Chapter 295: Prying
Just as Ace was conducting his research, three figures appeared at the edge of the valley in the High Tower Territory.
Inside the valley, it was a warm autumn, but outside, biting cold winds blew, and snow howled.
A graceful and seductive figure stood amidst the wind and snow. Her delicate skin was caressed by the cold wind mixed with the blizzard, evoking involuntary pity in anyone who saw her.
Another figure, a burly man holding a greatsword, stood behind her, looking at the graceful silhouette with a complex expression.
The burly man’s hair and full beard were messy, and his face bore the characteristic ruddy complexion of the highlands, looking weathered. His thick lips opened and closed several times before he finally sighed lightly, swallowing a few mouthfuls of the cold wind.
“Oh, my Mr. Sauron, what are you hesitating for? Do you feel that desire doesn’t suit you, and you wish to convert to pain?”
A figure in a gray-gold hooded robe, wearing a mask with an expression of painful enjoyment, spoke in an operatic tone. His body twisted at an exaggerated angle, stretching out as if elongated, leaning his head next to the burly man’s face.
“It’s not good to try and poach my guard right in front of me, High Sin Priest Ambrio.”
The graceful figure drifted over, extending a delicate left index finger to gently tap Ambrio’s mask, easily pushing him away.
“Oh ho ho ho, charming Witch, I really want to take you to enjoy the pain of this world together.”
Ambrio didn’t mind. His body twisted like a long snake, extending toward the High Tower Territory, staring at the prosperous valley. The human face on the Pain Mask revealed a terrifying, twisted smile.
“I think we were right. We found it—a big, big, big secret! The rats from back then actually built a city here. If the little brats from the Pain Church in the north hadn’t gone missing, I never would have guessed a city would pop up here.”
A somewhat disdainful and arrogant smile flashed across the graceful figure’s face before she spoke in a bewitching, sugary voice:
“With such a big discovery, I wonder what our High Sin Priest, Lord Ambrio, intends to do? The defense on the other side seems quite methodical; I can sense perception power lingering there.”
Ambrio twisted his body in several circles, tilted his head, and said, “We still need the help of our beautiful Lady Witch. I wonder if you could provide me with some Deception Powder?”
The former leader of the Gray Believers, now the Great Demon Alex, had dealt with the Witch before. Relying on Deception Powder, he successfully infiltrated the Northern Fortress and finally completed the ritual, transforming the entire north into a Abyss Projection.
What Ambrio wanted was exactly this powder that had enabled such a great merit.
The Witch with the graceful figure smiled mysteriously. She drifted away towards the Abyss Projection with Sauron, waving back at Ambrio, her bewitching and sugary voice floating in the air.
“That will require Lord Ambrio to show some sincerity first.”
Ambrio stared at the retreating figure of the Witch. From the Pain Mask, a long tongue extended, licking twisted lips.
Ace was unaware of everything happening here, nor did he know that someone was prying into the High Tower Territory. He was happily performing Dreamification and Reverse Dreamification, constantly disappearing and reappearing.
“To reach the Sea of Reality and Illusion on the Outside of the World, I must have a coordinate, an existence that can serve as a marker, and a massive amount of Magic Stones to support the Magic Array.”
Ace had to use Magic Stones to maintain the Magic Array, making the coordinate conspicuous so he could return at any time, rather than getting lost in the outer Sea of Reality and Illusion.
He flipped through the Book of Coordinates and his eyes lit up when he saw a record of a coordinate.
That was from Magic Year 3, twelve years ago, when Ace had just developed the Summoning Magic Array and established the first random positioning coordinate.
At that time, he recorded it like this: “Coordinate XX, located on the Outside, No-Mana Space, time flow is extremely fast, suspected human existence.”
Ace re-arranged his Magic Arrays: the Spatial Coordinate Positioning Magic Array, the Spatial Transmission Magic Array, and the Traction Magic Array. Ace planned to transform into a dream creature—turning into a unique stream of information—and use the Magic Array to be pulled toward that No-Mana Space, that space or demi-plane where time flew rapidly.
Using that special space as an anchor, he would not enter it initially but would roam the Sea of Reality and Illusion in its vicinity.
Perhaps he could also research the cause of the rapid time flow there and deduce its secrets.
The Rational Clone brought a large number of Magic Stones. Ace presided over the Magic Array himself, transforming the clone into a dream creature, then adjusting it into a dream information flow, while the main body maintained frequency synchronization with the information flow via the True Spirit.
This was Ace’s method of risk avoidance. As an information flow, it was difficult to capture or kill, offering a higher chance of survival.
As the coordinates were locked, the spatial barrier was breached. Ace felt as if he were gradually approaching that special No-Mana Space; it felt like glass shattering and the world spinning.
Ace’s clone was instantly projected near the No-Mana Space. The information flow hovered nearby, discovering with regret that there were no biological beings around.
No magical quasi-rule creatures, no terrifying void creatures, and no peculiar dream creatures!
Guiding the clone’s information flow through the Traction Magic Array, Ace’s main consciousness via the True Spirit gradually took control of the information flow. He confusedly sensed his own state.
The information flow naturally dispersed in the Sea of Reality and Illusion, gradually turning into an information cloud. The environment of the entire Sea of Reality and Illusion seemed unfriendly; Ace felt a powerful pulling force.
“It seems I still cannot survive for long in the Sea of Reality and Illusion. My state has a critical difference from true dream creatures. Now is not the time to fuss over this difference. I must enter the special space beside me, otherwise, I will be torn into information fragments by the Sea of Reality and Illusion!”
Ace sensed the changes in the clone and made a calm judgment. The main consciousness directed the information cloud, inching closer to the special space, only to be strongly rejected and shoved away by it.
This space did not welcome him, Ace realized.
“I must establish some kind of contract relationship with life inside the space. Relying on this relationship, the special space won’t reject me, an outsider!”
Ace recalled the situation of his first Summoning Magic Array experiment. He had contracted a weak existence within this space, but due to the disparate time flow—the flow inside was too fast—the other party turned into a pile of bones in the mere moment he hesitated.
At that time, Ace was breaking through the spatial barrier but was forced to abort and was bluntly pushed away by this space or demi-plane.
In the information cloud state, Ace struggled in the Sea of Reality and Illusion, resisting its pull, trying hard to maintain the unity and integrity of his own information.
Ace’s main consciousness departed momentarily, nervously adding a Summoning Contract Magic Array to establish contact with creatures inside the space.
There seemed to be a faint responding voice. Ace, grasping at a straw, didn’t have time to choose. He hurriedly gifted Ritual Mist to the other party and concluded an Equal Contract.
Only this contract could be reached the fastest. The moment the scales linked, Ace’s clone in the information cloud state felt the attraction of the space. He went with the flow and entered the space.
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