to be repelled by a beam of light, and then the great whale ate the passage?"
This was, for Wen Wen, the most farcical descent of a disaster he had ever experienced.
Wen Wen glanced back a few times and noticed that the spiritual plant people on the whale's back seemed accustomed to it. Only emergent superhumans like Wen Wen were greatly surprised, indicating that they often witnessed such scenes.
He hurried to Xun Qing's side and found that quite a few superhumans were already waiting for answers.
Xun Qing flicked his hair and said, "You're all quite shocked, aren't you? I almost lost my jaw the first time I saw it. But on the back of this sky-curtain whale, this kind of thing happens every eight to ten days."
"In this vast ocean, unlike the land where settlements are everywhere, there are many monsters trying to invade reality. The main mission of the sky-curtain whale and Hunter's Island is to drive these monsters that want to enter reality back!"
Wen Wen frowned upon hearing this, "If it happens every eight to ten days, then just how many monsters are lurking and coveting the real world? I remember that for a disaster-level being to enter reality requires a complex ritual..."
Xun Qing smiled and explained, "Actually, there aren't as many as you think. It's always the same few, who have successfully entered the real world before and were then expelled as disaster monsters."
"Those monsters linger in the gap between the two worlds, constantly wanting to descend into this world..."
After leaving Xun Qing, Wen Wen increasingly felt that this world, while seemingly stable, was actually as fragile as a crumbling building.
If it weren't for the sky-curtain whale and Hunter's Island, those disaster monsters would likely have flooded into the real world, stirring up a storm of blood and chaos in the Federation.
This gave him an urgent desire to improve his strength.
According to information from the Hunter Association, the frequency of monster appearances had been on the rise in recent years, and perhaps one day this delicate balance would be broken.
At that time, whether he wanted to remain aloof or try to turn the tide, his current level of Upper Order strength would not be enough.
Therefore, Wen Wen did not waste any more time. Instead, he immersed himself in practicing swordsmanship and the path of runes, patiently awaiting notification from the Hunter General Association.
One by one, the Upper Order demon hunters around him were called away. Some returned dejected after only four or five hours, while others did not return for a long time, suggesting they had gained something.
Wen Wen waited for a full five days. A somewhat dim-witted broccoli person walked over, holding a loudspeaker and calling out Wen Wen's codename.
Upon hearing the codename, Wen Wen stood up, feeling a mix of anticipation and slight apprehension, unsure how the Hunter General Association intended for him to "perceive his true self."
Following the broccoli person, Wen Wen ascended Root Mountain and reached the lake beside the roots.
After waiting for a while, the lake suddenly surged, and all its water was sprayed into the sky, then falling back onto the whale's back like fine drizzle.
Most of the rain on the whale's back came this way.
Sometimes, when the sea was calm, a sudden shower would also originate from this phenomenon.
After all the water in the lake was sprayed out, the lake bed dried up, revealing a dark hole tens of meters wide at the bottom. With a gesture from the broccoli person, Wen Wen jumped directly into it.
Not long after Wen Wen jumped in, the great whale inhaled a breath from the sea's surface, and a waterspout was drawn into the great whale's mouth, refilling the lake.
For the beings on the whale's back, the spitting and drawing of water every two hours was as natural a phenomenon as sunrise and sunset or the stopping of rain. It was only during these brief intervals that one could enter the great whale's body.
Upon leaping into the great whale's interior, Wen Wen was seized by an invisible force and slid like a waterslide for tens of seconds.
After landing, he found himself in a large, brightly lit room.
This room resembled a giant hot spring facility. Judging by the decor, this structure was unlikely to have formed naturally within the great whale.
The floor was covered with smooth, water-worn pebbles of various colors. Over a hundred hot springs were scattered throughout the room.
Some springs were crystal clear, their surfaces as flat and smooth as mirrors, while others were murky. A few springs even had superhumans sitting cross-legged within them, eyes closed.
Long Suo and Qiao Feiya were among them. Judging by the state of their energy, they seemed to be in a peculiar state.
A colossal, one-eyed creature, its body composed of mottled light and shadow, slowly materialized. It lowered its enormous head, fixing Wen Wen with its single eye for a moment, then pointed to a hot spring and said.
"Go there, sit cross-legged, do not resist my power, and fall into a peaceful sleep... You will naturally 'perceive your true self.' Whether you can seize the opportunity depends on you."
Wen Wen obeyed the one-eyed creature's instructions, walked to the edge of the designated hot spring, and carefully stepped in to sit down.
Throughout his immersion, the surface of the spring remained perfectly still, not a single ripple disturbing it.
The bottom of the spring was a smooth mirror, yet it reflected no images, which was quite mystifying.
The one-eyed creature placed its large hand on Wen Wen's head and said, "This spring is called the Jian Zhen Quan (True Perception Spring). Once it reflects a person's shadow and the water ripples, it will take three years to calm down. Sleep... sleep."
As the one-eyed creature spoke, Wen Wen's eyes gradually closed. On the mirror at the bottom of the spring, Wen Wen's reflection appeared.
When Wen Wen opened his eyes again, he found himself being held in the arms of a giant woman.
No...
It wasn't that the woman was giant; it was that Wen Wen had become an infant!
The tiny infant frowned, sensing that things were not as simple as they seemed.
"The so-called perception of one's true self is for me to relive life from infancy?"
"But what's the point of this?"
"Wait, who am I, why have I come, and what am I supposed to do..."
After only two or three minutes, Wen Wen lost all his memories, seemingly transforming into a pure infant.
Another two or three minutes passed, and Wen Wen had become a rambunctious child who could toddle around. He loved listening to his father tell strange detective stories and enjoyed the egg custard his mother made...
The passage of time around him accelerated, and every significant experience in Wen Wen's memory flashed by like a silhouette.
In less than half an hour, Wen Wen was already in his twenties.
At this point, Wen Wen felt he had a mental issue. In the biting wind, he stood before the entrance of a mental hospital.
However, Wen Wen hesitated at the entrance this time: "This mental hospital seems to have had patients die there, and they're rumored to specialize in electroshock therapy. Should I go in? Forget it, let's go somewhere else..."