As energy pulses surged in, the energy flow connecting each particle thickened and intensified, instantly condensing into a vast ocean of azure energy, shimmering with a deep blue light. Following this, the particles constituting life also emitted a brilliant glow under the stimulation of energy, their surfaces covered with a pure blue radiance. Then, the energy penetrated into the particles, until they were completely crystallized.
With a deafening boom, once all the particles were crystallized by energy, the pressure from the extreme change in speed could no longer be broken down by Ling Yun. Incredibly strong forces of action and repulsion repeatedly surged around Ling Yun, transforming into bursts of intense light comparable to the sun. At the core of these intense lights were completely colorless and transparent, almost motionless flames.
Suddenly, all of Ling Yun's clothes vanished, revealing her crystal-clear white body. During the process of decomposition and recombination, this ordinary fiber garment also experienced a resurrection, making it a truly extraordinary garment. However, it was ultimately vaporized under temperatures of tens of thousands of degrees.
A strange, foreign consciousness suddenly flooded into Ling Yun's mind, shattering his clear and tranquil state. Ling Yun slowly opened his eyes and saw a pure blue ocean. It stretched as far as the eye could see, and in the far, far distance, countless enormous creatures, like blue whales, were slowly swimming. Ling Yun was horrified. If these unknown creatures were already so enormous from this distance, how enormous would they be up close? It likely far exceeded his imagination.
Countless tiny points of light rose around Ling Yun. At first, Ling Yun thought they were shooting stars. He was about to use his mental energy field to investigate when he was astonished to find that he couldn't even lift a little finger. Apart from his senses, his entire body was immobilized, as if he were firmly embedded in the blue ocean, only able to float helplessly. Although the seawater submerged his mouth and nose, Ling Yun quickly discovered that he didn't need to breathe, or even use his five senses. He smelled a peculiar odor, completely unlike the bitter, salty smell of real ocean water.
The bright dots quickly grew larger in the field of vision, looking like beautiful jellyfish emitting a beautiful bioelectric glow. Behind the umbrella-shaped head was a rhomboid column, which was completely transparent and filled with shiny light filaments of varying lengths and thicknesses, like hair. The light filaments formed mysterious and complex three-dimensional patterns, like masterpieces of abstract art.
Ling Yun was carefully observing, and after looking at several points of light, he suddenly had an epiphany. He couldn't help but copy the same three-dimensional pattern in his mind, as if the pattern had some special and profound meaning.
Suddenly, Ling Yun's heart stirred. His copying ability suddenly accelerated its analysis of the three-dimensional pattern formed by the light filaments. This was not an automatic activation of his copying ability, but rather a spontaneous action of the copying ability itself. Because he had been in a state of emptiness and stillness just now, Ling Yun was unaware of what was happening to him. However, for some reason, as soon as he raised this question, the scene of his copying ability automatically collecting data when he first entered the vortex, and the scene of his body constantly decomposing and reassembling at the speed of light, automatically surfaced in his mind.
"This is a new ability derived from the copying ability," Ling Yun thought. Like the mirror technique, the copying ability has extremely strong potential. It can continuously evolve and update its abilities as circumstances change and cultivation deepens. The various derived abilities form a strict and inseparable new system of supernatural arts. This far exceeds the significance of other supernatural arts, because no other supernatural art can generate such amazing new abilities as copying.
Perhaps no one will ever see themselves die and be resurrected repeatedly at the speed of light in their lifetime, but Ling Yun did. That strange scene was permanently imprinted in his ocean of consciousness.
After counting, there were a total of eighty-one light spots. This meant that there were a total of eighty-one different intricate three-dimensional patterns, which were analyzed into a large amount of data by the copying ability and memorized in Ling Yun's brain. Although he did not know what the three-dimensional patterns were, Ling Yun intuitively felt that they were extremely useful.
The three-dimensional pattern gradually merged into everything in Ling Yun's mind. At the moment of fusion, a huge illusory model immediately appeared in his consciousness. Although this model was only a prototype and it was impossible to tell what it was, it already possessed all sorts of incredible magical powers, as if it could launch a world-destroying attack in Ling Yun's consciousness at any time.
A loud hum suddenly emanated from the yellow book-shaped barrier on Ling Yun's chest, resonating with the illusory model in his consciousness.
Chapter 166 The Realm of the Gods
Ling Yun looked down in surprise at the shimmering yellow book-shaped barrier on his chest. After the huge model appeared in his mind, he found that he could move. The blue ocean had not changed at all, and the shining points of light had disappeared into the depths of the ocean. They were all gone, leaving only the data that made up the three-dimensional pattern of the model in his mind.
The pale yellow light emanating from the yellow book grew brighter and brighter until it transformed into a deep yellow orb that enveloped Ling Yun's body. With a thought, Ling Yun activated his spiritual imprint and entered the yellow book's barrier. He could clearly feel that the barrier had suddenly come alive, as if a creature of immense power had awakened after ten thousand years of slumber.
He vaguely guessed what was going on. His energy-crystallized body must have provided the barrier with the purest energy, causing the barrier to change. The mysterious three-dimensional pattern was one of the main reasons for the resonance of his own barrier. Although Ling Yun didn't know what the model in his mind was, he intuitively felt it was the control hub of some powerful weapon. After mastering the mysterious pattern, Ling Yun now possessed the ability to control the model, just like controlling a state-of-the-art spaceship!
The moment Ling Yun entered his own barrier, he was stunned. The originally vast and boundless first layer of the barrier space was filled with wandering, eerie blue energy pulses. The pale yellow, bright boundary wall of the barrier was frantically and relentlessly absorbing this eerie blue energy. Every moment, the boundary wall was emitting a dazzling and almost tangible light. Ling Yun could even feel that the barrier was forming its own ever-renewing cycle system, and the function of absorbing energy from the outside world was being generated, rather than relying solely on his own mental energy field to maintain its survival.
The enormous model existing in his consciousness stood silently in the very center of the first layer of the barrier, like a pirate ship in a boundless desert. The model was slowly merging with the barrier, forming a central control center, while the barrier itself was gradually changing certain structural characteristics with the support of energy. Because the barrier was connected to Ling Yun's mental field, Ling Yun could clearly feel the changes in the barrier's structural characteristics, which seemed to have a similar effect to the pattern of light spots.
Upon stepping onto the model, Ling Yun immediately saw the entire barrier. From the first layer to the seventh layer, the layers were clearly displayed before him, including each simulated segment he passed through. He could even see the ultra-miniature scenes in the fifth simulated segment he had experienced. With just a reach, he could enter the simulated world.
Although Yu Xiujie handed over the barrier to him, it was merely a forced transfer due to the necessity of leaving, not a transmission of understanding. The vast amount of memories contained much that Ling Yun couldn't comprehend, and perhaps he wouldn't be able to fully comprehend it in his lifetime. Thus, the barrier merely became a high-level virtual space nurtured by his mental energy field, its essence unchanged. Moreover, even Yu Xiujie, in the later stages, only allowed the barrier to operate automatically, rarely controlling it; by the time Ling Yun arrived, the extent of his control over the barrier was even less.
However, when they were swept into the barrier of the Superpower Headquarters by the vortex, the two barriers, which were also top-level crystallizations of intelligence, resonated due to their similar structural characteristics. With Ling Yun's body as the link, energy was transferred, which not only gave Ling Yun's barrier the ability to draw energy from the outside world, but also gave Ling Yun the ability to truly control the barrier during the process of change.
At this moment, he was like a god within the barrier, able to conjure anything at will, disregarding the physical rules of heaven and earth. He could do whatever he wanted, and even all the people and events he had experienced could appear within the barrier. This control far surpassed the control that Yu Xiujie, the original owner of the yellow book barrier, had exercised over it.
However, when Ling Yun looked at the seventh layer of the barrier, all he saw was a void space, nothing at all. There was no sign of life, not even the movement of inanimate objects. It was truly nothingness.
Yu Xiujie once said that the seventh layer of the barrier was a perception and reflection on the Dao of Heaven. When he turned into ashes, it seemed that Old Master Yu had truly stepped out of the final realm. Although Ling Yun was almost omnipotent within the barrier, he could only see the seventh layer of the barrier and could never understand it.
Ling Yun pondered for a moment, then stepped off the model. The model was now much clearer, a miniature version of the headquarters barrier, only with many variations in detail, referencing the structural features of Ling Yun's own barrier. The fusion of the two barriers was almost seamless, and due to the integration of the headquarters barrier, Ling Yun's own barrier also possessed both defensive and offensive capabilities.
This means that even without relying on his own abilities, Ling Yun can use the barrier to launch powerful attacks at any time and can use the barrier to protect himself at any time. Moreover, the barrier does not consume his own energy but can automatically absorb it from the outside. In this way, Ling Yun has essentially obtained a destructive weapon with unlimited power and great destructive force for free.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. Since the model was a miniature version of the headquarters barrier, and it was composed of eighty-one mysterious and complex three-dimensional patterns, did this mean that the three-dimensional patterns were the interpretation of the headquarters barrier? Mastering the three-dimensional patterns meant mastering all the functions of the headquarters barrier, thus allowing him to come and go as he pleased.
Thinking of this, he immediately jumped onto the miniature barrier model and retrieved the scene of the silver passage he had just entered the headquarters of the superpowered beings from his memory. After pondering for a moment, he drew a 3D light pattern with his fingertip and transmitted it into the model. The 3D pattern was very similar to a dynamic code, changing every moment. It seemed chaotic, but the data analysis provided a combination of data showing the patterns behind the changes in the light pattern. Therefore, Ling Yun only needed to point out a pattern according to a certain pattern to achieve a similar function.
The miniature barrier model immediately underwent a wondrous change. A strange feeling arose in Ling Yun's heart. He gently touched it with his hand, and the electronic pulses used to identify identities in the silver channel, which had been filling the channel, suddenly shrank back into the channel wall. In this way, the channel became an empty door that anyone could enter and exit.
Ling Yun continuously created three-dimensional patterns, experimenting with the different functions of each pattern within the model. There were a total of eighty-one three-dimensional patterns, suggesting the barrier itself possessed at least eighty-one functional characteristics. The sheer size and strength of the barrier far exceeded Ling Yun's expectations. Ordinary barriers typically have only one or two or three functional characteristics, at most six or seven. Of course, for those with special abilities, needs come first; a barrier with many functional characteristics isn't necessarily suitable, while a barrier with only one characteristic might still meet their needs.
However, a barrier like the Superpower Headquarters, which possesses eighty-one functional characteristics, can no longer be simply called a barrier. It can even be described as another overlapping world. Moreover, the energy supporting the headquarters barrier comes entirely from the sun in space and free particle rays, giving the barrier the ability to monitor the entire world. Its power is unparalleled. As long as Chinese superpower users occupy the Superpower Headquarters, unless they start from within or are prepared to pay a huge price, it will be impossible to conquer such a completely superpowered and structured barrier fortress.
……
After exiting his own barrier, Ling Yun discovered that he had left the pure blue ocean and arrived in a dark space. A gentle breeze was forming in the space, but it was not composed of air movement; instead, it was an energy wind formed entirely of energy as thin as paper.
Energy materialized! Ling Yun was suddenly taken aback. This meant that any non-energy object would be pulverized in this breeze. No hard object could compare to materialized energy unless it itself was materialized energy.
Dazzling, serpentine bolts of lightning flashed intermittently within the energy winds. Within the barrier's world, all movement was silent, yet even in this silence, Ling Yun could clearly sense the unparalleled power contained within the lightning. At a distance of only tens of meters, Ling Yun also felt a slight itching sensation on his skin—an itch caused by billions of particles in the energy scanning back and forth at the speed of light.
His body has returned to normal. The basic particles that make up his body were crystallized by energy and then transported into the barrier. Ling Yun was essentially re-baptized from the inside out, from the macroscopic to the microscopic. Every cell now stores an abundance of energy, but with Ling Yun's current abilities, he is not yet able to utilize this energy.
After being baptized, Ling Yun felt that his body had undergone subtle changes. A peculiar new ability was generated in his body. Unfortunately, the new ability was still not offensive. It seemed to be a strange ability to create a microscopic world. With this ability, Ling Yun could clearly see the genetic structure of his body. Suddenly, he had a thought. His mental force field was like an invisible and skillful hand, which actually reached into his genetic structure!
Ling Yun was stunned, as if struck by lightning. He could probe into the genetic structure! What did this mean? It meant he could manipulate the genetic structure at will, like building blocks, until he achieved his desired state. In a time when all superhumans were born with stable genetic mutations, Ling Yun's ability was undoubtedly a nightmare for everyone. From this perspective alone, Ling Yun was no longer human, but possessed miraculous creative abilities—the realm of gods!
Ling Yun lowered his head and pondered for a moment. Through his control of the three-dimensional pattern, he had gained control of the headquarters' barrier. The barrier could not cause him any harm, and Ling Yun could enter and leave the barrier at any time if he wanted to.
But before that, Ling Yun had to go to one last place, a place that even the Eye of Illusion could not see through.
Chapter 167 The Greatest Sorrow is a Dead Heart
Instructor Fang stood before the hazy light screen, his face grim. His eyes were fixed almost intently on the constantly shifting lines on the screen. With each fluctuation of the lines, his brow furrowed. By the time the lines had coalesced into a complex, indistinguishable tangle, a deep knot had formed between his brows.
Another instructor in a black uniform stood beside him, also staring silently at the figure, his expression even more unpleasant than Instructor Fang's. Standing behind the two instructors were Xia Lan and Ye Feng, several meters apart. Due to their rivalry and competition, they naturally wouldn't stand close together. However, Ye Feng's face was gloomy, and looking at Instructor Fang's tall and imposing back, it was unclear what he was thinking.
Xia Lan tightly embraced Xia Zhen's shoulders, patting her comfortingly and whispering something occasionally. Xia Zhen's delicate face finally lost all expression; she just stared blankly, seemingly unable to hear anything. Xia Lan sighed inwardly. She felt relieved when she saw that Xia Zhen was alright. As for Ling Yun, she had never met him and naturally couldn't feel anything for him. However, she had never seen Xia Zhen so heartbroken. While worried, Xia Lan couldn't help but feel a little curious about Ling Yun. What was so special about this boy, who was two years younger than Xia Zhen, that could make the usually proud Xia Zhen so sad?
Standing alongside Xia Lan and Ye Feng were three men and two women, all significantly older than the two, at least thirty years old. They were all intently watching the light screen, and judging from their positions, they were likely leaders of other ability groups of equal status to Xia Lan. Behind each leader stood three or four, and sometimes five or six, ability users.
Xiao Yu, Shui Zhu'er, and several other trainee ability users stood at the back. In front of so many seniors, they couldn't help but appear somewhat respectful. Each of them stood up straight, not daring to speak as quietly as some of the ability users.
The place where they were located seemed to be a spacious, isolated space. Apart from the seamless, polished black floor and the doorway behind them, the surrounding area and ceiling were covered by a hazy, gray light curtain. However, only the light curtain in front of them displayed colorful lines. But apart from a very few people, no one could understand what these lines meant.
This is the barrier control room on the third floor of the Superpower Headquarters. Under normal circumstances, only instructors have the right to enter and exit. However, today the situation is urgent. Apart from those who are out on missions and a few who are left behind to deal with emergencies, all the other superpowered individuals have been urgently gathered by the instructors who stayed behind. They then came to the barrier control room one by one through the silver passage. As a result, most of the superpowered individuals know what has happened.
Before arriving here, Xia Zhen had already informed Instructor Fang of the details, which immediately attracted everyone's extreme attention. Everything inside and outside the superpower headquarters was monitored by the barrier, and Xia Lan had previously used the Skynet surveillance to find out that Fang Yu and Yun Hai had violated the rules. Investigating again now would be extremely simple.