Blank Concept

While the clones were thrashing the trial-takers, their original bodies were also enduring the cruel test of the Void Realm. "Just how much longer are they going to chase us—?!" On the Time Continent, a sports car soared across a cliff. Its four wheels suddenly pivoted ninety degrees sideways, transforming directly into propellers that provided upward lift, allowing the sports car to cross dozens of meters steadily and touch down onto the ground. "Variant Wheels" Level 11 special effect: allowed the wheels to become propellers for hovering movement! Yet the cliff did nothing to help the sorcerers shake off their pursuers. Hundreds of armed troop types flew down from the cliff, flying troops blanketing the mountains and wilderness almost enough to blot out the reverse-flowing rain curtain, an unconcealed despair sweeping over them like a torrent! Even from far away, hundreds of curses were already striking the sports car via media like sound and line of sight. Ripples stirred across the Refraction Curtain Wall, and the exhaust pipe violently spewed out purple poisonous mist! The combined special effect of Level 16 "Refraction Curtain Wall" and Level 16 "Poison Mist Surge," "Misfortune Transfer": any miracle effect that dealt non-direct damage could be completely blocked by the Refraction Curtain Wall, then converted into cursed poisonous mist through the exhaust pipe and sent right back! However, against a vast army of thousands, the effect of the poison mist spew was hardly much stronger than passing gas... "There's a Flowing Gold River five hundred meters away!" Xifulin had been watching the navigation system projected on the front windshield and called out a warning. The navigation system was divided into a world map and a minimap; while the world map showed no changes, the minimap continuously scanned the surroundings, providing real-time previews and route suggestions, making the gilded Flowing Gold River stand out vividly the moment it appeared on the dynamic navigation. "Here it comes!" Annan had been keeping an eye on the situation behind them. Seeing the four wings of Liyuan's Rank 6 troop type, the "Shadow Evil Comet Dragon," spew pitch-black flames like jet engines, she tightly grabbed the Veela's shoulders, her fingernails nearly digging into the snow-white skin. "Three seconds left! Three, two, one!" "I got it!" No sooner had Furuiya spoken than the Shadow Evil Comet Dragon slammed in like a comet. In an instant, the earth shook within a radius of a hundred meters; the explosive shockwave pulverized all loose stones and trees, cratering the ground and reshaping the landscape! Liyuan's troop types did not arm Void Realm creatures into humanoid forms, but rather evolved them to extremes into even more terrifying monstrosities. The combination of their Rank 6 troop type "Comet" with a Shadow Evil Dragon that had somehow smuggled its way onto the Time Continent formed an individual combat unit of near-strategic scale: the Shadow Evil Comet Dragon! Among Rank 6 troop types, Comet was number one! The Shadow Evil Dragon was Void Realm nobility that possessed Sanctuary-level combat strength even in infancy and dared to patrol Ruby Mountain in maturity! The impact of the Shadow Evil Comet Dragon's strike would shatter even a Sanctuary Sorcerer's sanctuary to pieces; naturally, the sports car's max-level Refraction Curtain Wall stood little chance against it either! Yet through the billowing dust filling the sky, a sports car bounced over the fractured earth, continuing to pursue the steps of the White Ox. Not only were the sorcerers inside completely unharmed, but even the sports car's Refraction Curtain Wall remained operating normally! This was the Level 16 special effect of "Variant Wheels": Phase Drift. When Furuiya actively drifted, the sports car's space would sever completely from the outside world for 0.1 seconds, granting total immunity to external influences. Although Phase Drift had numerous restrictions, using it to evade the instantaneous impact damage of the Shadow Evil Comet Dragon's "Cute Star Skyward Tackle" couldn't have been more fitting. At first, Furuiya couldn't get the timing right, but after three days and three nights of relentless pursuit, she had mastered the drifting technique, evading countless lethal crises. Yes, three days and three nights. To recount their adventure would require going back at least three days, but for brevity's sake, a brief summary of what they had done would suffice: while Blood Tomb was resisting the Spider Tower coalition, the trio had charged into Blood Tomb's Main City and stolen a forming "blank concept." "Unformed Blank Concept: If you can master a complete blank concept, you can experience what it feels like to be the Creator God..." At first, Furuiya didn't comprehend how important this thing was, but under the excited explanations of Xifulin and Annan, she realized they had apparently snatched a defective product greater than even the gods. A blank concept was a new concept waiting to be defined. Once defined, this new concept would become an axiom of the world. "For instance, you could define that if a Veela blinks three times in a row, anyone will fall hopelessly in love with her," Xifulin had explained. "Then that concept becomes a rule that even gods must obey—though of course, sorcerers can use miracles to circumvent rules." Hearing how formidable the blank concept was, Furuiya naturally got excited along with them, but they quickly realized several critical problems. First, this blank concept was still unformed, and they had no idea how to complete it. Second, the wars between the Heroic Spirit Legions that had erupted on the Time Continent recently seemed to be fought over this blank concept. Yet with something of such supreme importance, it was obviously not a treasure that Heroic Spirit Commanders could lay claim to; thus, the beings truly coveting the blank concept were the gods behind the Heroic Spirits of the Six Nations! Lastly, though they had escaped Blood Tomb's Main City, the Spider Tower coalition was right outside! And so, a chase sweeping across the entire Time Continent broke out. At least several thousand Two-Winged Sorcerers suffered collateral damage, crushed into pulp by the passing Heroic Spirit Legions. Aside from Blood Tomb and Star Hall, who were barely holding on and grimly defending their main cities, Spider Tower had allied with Oasis, Liyuan, and Garden to form a four-nation coalition. The orders of Spider Tower's supreme commander, Denzel, were practically Time Continent's destiny! National borders, the Domain of Stillness—none of it mattered; until they took back the blank concept, they would never retreat! Even if Furuiya's trio fled into the Domain of Stillness to die, the Void Realm creatures within the Spider Tower coalition could move in the Domain of Stillness anyway; they would surely devour the three clean before everything turned into a black-and-white painting. Faced with the sky-blotting army, the trio had quickly lost their nerve and planned to throw away the blank concept in exchange for a sliver of hope. But right at that moment, an intelligence prompt popped up in the navigation system: "Driving Record: Spider Tower's supreme commander, 'Empress,' is petty and vindictive, narrow-minded and obsessed with vengeance. Do not harbor illusions of compromise; appeasement will only bring more thorough retaliation." It so happened that the diary copy had recently updated to the chapter where Yaxiu clashed with Commander Empress, so Furuiya was naturally willing to trust this intelligence, abandoning all illusions and striving to seek a slim chance of survival in their flight! Yet the Heroic Spirit Legion was ruthless this time. Even when the Veela and the others fled into Void Realm structures, dozens of Heroic Spirit Commanders brazenly barged inside to continue their pursuit. Destiny Q&A, Miracle Paradise, Windmill House... as vast as the Time Continent was, it offered nowhere to hide. Normally, when pursued by Void Realm creatures, fleeing was like drinking poison to quench a thirst, because sorcerers had to consume soul energy to act in the Void Realm. Once that energy ran out, they would have no choice but to stop and return to reality. During the channeling time needed to establish a stable connection with their physical bodies in reality, the Heroic Spirit Legion would rush in and tear them to shreds. Yet while being hunted by the Spider Tower coalition, Furuiya had decided to exhaust all the resources they had gathered over recent days to upgrade "Refraction Curtain Wall" to its maximum level of 30, unexpectedly unlocking a near-miraculous special effect—Damage Conversion! "Refraction Curtain Wall Level 30 Special Effect: 5% of the damage received by the curtain wall is converted into the soul energy of the passengers." The torrential bombardment from the Spider Tower coalition happened to supply them with an endless stream of soul energy. That was how they had managed to hold out for three days and three nights in the Void Realm without being kicked offline from soul energy depletion! Even Furuiya could see how absurd this special effect was, practically giving sorcerers infinite endurance. Still, considering that the stockpiled materials they had gathered by plundering several Heroic Spirit Legion transport convoys were nearly wiped out to reach Level 30, she felt the effect was reasonably earned. As for the car's other peripherals, unless the Veela could dismantle a faction's main city for materials, there simply weren't enough materials left on the Time Continent to upgrade another peripheral to Level 30... Annan: "How much further to Star Hall?" Xifulin opened the world map. "At least six hours' drive." They weren't fleeing blindly. The reason the three of them had held on for three days and nights without giving up was their certainty that Star Hall's Main City was the finish line of their escape. Star Hall hadn't fallen yet. If Star Hall clashed with the Spider Tower coalition, that would naturally be the best outcome. Even if Star Hall chose appeasement, they could still charge into Star Hall's Main City, pick a lucky commander at random to slaughter, and thereby assemble the Soul Summoning sorcery spirits of all six factions! Over the past half-month, relying on the sports car's exceptional performance, the trio had seized opportunities to intrude upon the battlefields of the Six Nations and slain commanders in the double digits. Their Soul Summoning sorcery spirits had already unlocked all troop types from five factions, and naturally unlocked the "Five-Colored Anchor" that granted immunity to external influences. However, the "Five-Colored Anchor" provided only 80% anchoring, leaving a 20% chance of being hit. Amidst carpet-bombing sorceries from the Heroic Spirit Legion, that 20% chance was more than enough to turn them to ash. Therefore, as long as they unlocked the "Six-Colored Anchor" that provided 100% anchoring, they could disregard the threat of the Heroic Spirit Legion and leisurely return to reality right under their noses! However... Xifulin looked up at the colossal white foot piercing heaven and earth ahead, a wry smile spreading across her face. "We're about to reach the end of time." Time itself naturally had no end, but the White Ox's domain had boundaries. No one knew how fast the White Ox moved, but under normal circumstances, it was impossible for sorcerers to outrun it. Not because talented sorcerers were lacking, but because the White Ox's speed existed in a peculiar dynamic equilibrium: if sorcerers were numerous and moved fast, the White Ox moved fast, and vice versa. It was as though the White Ox did not move on its own, but was rather a massive vehicle powered by everyone's collective work. When sorcerers contributed kinetic energy, they helped it accelerate forward. Furuiya and the others were able to catch up to the White Ox's foreleg not only because the sports car was fast enough and they had driven for three days and three nights, but also because far too many other sorcerers had died. They even suspected that similar announcements like "Time Continent Red Alert" had appeared in various countries in reality, warning Two-Winged Sorcerers not to enter the Void Realm these days to avoid being crushed beneath the wheels of history. After all, a single raindrop on the Time Continent was a deluge when it fell upon a sorcerer's head! The drop in the number of sorcerers caused the White Ox's pace to slow as well. Thus, while the Heroic Spirit Legion hadn't caught up to them yet, they had already caught up to the White Ox. Continuing forward would only mean crashing headlong into the Domain of Stillness. Stopping at the perimeter meant being overtaken by the Heroic Spirit Legion. "Are we out of options?" Annan actually relaxed instead, touching her dim, lusterless amethyst earring. "I never imagined I would die in the Void Realm." "I won't die," Xifulin said. "My soul flows within blood. I will be reborn from fresh blood... though when I next awaken, it will likely be decades in the future." "We won't die." Furuiya's eyes shone bright, her voice still spirited. "This will never be our end." Yet Annan and Xifulin were both weary. A chase of three days and three nights could be summarized in a single line, but it encompassed over a hundred life-and-death crises, dozens of different attempts, and hopes shattered again and again. Faced with a vast army, not just anyone had the courage to fight alone. Even women of steadfast will like them couldn't help harboring bleak thoughts of "I'm exhausted, let it all burn." So when they saw the Veela remaining in high spirits throughout, they couldn't help wondering—where on earth did her confidence come from? "Because Yaxiu is an amazing, amazing person." Furuiya turned to look at them. "He could leave behind a skiff, leave behind this car, and share his life with me through the diary... In the future, he will definitely become an incredible figure." "He's so amazing, so why of all people am I the one who shares such a close bond with him?" She declared with absolute certainty, "There's only one explanation—" "—in the future, I will be someone even more amazing than him!" "My life will never be squandered in a place like this." Both of them blinked, stunned by the Veela's bafflingly self-confident train of thought. Weren't Veelas generally supposed to be rather clever and skilled in the mind faction? Why was this Veela's head always missing a few screws—was it an individual issue, or had she been corrupted by Yaxiu? Xifulin said placidly, "If he really cared about you, why didn't he take you with him?" With one line, the little bat stung two people. "Ugh..." Seeing the Veela looking so downcast, Xifulin felt a bit sheepish and comforted her, "All right, all right, it's not like giving your heart away gets betrayed every single time. You two are still so young; you'll definitely have a next time, a time after that, and plenty more chances!" "Is comfort always so peculiar in the Blood Moon?" Annan said. "Still, even though we've benefited greatly from Yaxiu's gifts, there are plenty of ways to repay him. You don't have to devote your entire heart to him, Furuiya." "Hmph, Yaxiu is the best!" The Veela glared at them indignantly. "When we meet him again in the future, don't you dare fall for him!" Xifulin didn't mind, but Annan subconsciously averted her gaze, touching her new earring—she wasn't certain whether Yaxiu might write about the little moments between the two of them in his diary... Just then, Annan spotted a building with a garden appearing in the distance and asked, "What is that?" Xifulin checked the navigation map and blinked, slightly startled. "A question-mark building. Unmarked." A question-mark building was a Void Realm structure that the Heroic Spirit Legion had previously discovered but couldn't identify from its exterior. They had previously tried hiding inside Void Realm structures; although knowledge creatures indeed couldn't enter, Heroic Spirit Commanders shared the same biological template as sorcerers and could enter Void Realm structures to keep hunting them down. This building was the very last structure. Beyond it lay the end of time; pressing onward would surpass the White Ox and crash into the Domain of Stillness. Yet ducking into a Void Realm structure to fight dozens of Heroic Spirit Commanders was still far easier than facing the thousands upon thousands of the Heroic Spirit Legion. And so, Furuiya drove right through into the garden, then hurriedly got out of the car and entered the cottage. The Heroic Spirit Legion immediately swarmed and encircled the garden, after which commanders attempted to enter the garden, only to be blocked outside. Soon, "Empress" Denzel arrived before the garden riding an Eight-Eyed Weaver Spider. She leapt down and dismissed her armed troop type, her appearance becoming indistinguishable from an ordinary sorcerer. Yet when she reached out to push open the courtyard gate, her fingertips tapped against an invisible air barrier, sending out ripples. Denzel's face turned utterly grim. She turned to look at the commanders of the other factions and shook her head. "There's nothing we can do. It's the Dramatic Poet."