Chapter 1665: Time Ray
Yu Qingqing was quick-witted and didn't get annoyed by Xu Huo's words. Instead, she said, "I knew you'd figure out what that was!"
"Even though we're not strong enough yet, there's no harm in knowing more, right? Tell us about it, let us broaden our horizons!"
Xu Huo repeated the same line—he didn't know—but added, "For safety's sake, it's best for those who haven't undergone Super Evolution not to go in."
Considering the possibility of chaotic temporal-spatial forces, at least some knowledge in that area was necessary; otherwise, one couldn't even protect themselves in danger.
Yu Qingqing clicked her tongue. "The Special Defense Department talks big, but they don't actually have many Super Evolvers. Even if they do, most have only touched the threshold... They're absolutely no match for you, cousin!"
The last part was somewhat flattering, but her real intention was elsewhere as she continued, "Anyway, we're all rookies. You might as well take us along. Maybe one of the eight of us will suddenly undergo Secondary Evolution."
Super Evolution heavily relied on opportunity. Xu Huo's two types of Super Evolution were both comprehended in specific environments, meaning he could only come into contact with Super Evolution power itself under those particular conditions.
Of course, even in such environments, most people wouldn't evolve—it still depended on talent.
But his method was relatively safe. Other methods, like accidentally stumbling into the battlefield ruins of Super Players or being wounded by temporal-spatial elements, relied even more on luck. If luck was bad, one's life would be forfeited—Nie Xuan was an example.
Not everyone had his good fortune. For instance, those who accidentally stumbled into Lawrence Li and the Box Carrier's fight in Zone 017 were struck by Space Rays but didn't survive.
It wasn't that Yu Qingqing and her teammates absolutely lacked talent, but Xu Huo felt it wasn't worth the risk. If they truly had talent, they could find a suitable Instance venue to try.
After informing Yu Qingqing and the others, he added, "Super Evolution training is also extremely difficult. Each upgrade is a threshold. Trying to balance it with Player leveling up is time-consuming and mentally draining."
Take Mental Super Evolution, for example. Xu Huo had seen quite a few similar Evolvers. Many needed a long accumulation of time to reach the stage of interfering with others through the Spiritual Realm. Truly talented ones, like Bai Kou and Dou Shengnan, were rare.
"Since someone else can do it, why can't I?" Yu Qingqing was very confident in herself. "I'll undergo Secondary Evolution sooner or later!"
"Good luck," Xu Huo said without much sincerity.
After her bold declaration, Yu Qingqing asked Xu Huo to explain the classifications of Super Evolution. Although this information could be found on the game platform, nothing was more intuitive than hearing it directly from a real Super Evolver.
Seeing her attitude like she was picking out vegetables at a market, Xu Huo couldn't help but smile, but he still explained Mental Super Evolution and Spatial Super Evolution in detail.
Without actual experience, it all sounded very abstract. Xu Huo had felt the same way when he first encountered Space Rays.
"Have you ever seen a Time Ray?" Yu Qingqing pressed.
"Seen it, yes..." In fact, Xu Huo had dealt with Time Power quite a few times—the Super Evolver deployed during the Eerie Sound Knights' attack on Zone 011, the frozen timeline on the island in Zone 014 where a Primordial Stone was suspected to have been born, and the recently acquired "Angel's Eyes."
Although this counted as direct contact with Time Rays, he still couldn't understand what a Time Ray truly was, even struggling to distinguish it from Space Rays.
However, he instinctively felt that Time Rays shouldn't be like this—at least not the same as Space Rays.
If that island from last time hadn't disappeared, going back in might have given him a different feeling.
Yu Qingqing scooped him a bowl of meat and urged, "I heard Lawrence Li's Space Rays are colorful. Do Time Rays have color?"
"Lawrence Li's Space Rays aren't colorful. The reason they appear in different colors is that the rays themselves are composed of countless diamond-shaped fragments that reflect light. Ordinary people can't reach the level of looking directly at Space Rays without instruments..." Xu Huo suddenly paused, realizing why he always felt Time Rays and Space Rays shouldn't be the same.
He had indeed seen Time Rays, but in the same environment, he wasn't the only one who saw them. This meant that the Time Rays they perceived were in a magnified state, similar to the Space Rays Lawrence Li used in battle!
According to Xu Huo's understanding of Space Ray units, their form couldn't be directly captured by the naked eye. The same should apply to Time Rays—real Time Rays shouldn't be directly visible.
So what should Time Rays originally look like?
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but gradually settled on the scene when he was trapped on the tracks during a Dimensional Storm. The train conductor had mentioned the concept of "Curved Time." Under this concept, time was no longer straight and forward but had ups and downs and twists, leading to the hypothesis of "time travel."
Dr. Wu repeatedly used the track dilemma in the "Midsummer Night Star River" Instance, not truly to test human nature, but to tell the tested that to change something, one could only start from time itself. Whether it was the fixed result or the variables in between, time was the hidden thread. Starting from the event itself was a dead end; only by stepping back could one see the possibility.
So time should be alive, fluctuating, possibly without a fixed form, only presenting a certain state the moment it was captured.
The Spiritual Realm enveloped the small building. Besides the dense lines of Spiritual Power and Space Rays, Xu Huo gradually sensed another kind of chaotic, irregular power lines drifting within.
He closed his eyes and slowly reached out, trying to grasp the power drifting past him. But just like in the other space of "Midsummer Night Star River," a breeze-like sensation slipped through his fingers.
Suddenly, he had another realization: time cannot be grasped.
Compared to space, time was more dynamic. According to the current understanding of human society, it was constantly flowing and should not and could not be held.
Naturally, the form of time was just his personal understanding. Different people had different understandings, and the state in which Time Rays appeared might also differ.
However, as this thought deepened, his Spiritual Realm became filled with various lines of different fluctuations and forms—this was also strange. Under normal circumstances, the time lines in the space he occupied should be consistent.
(Chapter End)