Chapter 36: The Door
Hunting eighth-rank and ninth-rank magical beasts was extremely difficult. The preciousness of their magical cores could well be imagined. Yet the magical crystals at the core of this magical crystal vein had actually reached the level of seventh-rank and eighth-rank magical cores, and a very few could even compare to ninth-rank magical cores.
Under the illumination of the torchlight, the semi-transparent magical crystals reflected a dreamy, enchanting radiance.
At the end of this excavated tunnel. There was a door.
A door that should not exist in this plane.
"My soul force can't detect it, as if it doesn't exist at all. What exactly is behind this door?" Linley grew suspicious. His spiritual energy simply could not penetrate to the other side of the door. In such a mysterious place, should he just barge in?
Linley turned his head to look at Barker: "Barker, have you been inside?"
Barker nodded: "I have been inside. It is precisely because I have been inside that I felt shocked."
"However, Milord, it's better for you to go in after transforming. When you step through that door, there will be a powerful blast of energy attacks. If your defense isn't strong enough... just the obstruction of this door alone will kill any intruder." Barker said seriously.
Linley was secretly alarmed.
Barker was now a Saint-level Undying Warrior, the one with the strongest defense among the four ultimate warriors. If even he said this... then one could well imagine how powerful that attack was.
Taking off his coat, revealing his muscular physique, Linley directly transformed into a Dragonblood Warrior. Glossy, deep cyan dragon scales instantly covered his entire body. Linley's dark golden eyes swept over the mysterious 'door' once, and he walked straight in.
"Chi chi——"
Like the blade of a knife, the instant Linley crossed the threshold, the energy wildly and continuously sliced at Linley tens of millions of times. It even sent sparks flying from the surface of his deep cyan dragon scales.
"This place is..."
The moment he stepped inside the door, Linley was shocked. The scene on the other side of the door completely exceeded his expectations. Behind the door... was a miniature space like a 'transparent bubble'. This miniature space was a spherical space, only about ten meters in diameter.
A spherical space. About ten meters.
Inside this spherical space, it was arranged like a cultivation secret chamber. There was only a simple bed, a table, and chairs. This spherical space was protected by a membrane, free from external disturbance or destruction.
Looking up at the sky above, looking around, beyond that transparent membrane was chaotic spatial turbulence.
Multicolored spatial turbulence, spatial tears appearing from time to time. The terrifying power of it made Linley feel horrified just by looking.
"Lord Linley." Barker also walked in. "When I came in, I also found it hard to believe. Tell me, what is going on?"
Linley took a deep breath and said: "As far as I know, countless planes are actually situated within spatial turbulence. For example, the Yulan Continent plane. If you reach the edge in one direction... you can see spatial turbulence. If one's strength reaches a certain level, perhaps they can carve out a small space within the spatial turbulence themselves."
Linley carefully examined this spherical space.
"And now, this ball-like independent space chamber is probably the cultivation ground of an extremely powerful expert. Moreover, this expert should be a person from the Yulan Continent plane. Or at least... he once was."
Linley was also full of admiration for the expert who had created this small space.
"Carving out a small space?" Barker also sighed in admiration.
"Just like the Four Sovereigns created the four Higher Planes? Didn't the seven Chief Sovereigns also create the seven Divine Planes?" Linley laughed. "Creating a small plane of one's own is something some experts can still do."
Linley understood. Even a Demigod had only just comprehended the 'Divine Domain'.
To form a fixed 'small plane' within spatial turbulence was definitely not something an ordinary person could do.
Barker's eyes lit up: "Lord Linley. Now I know why that large magical crystal vein appeared. Look, how dense is the elemental density in this chamber? Even someone like me, whose elemental affinity isn't great, can clearly feel all sorts of elements. And besides the various elements, there are other special energies."
Linley also sensed the dense natural elements around him.
Earth, fire, water, lightning, light, darkness — the seven types. The density was unprecedented. Besides these seven types, Linley also felt other surging energies, like energy similar to Sesslar's, also energy with terrifying aggression, and energy full of vitality...
"That should belong to the energy of the Four Sovereigns." Linley knew that besides the seven elements, there were four even more mysterious special energies.
Linley looked at Barker: "That door should be the connection point between this plane and the Yulan Continent plane. It's estimated that it is precisely because of the existence of this chamber that it attracted a large amount of elements to gather around it. This is what caused the appearance of an elliptical, massive magical crystal vein centered on that door."
"However..."
"That mysterious expert's cultivation should have happened a very, very long time ago." Linley was very certain.
"Oh?" Barker looked at Linley with confusion.
"If that mysterious expert wasn't actively cultivating, he wouldn't have absorbed a massive amount of natural elements. We've been in the Chaos Province for a while now. If we hadn't excavated this magical crystal vein, who would have discovered that there was such a large amount of magical crystals here?"
Linley laughed: "According to the pattern, to form a massive magical crystal vein, there must have been a large gathering of natural elements beforehand. To be able to form such a vein, the degree of elemental gathering must have been terrifying. Probably all the experts on the Yulan Continent would have noticed it."
"Yet no one in history has ever mentioned this matter. So, the gathering of a large number of elements must have happened in a very distant, ancient time."
As he spoke, Linley suddenly closed his eyes and sat down cross-legged.
"Lord Linley?" Barker called softly.
But Linley seemed completely unaware, sitting alone and quietly.
The pulse of the earth, heavy...
The swiftness and fury, the gentle agility of the wind...
The scorching heat and violence of fire...
The softness and continuity of water...
In this miniature plane chamber, Linley felt closer to nature than ever before. At this moment, he could feel the 'Pulse of the Earth' dozens or even hundreds of times more clearly. The strange rhythm of the wind also left a clear trace in his heart.
Even the 'fire element', for which his elemental affinity was only average, Linley could also feel very clearly. The clarity was in no way inferior to sensing the earth element on the Yulan Continent.
The fluctuation of the water element, although relatively hazy, Linley could still feel that strange fluctuation.
And the strange energy belonging to the Four Sovereigns was also perceptible.
"The Pulse of the Earth. So this is how it is." Linley felt a surge of joy in his heart. He felt that his past cultivation was like listening to a bell from several miles away. The sound of the bell was hazy. Now, he was listening to the bell right next to it. He could clearly feel the peculiarity of this bell sound.
The mystery of the Pulse of the Earth was now felt even more clearly.
"256 layers of vibration waves? Haha... so that's it. This Earth Pulse, when I sensed it on the Yulan Continent plane, seemed to have countless layers. However, looking at it now, although the Earth Pulse is one wave after another, that single wave contains infinite mysteries. It has already clearly explained all the mysteries of the 256 layers."
Linley suddenly understood the path he needed to take in his cultivation.
In the past, Linley's cultivation was like reading a book, making the book 'thick'. Now, what he needed to do was to make this book 'thin' again. This book was the mystery of the 'Pulse of the Earth' within the Laws of the Earth.
"Cultivating to 256 layers means I have completed the first half of the path of the 'Pulse of the Earth'. Now, what I need to do is... to contain the mysteries of the Earth within a single wave."
From 1 to 256. Now, he needed to return from 256 to 1.
When Linley could, like the wave contained within the Law itself, explain the mysteries of the 'Earth Pulse' clearly with just a single wave, then Linley would have achieved great success. It was estimated that at that time... a single light sword strike from Linley would be enough to shake an opponent into a pile of mud.
"A cultivation treasure land." Linley opened his eyes, his gaze full of surprise.
"Lord Linley?" Barker saw Linley wake up and finally breathed a long sigh of relief. "Milord, you have been sitting here for a full three days."
"Three days?" Linley knew that when immersed in comprehending the Laws, one couldn't feel the passage of time. But he felt it was very worthwhile now... He had been stuck at the bottleneck of 256 layers for over a year, not even knowing how to take the next step.
Without this mysterious chamber.
Perhaps, like many cultivators, he would have been stuck at some bottleneck for decades or centuries, only suddenly comprehending one day and knowing the path forward.
"No wonder that mysterious expert carved out a miniature plane chamber for cultivation. Indeed... cultivating in a miniature plane within spatial turbulence allows one to feel the various Laws more closely." Linley had already felt the benefits of this chamber.
Although there were no divine artifacts or treasures here.
For an expert walking the path of the Laws, this chamber was a priceless treasure.
"Thank you for your gift, Senior." Linley bowed respectfully in the chamber.
Then he turned around and looked at the somewhat confused Barker: "Barker, let's go out first. I estimate that in a few more days, the great battle at Code City will begin." Saying this, Linley was the first to walk out of this miniature plane chamber.
Barker was a little puzzled. Why had Linley just bowed to an expert who didn't seem to be anywhere?
He didn't know Linley's gratitude.
For over a year, racking his brains with no progress. That feeling of frustration was very uncomfortable. No one knew... no one knew how long Linley would have been stuck at that bottleneck. Now, with this chamber, the path to comprehending the Laws would be a little easier.
"Seal this mine tunnel. No one is allowed in. From now on, when mining... no one is allowed near this mine tunnel." Walking out of the mine tunnel, Linley directly ordered the guarding officer. This miniature plane chamber was absolutely a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
It was countless times more precious than a divine artifact.
Perhaps even the War God and the High Priest would covet it if they knew.
"A Demigod probably doesn't have the ability to establish a miniature plane yet." Linley thought to himself. Linley always felt that carving out a stable plane within the terrifying 'spatial turbulence', no matter how small the plane, was still an extremely frightening method.
Linley and Barker flew side-by-side towards Code City.
The two directly arrived at the general command center of Code City, the third-floor room of that hotel. Watts and his deputies were arguing fiercely. Seeing Linley and Barker enter, this group immediately bowed respectfully.
"Watts. What's the current situation?" Linley asked.
Watts immediately reported: "Lord Linley, according to our scouts' reconnaissance, the main forces of the Radiant Church and the Dark Church are continuously crossing the Luyan River. However, their troops are too numerous, and they also have various siege equipment. It is estimated that it will take until tonight for them to completely cross the Luyan River."
Linley nodded slightly.
"I heard you arguing just now. What were you arguing about?" Barker asked curiously.
Watts replied: "It's like this. The troops from the Radiant Church and the Dark Church that have crossed the Luyan River have already reached six or seven hundred thousand. Their formation is currently quite chaotic. Naturally, crossing the river causes some units to be in disarray. Some of my deputies suggested that we take advantage of their chaos and launch an active attack."
"However, I vetoed it." Watts replied.