Nightfall, the Twin Palace.
"Speaking of which, is 'Square-Round Cicada' a codename shared by several grand laws?"
Facing Igola's question, the Dark Snake Twins shook their heads. "A grand law's name is an exclusive designation. Even among grand laws sharing the same faction and philosophy, they would only share specific characters—such as 'Transcendence', 'Twin', or 'Calamitous Fire'—never the exact same name."
"Aren't you two high-ranking members of the Twin Cult?" Harvey asked, leaning against his coffin. "How do you have the leisure to linger around here?"
"The Twin Abyss is our cult's most critical affair," the Dark Snake Twins replied flawlessly. "Furthermore, only we have the capability to monitor outsiders like you."
"Strange," Igola murmured with a frown. "Why is it written here as though the Square-Round Cicada still exists, and they could even perform experiments on it...?"
"The Square-Round Cicada does indeed still exist."
Everyone turned to look at the Black Crow, who had been meditating in silence all this time.
"I once hunted down an Evil Crow. He possessed a Grey Fox legacy capable of instantly killing anyone below Sanctuary. Because his cult was destroyed, the right half of his body had turned green. Insane yet cunning by nature, he massacred several towns in succession and took pleasure in stripping the right half of living people clean. Kalan, Tanomu, and I ambushed and killed him." Black Crow's voice carried no emotional fluctuation, though the word "killed" surely encompassed a great deal of brutal punishment that had sated his wrath. "Tanomu discovered that the Grey Fox legacy capable of instantly killing people was actually a box containing a severed limb of a grand law. That limb belonged to the Square-Round Cicada. Anyone tainted by its aura would rapidly age and corrode. That was the secret of the Grey Fox legacy."
The Dark Snake Twins asked, "How did you confirm it was the Square-Round Cicada?"
"Tanomu said so. She is a prophecy sorcerer," Black Crow replied. "She is always right."
"A grand law can have its limbs severed?" Harvey was clearly far more interested in this detail.
"That shouldn't be possible nowadays. If anyone could do that, word would have spread," the Dark Snake Twins remarked. "However, if it was the Grey Fox Divine Era... wait. Believers of the Square-Round Cicada would never treat it like that, which means the experimenters here didn't believe in the Square-Round Cicada? How did it survive without believers?"
"Devotion is not the only form of belief," Igola said. "It seems they wanted the Square-Round Cicada to evolve."
The Dark Snake Twins asked, "How else can a grand law evolve?"
"Didn't the records say? The method for immortality they deduced was to become an intelligent grand law. But looking at it in reverse, there's no reason that wouldn't hold true as well."
Everyone froze, and the Dark Snake Twins frowned in unison. "They wanted to awaken sentience in the Square-Round Cicada?"
"Correct," Igola nodded. "Though it seems the project was ultimately abandoned. First, they discovered that the only expendable resource capable of enhancing a grand law's intelligence was sorcerers themselves, yet feeding it several Sanctuaries produced virtually no effect. Second, the direction of the Square-Round Cicada's transformation diverged drastically from what they had imagined."
What transformation?
Yet the Swindler did not elaborate. Sitting back in his chair, he set down the documents in his hand and said, "You can take these files away."
The Dark Snake Twins asked immediately, "You don't need them anymore?"
"Nothing more can be gleaned from them," Igola said, resting his head on the table, his tone dejected. "In the end, what good does knowing the trial's secrets do? We have no means whatsoever to influence the abyss. Knowing too much does nothing more than indulge our curiosity..."
He glanced sideways at Tamashi. "I'd rather be like that Black Crow, sitting off to the side in meditation and waiting for the outcome."
"After toiling for days, we still came away with nothing." Igola tapped his finger lightly on the table and said languidly, "I'm exhausted. Harvey, have Alice step out. I'm going into the coffin to nap for a while."
Harvey glared at him with a frown—this was beyond impolite. Is my coffin something you can just sleep in whenever you please?
Right then, however, conflicted looks surfaced on the faces of the Dark Snake Twins. They couldn't help but speak up:
"Actually, it's not entirely..."
"If..."
Hooked.
The corners of Igola's mouth curled up bit by bit.
***
Yaxiu and Weise stared at the Grey Fox legend, 'Gear of Time' Meisi.
Didn't you charge forward on a suicide run? Why are you still here?!
Yet Meisi showed not the slightest trace of shame for having baited others to their deaths. Staring intently at the Square-Round Cicada, he muttered, "Could this be the Square-Round Cicada Cult's true plan? Or is this a transformation brought about by consuming us? But how is that possible? How could a grand law..."
Puzzled, Yaxiu couldn't resist asking Silver Lantern, "What's the big deal about the Square-Round Cicada casting spells?"
Weise answered, "Casting spells is the exclusive domain of sorcery spirits."
"And not just ordinary sorcery spirits, either."
Skadi's voice drifted over from behind. The legend seemed to hold a bit of goodwill toward them. "The Square-Round Cicada's instantaneous recovery was actually it reversing time to return to its uninjured state. As for those people turning into withered bones, it froze their time decades into the future, reducing them to skeletons in an instant.
"It wasn't aging, nor was it healing. Both of those are continuous temporal processes, completely meaningless against time-based life-forms immune to the Flowing Gold River. The Square-Round Cicada reached into the river of time, seized their respective 'fates', and substituted them, which was why it took effect instantly." Wonder and yearning were unmistakable in her tone. "Capturing decades of fate through time... that is already the realm of gods..."
"Not necessarily," Meisi cut in. "When casting that spell, it consumed a tremendous amount of the Flowing Gold River's water. Under normal circumstances, even with the sorcery power support of a legendary sorcerer, it could likely only alter ten seconds of fate—unless someone could carry a Flowing Gold River around wherever they went.
"It roughly sits at the level of a Four-Wing sorcery spirit, yet wields the power of a Five-Winged god," he continued. "Even if the Square-Round Cicada is a unique exception, this is an unprecedented discovery. If we can get out alive..."
Just thinking about it made Yaxiu realize what an extraordinary technological revolution this was.
Even if it only transformed a grand law into a Four-Wing sorcery spirit, being able to reliably obtain Four-Wing sorcery spirits was already monumental. What was more, these Four-Wing sorcery spirits could be custom-made!
Whatever obsession one harbored would cultivate a corresponding grand law, which would naturally evolve into a corresponding sorcery spirit!
Take the Square-Round Cicada, a dual-affinity sorcery spirit of time and fate. Sorcerers had no way to summon it on their own; they could only try their luck in the Void Realm. In the Distant Sky Realm, that meant first encountering relevant affixes, then stumbling into affix bubble rewards, and then pulling for it... For any sorcerer seeking an ultra-rare sorcery spirit, failing thousands or tens of thousands of times was standard fare, and finding even one might take decades.
Compared to sheer luck, a technological revolution capable of customizing rare sorcery spirits was enough to drive every legend mad!
Granted, the process required consuming sorcerers who harbored deep obsessions. But that was fine—all one needed was to construct a specific environment, coax these sorcerers into willingly becoming grand laws, and then...
Yaxiu paused, suddenly realizing there was nothing particularly novel about that after all.
At that moment, Silver Lantern tugged impatiently at him. Only then did Yaxiu notice that everyone else had swum a significant distance ahead. With so many deaths, numerous tributaries of the Flowing Gold River had shut down, drastically slowing the current and extending how far they could advance.
"Meisi, you despicable scoundrel! You tricked so many people into dying, and now you dare strike again?!" Fighting broke out up ahead as a legend roared in fury, "We can't let you live! Everyone, throw him to the cicada!"
"You didn't rush in back then either, did you? Weren't you waiting to see if anyone else succeeded first? I merely did the same as you," Meisi countered. "There is no room for cooperation now. Everyone wants to kill others to slow the river's flow and make the Square-Round Cicada pause to feed. Whether you die or I die, they can accept either outcome. Why would they help you?"
Yaxiu glanced back and saw that the Square-Round Cicada was indeed pursuing them. Although the golden cicada wasn't fast, they were slow as well, and there was a limit to how far they could swim. If nothing was done, they would all inevitably become a buffet for the beast.
Before long, Meisi emerged victorious. The legend whose limbs he had broken was washed downstream, bleeding azure blood that indicated he had reinforced his body using a phantasm creation similar to the Dragon Blood Cultivation System. Presented with a fresh snack, the Square-Round Cicada paused to savor its meal.
Yaxiu and Weise held back cautiously. When they saw Meisi turn to look at them, their hearts tightened, but Meisi soon looked away and resumed swimming forward with all his might.
The waters churned, sending spray flying in every direction.
Suddenly, Ibrahim, one of the leading legends, came to a halt.
Not only did he stop, but as Meisi, Skadi, and the others bypassed him, he failed to advance and was pushed backward by the Flowing Gold River.
The others glanced at him, instantly understanding what was happening.
It wasn't the current, nor was it physical endurance—it was willpower.
If willpower were a blade, the sharper it was, the better it could cleave through the Flowing Gold River. But every blade had durability and could rust; once rusted, it became useless.
Under the relentless scour of countless ages within the Flowing Gold River, only the keenest resolve could reach the far shore; only the most steadfast will could hold out to the end.
Perhaps he was exhausted, or perhaps this was simply the extent of his capacity. In any case, Ibrahim's will had rusted. Unable to maintain his sense of self, the river's wash shattered his fighting spirit.
He was finished.
He seemed to realize this as well. Turning to face the people behind him, a dull, dead intent crept into his eyes. "Let's die together!" Ibrahim snarled. Abandoning all defense and letting the river sweep him along, he lunged frantically at the trial-takers trailing behind him!
Yet no one engaged him. Parrying or dodging, as long as they slipped past, Ibrahim would be washed away on his own.
"Moyu, you're dead!"
Evidently bearing a grudge against someone named Moyu, Ibrahim grabbed the man directly, biting with his teeth and locking on with his legs, refusing to let go even when one of his eyes was gouged out!
Tangled together, the two came hurtling downstream. Yaxiu and Weise had swum far to the side to steer clear, but when Ibrahim saw them, he pried open his bloody eye and roared, "How could I be inferior to mere Sanctuaries?!"
Though Yaxiu and Weise moved to intercept immediately, the momentum of Ibrahim and Moyu riding the raging current was far beyond what the two could withstand!
Boom!
Yaxiu and Weise were knocked aside. Worse, Ibrahim wanted more people dragged down with him, while Moyu desperately grabbed at anything to halt his descent, and both lunged simultaneously to restrain the weaker Sanctuaries!
Both of them were caught. Yaxiu instantly drew his sword to sever Ibrahim's hand, but Ibrahim had gripped his right shoulder from behind, nearly crushing his scapula. The angle made it nearly impossible to cut through with a sword, and an ordinary stab would never force the maddened legend to release his hold!
In desperation, he glanced at Silver Lantern, whose leg was held fast by Moyu. Bringing down the Sword of Honeyed Words and Belly Dagger with all his strength, Yaxiu precisely severed Moyu's tendons, sapping his grip and forcing him to let go!
Silver Lantern was spared. She looked at Yaxiu, who had just saved her life, and Yaxiu met her gaze beneath the fox mask. Ibrahim was still dragging Yaxiu backward, sending him careening straight toward the Square-Round Cicada's feeding mouthparts.
Yaxiu extended his left hand. Weise seized it and pulled herself close, then reached out with her chain-wrapped hand, crushing the ulna of Ibrahim's wrist like an eggshell!
Ibrahim finally lost his grip, plunging toward the Square-Round Cicada alongside Moyu.
Having just finished its previous meal, the Square-Round Cicada paused in mild surprise, then emitted a cheerful trill in gratitude for the river's bounty.
Yaxiu and Weise arrested their momentum. Without words, rest, or even eye contact, they struggled forward against the Flowing Gold River. Compared to before, however, their strokes were just a fraction faster.
Chapter 595