Traveler of the River of Time and Space-Chapter 539 - 213: Failed Spiritual Ascension

Battle Command Room.

The words of the middle-aged nun drew everyone’s gaze to a certain young man in the corner. He seemed to be just seventeen or eighteen years old, with blond hair and blue eyes, a high nose, and handsome features.

Upon learning that he had become the designated heir to the throne, the young man’s face was not cheerful at all. Instead, he turned pale, his expression slightly panicked, and he wanted to refuse immediately. However, after a middle-aged man beside him tugged at his sleeve, he swallowed his words back.

Being the Emperor of the Empire is not easy.

Once one inherits the throne, they are destined to lose their freedom because only the Emperor can connect to the Empire’s Mind Synchronization Device. It’s a stabilizer of the Mind Suppression Barrier. Initially, it was intended to construct a Mental Network to connect to the legendary Void Realm, but after the failure of Spiritual Ascension, it was transformed into a Mind Protection Barrier. It can significantly enhance the Emperor’s Spiritual Ability Limit, but it also means that the Emperor himself suffers more severely from the Psychic Whispers.

Members of the Imperial Family are inherently extremely sensitive, and connecting to this device means they must periodically enter the Hibernation Pod to recover.

He does not wish to be trapped forever in that lifeless Golden Palace; rather than inheriting the throne, Prince William would prefer to be a free and idle person.

At least he can live like an ordinary person.

But unfortunately, no one cared about Prince William’s attitude; upon learning that Empress Isabella had already designated her heir, others clearly breathed a sigh of relief.

The Empire cannot be without an emperor now.

The aftermath of the failed Spiritual Ascension still affects everyone; only the Emperor can stabilize the spirit of the Empire’s people, allowing them to regain reason to fight against the ever-present Psychic Whispers.

We must briefly talk about the Void Realm.

It is a highly mysterious subspace, a vast and boundless mental world.

It also seems to be one of the sources of Spiritual Power.

When a race’s idealistic thinking reaches its highest level and Spiritual Awakening becomes widespread among everyone, they can choose to embark on a race-wide civilization progression—Spiritual Ascension.

But a race’s ascension is not easy.

Some lucky races may succeed, while others, like the Empire, may directly fall during the ascension process.

The most critical step in the Empire’s Spiritual Ascension plan is Extraordinary to Saint, literally awakening the deepest powers of the mind and stepping into the domain known as Saint and Chosen One, thereby listening to Whispers from the Void.

The Empire’s first Emperor, Edward I, was a Saint.

And what he had to do was gather the entire race’s Spiritual Power through a special ritual to form an extremely powerful Spirit Body that surpassed the boundaries of the Material Plane, thereby entering a dimension entirely composed of pure Spiritual Power, the legendary Void Realm.

The Void Realm is a plane that all races in the current universe must go through when choosing the path of Spiritual Ascension.

But the Void Realm is not a safe place, nor is it a haven where gifts can be easily obtained. In the Void Realm, apart from Guides with benevolent intentions helping people ascend—an extremely powerful consciousness resembling Divine Spirits—there are many unknown subspace creatures, some of which are terrifying Evil Gods or Indescribable horrific monsters.

Only by receiving proper guidance in the Void Realm can an entire race obtain higher-tier Spiritual Knowledge and spread this blessing to everyone.

If successful.

The entire race will make a qualitative leap directly into the realm of advanced civilization.

But if it fails, the result may be like the current Empire, where a mighty civilization collapses in an instant.

The Mind Synchronization Device in the depths of the Imperial Capital was initially used to connect to the Void Realm.

It can be understood as an artificial Araiyer Consciousness Body, which is a human collective unconscious, led by the Emperor’s powerful Spirit Body, eventually forming a very powerful Spirit Body capable of freely moving within the Void Realm.

Of course.

For more than three thousand years, this device has never been fully activated; it’s now just a protection barrier.

The downfall of the Empire began when Edward I returned to the material world from the Void Realm. No one knows what kind of existence Edward I made a pact with in the Void Realm.

However.

There exists a hidden record within the Imperial Family named Whisper of the Void.

After Edward I returned from the Void Realm, ominous signs began to appear across the Empire.

The nobility grew increasingly decadent, indulging in luxury and pleasure, not caring about the lives of the common people. Simultaneously, a bizarre madness started spreading within the Empire. Initially, no one paid attention, as those who went mad merely succumbed to their own desires, becoming slaves to greed, bloodlust, or lust—traits already visible in the nobility, almost no one bothering to investigate further.

Until one day.

When gathered negative desires began to explode, even affecting the Mind Synchronization Device, a terrifying catastrophe descended.

The Mind Synchronization Device is a shared device.

It can connect the minds of the people of the Empire to a certain extent and store surplus Spiritual Power into the Araiyer Consciousness Body, forming a stable Void Realm Spirit Body.

In this state.

The Emperor of the Empire theoretically possesses spiritual ability values close to endless; even if the Emperor’s Spiritual Ability Level is only 7, he can continuously output Spiritual Power unlimitedly by the standard of a Spiritualist with level 7 Spiritual Ability Level. In other words, the Emperor’s Spiritual Ability Value is infinite.

He may not be able to use more advanced Spiritual Abilities, but those he can wield are limitless.

As long as his spirit can endure, neither ten thousand spells nor ten million spells are a problem.

Thus.

When one day, Edward I also succumbed to madness, a terrifying calamity descended.

It was then.

The Empire’s survivors realized the outbreak of the Psychic Whispers, discovering that those eerie whispers began continuously emerging from the depths of their minds, chilling and causing people to gradually go mad, losing control.

The Mind Synchronization Center is now operating at 90% reduced capacity.

Empress Isabella merely serves to stabilize the Mind Suppression Barrier. The Spirit Body that the Empire once gathered in the Void Realm has long since disappeared, whether it dissipated naturally or was devoured by some monster.

In any case, the people of that era have long perished entirely, leaving only the remains of a former king wandering on this planet.

A failed Spiritual Ascension.

Directly led to the downfall of a mighty empire and created an incredibly terrifying ancient abomination.

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