Xiao Rou opened her phoenix eyes, still half-asleep. A warm sensation came from her lips, like... Ling Yun's warm lips. A warmth quickly arose within her, transforming into countless vital energies that rapidly gathered at the wound through her blood. The wound on her back, which had been numb, finally felt immense pain. A lovely blush appeared on the girl's face, and she couldn't help but groan softly.
Ling Yun felt a sense of relief. He then filled his mouth with the blood from his wrist again and gently kissed his girlfriend's lips. With each drop of blood, Xiao Rou's face became more rosy, and she was further away from the danger to her life. Looking at the girl who was gradually becoming more lively and the wound on her back that was constantly healing, Ling Yun's heart finally regained a sense of peace.
Unexpectedly, the totem creature contained such terrifying energy. The bombardment after its final self-destruction was no less than the impact of a miniature atomic bomb. The collapse of that microscopic world left an indelible impression on Ling Yun.
The girl in his arms suddenly let out a long moan. Ling Yun couldn't help but be startled, thinking that something had happened to Xiao Rou again. When he looked down, a snow-white arm suddenly hooked his head, and then soft, smooth cherry lips kissed him deeply.
Chapter 306 Overlapping Forms
After a long while, the two, still immersed in their tender bliss, finally parted. Ling Yun unconsciously licked his lips, where the fragrance of Xiao Rou's lips and teeth still lingered. Having just survived a life-or-death struggle, they had suddenly entered another extreme, giving Ling Yun a dazed, extreme feeling. Experiencing two of the most intense emotional moments in his life had brought him unparalleled shock. He gently stroked the snow-white skin on Xiao Rou's back. The charred wounds were gone; all the carbonized skin had peeled off, and her flawless white skin had been restored to its original state. Ling Yun's fingers lightly traced across it, and with each stroke, the hearts of the young man and woman pounded involuntarily.
"What just happened?" After a long pause, Xiao Rou finally asked. A slightly cool sensation came from her back, but Ling Yun's hand covered it, making her feel incredibly warm. After thinking for a moment, Xiao Rou decided against using her mental energy field to conjure a protective suit to cover the charred fragments of her clothes. This way, Ling Yun wouldn't be able to touch her skin. And Xiao Rou so desperately wished her boyfriend's hands would be bolder… Did she always have to take the initiative? Xiao Rou bit her lip, lost in thought.
“It’s a gift from that civilization, a special gift.” Ling Yun couldn’t help but smile bitterly, his fingers unconsciously tracing circles on Xiao Rou’s back. “Within the totem creature’s body lies the last resort that the ancient civilization gave to its enemy. If someone can probe the totem creature’s genetic level, then the totem creature’s genes will automatically initiate a disintegration process, then condense all the energy cells into a single point, and self-destruct in the form of a microscopic world collapse. As for the power… we’ve already seen it.”
"Oh." Xiao Rou nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite. She couldn't grasp the meaning behind Ling Yun's words. Because she couldn't access the microscopic level, she couldn't gain any direct understanding. Although she had learned more about the microscopic level than most other ability users through exposure, compared to Ling Yun, she was still a complete novice. Besides, the girl didn't want to think about these troubling questions. Most importantly, the storm had passed, and Ling Yun and she were still safe and sound. That was enough.
"What do we do now? Go and challenge those halls?" Xiao Rou reluctantly left Ling Yun's warm embrace, gazing at the empty passageway hundreds of meters high. The power of the totem creature's self-destruction had not only shattered all the giant pillars into dust, but also irreversibly damaged the passageway's ceiling, leaving it completely dark. However, with the faint white light shining through the white marble steps, things could still be slightly visible to the naked eye, but this posed no obstacle for Ling Yun and Xiao Rou.
"It seems so." Ling Yun couldn't help but sigh. They hadn't even reached the main hall yet, and this mere passageway already possessed such mysterious and unpredictable difficulty and power. The two of them had almost died here. This showed just how dangerous the long, winding mountain path-like main hall must be. But now that they had come this far, going back was completely impossible. They could only grit their teeth and take it one step at a time. Fortunately, the two of them had experienced many hardships and had teetered on the brink of death countless times, so they weren't particularly afraid.
Ling Yun slowly reviewed the self-destruction of the totem creature in his mind. Because he had kept his Microscopic World Vision open the entire time, Ling Yun was able to clearly replay everything in his consciousness. He replicated his ability to repeatedly calculate the entire process of cell collapse. The huge mass loss in the middle was obviously due to the nuclear reaction linking process. Otherwise, a small organism could not possibly have such power. Ling Yun suddenly felt a chill. If the totem creature was not the size of a palm, but an existence with the same mass as him, would the power of the self-destruction be several levels higher?
Deep within his consciousness, the microscopic world was replaying itself. Suddenly, all the mass inside the enormous cell rushed toward the extremely tiny cell nucleus. After the enormous mass condensed into an extremely tiny point, it was then released in the most explosive way. Along with the bio-energy, there were also countless compressed electric currents and radiation energies. Ling Yun could not imagine how such a huge amount of energy was stored in that tiny body. This made him once again deeply admire the ancient civilization behind the totem creature.
The calculation suddenly stopped when it reached the critical point of explosion. The copying ability automatically stopped calculating and did not continue. This was the first time the copying ability had disobeyed Ling Yun's instructions. It was not that the ability had developed its own consciousness and could disobey its master's orders, but rather that it sensed a great danger that might threaten its master's safety. Therefore, before calculating any unreliable data, the copying ability always gave the safest advice.
Ling Yun silently obeyed the instructions of the copying ability. Even if the copying ability automatically stopped the calculation, he knew that if the explosion was re-simulated, his consciousness would be immediately destroyed by the turbulent flow of data. This self-destruction could only happen once, and even if the calculation was performed, it would demonstrate the same scale. Without a space to accommodate it, doing these things in his mind would undoubtedly be quite dangerous.
Ling Yun suddenly remembered the yellow book barrier. It was time to expand the barrier to create a new experimental space. In this way, a lot of calculation data could be simulated without any scruples. It was even possible to deduce the re-evolution of ancient civilizations within a small area of the barrier. If that were the case, there would be no need to be helpless against information spaces that only have data simulations. At any time, development is the priority, and data can only represent one aspect.
Ling Yun even thought of creating a segment simulation within the yellow book's barrier, where the Hand of God could be applied without worrying about causing a butterfly effect in reality.
However, all of this depends on surviving and being able to escape the ancient barrier; otherwise, it's all just empty talk. Not knowing what awaits him in the distant future, Ling Yun looked up at the still mysterious and unfathomable grand hall. Remembering the voice that could directly communicate with his consciousness, Ling Yun felt a chill run down his spine and instinctively reached out to take Xiao Rou's hand.
Ling Yun was startled when he pulled at empty air. He turned around and saw that Xiao Rou had already walked dozens of meters away, looking down at the thick layer of dust on the ground, seemingly lost in thought.
"What are you looking at?" Ling Yun walked to her side and asked curiously. This dust was left behind after the totem creatures self-destructed, destroying the pillars. Even the hardest objects couldn't remain unscathed in such an explosion. The high temperature and electric current continuously decomposed the fragments of the giant pillars, so that after the explosion, all the pillars looked the same. The information carriers inside naturally turned into dust along with the pillars, which in a way helped Ling Yun and Xiao Rou a lot.
"I feel there's something in this dust," Xiaorou said briefly, her gaze continuing to search for something in the half-meter-thick layer of dust. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot from her hand, smashing a ghostly figure that had just emerged from the dust into pieces with a soft "poof." Although it only happened for a brief moment, both of them clearly saw the figure's appearance: a black-clad figure wearing a cloak.
Unlike the black-clad figure that had just materialized, what emerged from the dust of the giant pillar was merely the shadow of the black-clad figure, exuding an ethereal aura, as if it were the soul of the real black-clad figure after death, without a true form like a ghost.
Ling Yun was taken aback. He had never actually sensed this dust before. In his view, since it had been broken down into particles, all information carriers would be rendered useless. Unexpectedly, Xiao Rou was the first to notice the anomaly. A golden light flashed in her eyes, and her Eye of Illusion instantly swept across all the dust in the tunnel. Sure enough, beneath the thick layer of dust, countless creatures capable of movement were wriggling incessantly, seemingly about to surge up from beneath the dust.
Suddenly, a cloud of dust burst open, and another figure in black emerged from within. His pale, ethereal hands stretched out and out, instantly forming a bluish-green mist. A clear, hazy beam of light shot out from between his crossed hands, swiftly heading towards Ling Yun.
Judging from the perception of the mental energy field, the power of this attack was no less than the rolling thunder from the black-clad man who first appeared. However, the black-clad man who first appeared was able to unleash the rolling thunder attack only with the support of a massive mental energy field. Now, all the giant pillars have turned to dust, and the energy transmission array no longer exists. Even if that massive mental energy field is omnipotent, it cannot provide energy support out of thin air. Otherwise, Ling Yun and Xiao Rou would no longer need to put up a futile resistance; the massive mental energy field could have simply wiped them out.
Ling Yun was taken aback. He hadn't expected that the information carrier would still have the ability to manifest after being shattered along with the giant pillar. This was truly unexpected. Judging from the ethereal aura emanating from the man in black, it was clearly the same form as Lieutenant Dreiser's ghost. However, it was still unclear how a mere physical form could unleash such a fierce attack. This was beyond the normal range.
A gleaming spear tip suddenly extended, lightly flicking against the hazy pillar of light. The bright light flashed for a moment, and the azure pillar of light instantly changed direction. Just before striking the two figures, it suddenly transformed into countless azure specks of light and then slowly dissipated. The telekinetic spear then flew through the air from the girl's hand, piercing through the illusory form of the azure-clad man who had no time to react like lightning.
The moment the telekinetic spear pierced him, the black-clad man's form suddenly became chaotic, as if countless shadows overlapped, leaving a series of illusory images behind him. The telekinetic spear's speed abruptly slowed, as if it were piercing through thick, dense soil, encountering immense resistance. His form continuously collapsed and disintegrated under the immense destructive force, but for some reason, the black-clad man's image kept elongating without immediately disappearing.
Ling Yun was startled again. The black-clad man who had first materialized was not only fierce in his attacks but also had an abnormally strong defense. He could instantly recover from being attacked by the mental force field. However, although the attack power of this black-clad man was almost the same as the original, his defense was much weaker. He was only able to keep his shadow lengthening under the attack of the telekinetic spear, which greatly surprised Ling Yun.
Xiao Rou frowned slightly. Although the telekinetic spear flew out of her hand, she could sense any weapon formed by her mental energy field at any distance. The feeling from the spear tip meant that the opponent was actually very vulnerable. However, it was worth noting that the resistance at the spear tip was getting stronger and stronger, which was something that would only happen when encountering a strong defense.
The figure in black kept hissing, and the originally low sound echoed in the empty passageway. It sounded like a mixture of many voices, all speaking in unison, but under the attack of the telekinetic spear, it inevitably sounded chaotic.
The telekinetic spear finally gave way to immense resistance, freezing motionless within the afterimage of the black-clad figure. Its throwing power had been exhausted. Xiao Rou was about to remotely activate it again, but Ling Yun gently waved his hand, signaling her to put the spear away. Then, Ling Yun stepped forward, his Eye of Illusion emitting a faint golden light, scanning the figure repeatedly. This strange phenomenon greatly perplexed Ling Yun; he had to figure out what was happening, even though the black-clad figure no longer posed a threat to them.
However, before Ling Yun could discern anything amiss, one after another, the figures of the decorative motifs emerged from the dust, as if a grand banquet was being held. Since these figures did not possess real bodies, each one slowly floated toward the figure of the man in black, and then began to overlap in the same position, appearing as if drawing on a two-dimensional plane, with new images constantly covering the old ones. However, this covering was not a complete one; only the new image was displayed on top, creating a mixed effect of new and old images, which looked bizarre yet full of a sense of realism.
After scanning the area several times with his Eye of Illusion, Ling Yun suddenly realized that the attack power of the black-clad figures hadn't actually increased. However, due to the overlapping nature of these figures, when countless figures were superimposed in the same location, only one black-clad figure could be seen. It was like a group of identical people standing in a straight line. If viewed from the front, only the first person was visible, but if viewed from the side, everyone would appear as a straight line. The range of perspective affected the perception, while the unique illusory nature of the figures created a true overlap. No wonder Xiao Rou's telekinetic spear couldn't be effective in one strike; after numerous figures were superimposed, the attack power of the telekinetic spear was naturally reduced.
When all the forms attack simultaneously, and all use the same attack method, the power of the attack becomes considerable. This is the fundamental reason why the black-clad humanoid forms have extremely strong attack capabilities but very poor defense.
Chapter 307 The Aura of Death
The Eye of Illusion swept through the thick dust once more, instantly penetrating every single particle. After a thorough search, Ling Yun finally discovered that the reason the shattered information carriers had formed the ghostly forms of the decorative figures was ultimately due to the immense power of the totem creatures' self-destruction. Apart from the giant pillars that turned deathly gray, all the other pillars had transformed into their current forms in the shortest possible instant. Although the information carriers were also shattered, they maintained the integrity of the information at the moment of destruction. However, the energy flow that maintained the information had changed to a different particle characteristic, and this particle characteristic was consistent with the characteristics of the form.
This is analogous to freezing a person instantly at absolute zero versus freezing them slowly. The effects are completely different. With instantaneous freezing, the water in the body's cells remains water, and the chances of survival are still quite high after the ice dissipates. However, slow freezing is like gradually turning the water in the body's cells into ice as well; the bone-chilling cold will kill the person completely. Currently, information carriers exhibit this special characteristic, and it's not due to some mysterious force at work.
Having figured out the reason, Ling Yun couldn't help but smile knowingly. However, the physical characteristics of the information carrier also gave him a new insight: instantaneous destruction does not necessarily mean non-existence, but may have transformed into another form. Perhaps, this is how the legendary ghosts are formed. Sudden death causes the human spirit to exist in another inexplicable way, which is the legend.
Countless embroidered figures emerged from the dust anew, continuously merging with the heavily damaged group of men in black. In mere moments, they coalesced into a gigantic, transparent, indescribable hybrid monster. Resembling a composite of ancient deities, it continuously expanded its form within a space hundreds of meters wide.
Strictly speaking, the decorative figures are not human, nor are they a continuation of real figures from ancient civilizations. Beyond their appearance, they are essentially just a layer of cyclical information. When the energy of this information is exhausted, that is, when the decorative figures disappear, that's when their existence takes on another layer of meaning. The form of these figures further propelles this non-human existence forward. What exactly is the form simulated based on this information? Ling Yun couldn't imagine. And no one could answer that question. Nature is both simple and complex, because any infinitely derived existence is possible, regardless of the probability of such an existence.
For nature, anything is possible.
Xiao Rou stared in astonishment at the ever-increasingly stacked, gigantic hybrid monster. Her gaze followed the hundreds and thousands of decorative figures stacked higher and higher. She had already summoned back her telekinetic spear, which she twirled gently in her hand before it suddenly turned into a beam of light and disappeared. This was the advantage of having superpowers; whenever needed, one could summon weapons through a mental field.
An incredibly powerful and ferocious aura emanated from the hybrid monster. Although the individual decorative figures were not particularly strong when they materialized, and their power weakened further after taking on physical form, the combined power of all the decorative figures, with the energy of all the information carriers concentrated at a single point, created a formidable force. Ling Yun and Xiao Rou could even sense a tremendous threat; the combined power of the physical figures was comparable to that of a school-level expert.
Xiao Rou took a small step back, and a powerful mental field surged from her body, burning fiercely, making her look like a goddess in silver flames. The incomparably bright telekinetic spear was once again shaped in her hand. Even ordinary people could clearly see ripples of light blooming on the spearhead, a sign that Xiao Rou's power was constantly gathering. The surrounding air was rising rapidly, and a dark, phantom-like shape magnified at the spearhead, looking as if covered by a black lampshade.
After several uses, the Ultimate Thrust finally underwent a change. The azure flame was no longer white, but had turned into a pure, bright black. If it weren't for the flickering flames, it would be hard to believe that it was a ball of black flame capable of instantly vaporizing steel. The air around the black flame was subtly distorted by the intense heat, making it awe-inspiring to behold.
Ling Yun stared at Xiao Rou in astonishment. It seemed that in just a short while, Xiao Rou's strength had increased again. Ling Yun could even clearly feel the terrifying energy contained within the Limit Thrust, a power capable of instantly killing most major-level experts. When did Xiao Rou, who was only a lieutenant, become so powerful? Despite witnessing the effects of the nameless electromagnetic stimulation on her genes, Ling Yun couldn't help but be amazed by his girlfriend's rapid growth.
Clearly, Xiaorou wanted to quickly and decisively kill the hybrid monster with a single shot. At the same time, the girl was eager to see the power of her newly mastered, enhanced Extreme Thrust. She was even somewhat excited; a vast amount of psychic energy circulated rapidly in her blood, supplying ample energy to her delicate, white hands. Xiaorou even felt a slight inability to precisely control this power; for the first time, she felt a sense of powerlessness. But at this moment, even the slightest distraction was impossible. Before the thrust was even made, Xiaorou's mental energy had been unconsciously drawn to the spear in her hand.
She didn't know the full power of this newly acquired technique, but one thing was certain: even if she severely injured her opponent, she herself would suffer greatly. It was similar to her first use of the Ultimate Thrust in the underground bar; while severely injuring Maxima, the backlash from exhaustion was actually more severe than her opponent's. But now, Xiaorou couldn't stop. Her entire being, her very spirit, was immersed in the technique. The light emanating from the telekinetic spear even overshadowed the light of her own spiritual field, and there was even a faint tendency for it to draw her entire body into the spear.
As if sensing the powerful aura on the other side, the huge hybrid monster suddenly stopped its overlapping forms. Instead, it moved one leg, which was covered with countless figures decorated with various patterns, and slowly knelt down. A thick, human-like arm was crossed in front of it to cover its body. The ferocious aura that had been uncontrollably released just now suddenly subsided. Facing Xiao Rou, who was less than a tenth of its height, the hybrid monster took the initiative to assume a defensive posture.