Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2376 Truth about death

”....” Glatheon felt a faint shiver travel down his spine the moment he saw the dreamy smile spreading across Robinʼs face. It was not merely a smile of satisfaction or confidence, but the expression of someone who had already glimpsed a future invisible to everyone else, a future that seemed so certain to him that even the impossible no longer appeared impossible.

Judging from the direction of the conversation and that unwavering smile, the balance of cosmic power itself had suddenly become uncertain, as though the invisible scales that had remained stable for countless ages had finally begun to sway under the weight of an entirely new variable.

Was Lord Robin currently weaker than the Archon, the Cosmic Elder, and the Ruler of Chaos? Perhaps. No one could say with certainty. Although his cultivation realm was still beneath theirs, he possessed the seals and commanded six Master Laws, rather than a single Master Law like each of them.

But one thing was beyond doubt...

When Lord Robin eventually reached the Sixth Level as they had, he would not simply become the fourth existence standing beside them.

He would stand above them.

”Hooo...” Glatheon released a long breath that seemed to carry away the pressure building inside his chest. ”Iʼll go prepare some cold food for you.”

The information he had learned today was, in all likelihood, unknown even to the Behemoths, perhaps even to the greatest icons of the universe themselves. After all, throughout the endless river of history, how many beings had ever reached the point of possessing six Master Laws, let alone survived long enough to uncover secrets like these through personal experience?

And honestly, everything he had heard today was already more than enough to occupy his thoughts for a very long time.

His head had genuinely begun to ache from trying to organize everything Robin had just revealed.

”No, wait.” Robin drew the seals back into his hand before calmly rising to his feet. He casually stretched his shoulders, arms, and neck with several relaxed movements, loosening the stiffness that had accumulated during their lengthy conversation. ”Weʼre leaving.”

”Is that really wise, my Lord?” Glatheon asked almost immediately, unable to hide the concern in his voice. ”Didnʼt you say you were exhausted? That youʼve become weaker?”

”I feel weaker compared to what I had become at the beginning of this journey, but Iʼm still considerably stronger than I was when I fought the Executioner.” Robin let out a quiet chuckle. ”As for the fatigue, thatʼs simply because most of the seals have nearly exhausted their golden momentum. Theyʼll require some time before theyʼre fully recharged again, and I have no intention of remaining here until that happens.”

He continued in the same calm tone, ”Simply traveling between sectors doesnʼt consume much momentum. I can comfortably make several more jumps before the reserves are completely depleted... I need to finish my obligations before returning to seclusion. There are still many matters waiting for me before the coronation.”

”Obligations?” Glatheon frowned thoughtfully. ”Are you finally planning to send reinforcements to Lord Zavaros and Lord Kiryan?”

”.....”

Robin maintained that heavy silence for a brief moment before finally answering, ”Well... I suppose that counts as one of them too.”

”....?”

”Come on, Glathy.” Robin waved gently in front of him. This time, however, the intricate golden patterns never spread across his entire body as they usually did. He had deliberately chosen not to reveal them, almost as though he were intentionally reducing the unnecessary expenditure of his remaining golden momentum.

Hummm

Even so, a Fifth-Level Space-Time Portal activated without the slightest difficulty, its familiar fluctuations quietly unfolding before the two of them.

A broad smile slowly appeared across Robinʼs face.

”Just as I expected.”

Without another word, he calmly stepped forward into the portal.

-------

Mid Sector 100 — Planet Orgenus

Within a particular section of the Imperial Palace, one of the most heavily secured locations in terms of both human personnel and automated defenses, countless hidden arrays silently operated beneath the surface while patrols rotated with machine-like precision. Even among the palaceʼs countless restricted areas, this place stood apart as one that almost no one was permitted to approach without explicit authorization.

Caesar sat quietly with both hands resting upon his knees, silently watching something before him with an expression completely devoid of emotion. He neither blinked often nor shifted his posture, as though time itself had slowed around him while his entire attention remained focused upon the single scene before his eyes.

He was looking at something beautiful, something for which most living beings would willingly give their lives just to sit where Caesar sat for a few brief minutes, even if only to steal a single glance before being escorted away forever...

He was gazing at Helen inside her crystal coffin.

Yet his attention was not fixed upon her sculpted body or her delicate features, despite the almost unreal perfection preserved within the transparent crystal.

His gaze rested upon her neck.

For that was where all the mystery seemed to reside.

The spinal cord was the connection between the head and everything else. It linked the soul domain, the Life Vein, the heart, and the energy core together—the vital structures whose destruction meant instant death for any cultivator regardless of strength, talent, or cultivation level. No matter how extraordinary a personʼs vitality became, severing that connection almost always marked the irreversible end.

That was precisely why experienced fighters always aimed for the neck.

Not because of bleeding. There were countless other parts of the body capable of bleeding more heavily while also being far easier to strike, and every seasoned cultivator understood that such wounds could usually be controlled without much difficulty through energy manipulation alone.

No...

They targeted the neck for one reason only.

Any opportunity, however small, to damage the spinal cord.

That alone was sufficient.

And before Caesarʼs eyes...

Something strange was taking place within hers.

The upper portion directly connected to the brain remained active. He could clearly sense living activity there, faint streams of signals repeatedly attempting to force their way farther downward as though refusing to abandon their destination despite every failure.

Yet everything beneath that point remained utterly dormant, rejecting every one of those signals no matter how tirelessly they continued trying to pass through.

Nor was the spinal cord alone.

The heart.

The Energy Gathering Center.

The Life Vein.

Everything below that point had fallen into complete inactivity.

Dead.

Naturally, the immediate preservation of the corpse had left her body in immaculate condition, while the arrays that infused Life Force into it every single day had rendered decomposition impossible. In fact, not even the slightest physical alteration had appeared since the day she was placed inside the crystal coffin, as though time itself had quietly refused to touch her.

Yet...

She was still a corpse.

And the reason...

Caesarʼs gaze slowly returned to the highest point at the back of her neck, where that invisible boundary seemed to separate motion from silence, life from stillness.

If those signals ever succeeded in breaking through and continued downward...

Would the corpse move?

Even if her Life Vein had already run completely dry?

But could one honestly call her a corpse...

When unmistakable neural activity still unfolded before his own eyes?

Which was truly more important?

The soul...

Or the body?

”...Everything beneath that point is dead, yet everything above it refuses to acknowledge that reality...” Caesar murmured quietly, his voice carrying neither excitement nor despair, only contemplation. ”How many people have been buried beneath the soil while their consciousness continued screaming in protest against what was happening? Perhaps, in the end, death is not the opposite of life for human beings, Perhaps... it is an eternal estrangement between body and soul.”

Hoooo...

For a single instant, Caesarʼs eyes turned completely white.

His heart froze for the briefest moment.

His entire appearance became terrifying for no more than the span of a heartbeat, an unnatural stillness overtaking him so completely that anyone witnessing it would have instinctively stepped backward. Had his aide Lily been standing beside him at that exact moment, she would almost certainly have cried out in alarm.

Fortunately, the phenomenon vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared.

Color gradually returned to Caesarʼs eyes.

”Urgh...”

He instinctively clutched his chest with both hands.

”That unpleasant feeling again... Itʼs been growing noticeably worse lately.”

He slowly exhaled, and the breath that escaped his lips was unmistakably cold.

Literally.

After remaining motionless for another brief moment, he finally rose to his feet.

He stepped toward the crystal coffin and slowly opened it.

Srrrr...

Then he stood there in complete silence for several long seconds, quietly staring at Helenʼs graceful neck as though trying to observe something that no ordinary eye could possibly perceive.

Only after those silent moments did he slowly begin extending his fingers toward it.

Hummm...

”What do you think youʼre doing, you little rascal?... Hmm? Tsk, tsk... Victoria certainly wouldnʼt object if you gave her a hint.”