Chapter 888: The Dark Territory
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Void Zone was vast and boundless, endlessly s.p.a.cious but there was a place which even ultimate existences would not set foot in willingly. That was the dark territory!
No one knew how large the dark territory was. Although one could sense the power of the natural order in that swathe of pitch darkness, one could not perceive the surroundings clearly, and there were no dimensions. Therefore, many ultimate existences would become lost upon entering the dark territory, forever unable to find their way out.
Currently, three streaks of light appeared outside the dark territory.
These three streaks of light were three Aurora wars.h.i.+ps, from which three figures walked out – one giant tortoise, one three-headed man, and one strange man whose body was surrounded by no trace of the natural order.
“The mysterious place you spoke of is in the dark territory?”
Merlin knitted his brow. It was not surprising that they had looked for him. Not just anyone could enter this dark territory. Rumor had it that even formidable existences at the ultimate third-grade might become lost within the dark territory, unable to find their way out forever.
It was enough to show how terrifying the dark territory was.
“That’s right, it’s within the dark territory. Wizard Merlin, do you dare to enter the dark territory?”
Merlin grinned without reply. He would not fall for their psychological manipulations so easily. With his present capabilities, there was nothing he had to fear in the Void Zone.
However, he still had to ascertain the matter. What was their goal?
“After entering the dark territory, there won’t be any dimension coordinates. How will you locate that mysterious place?”
Merlin did not neglect these details. Locating a place within the dark territory, even a place one had visited before, was immensely difficult.
The Three-headed man fell into silent thought before finally answering, “Actually, both of us had been to that mysterious place, but we didn’t succeed. So, we left behind something. As long as we enter the dark territory, we’ll be able to sense it faintly.”
“You’ve already entered that place, but even with your abilities, you didn’t succeed. That means that the mysterious place has a power that’s at least on par with the ultimate fourth-grade Emperor-level.”
Merlin quickly deduced some information about the mysterious place from their words. A place that would make the Three-headed man and the giant tortoise so cautious was surely not that simple. At the very least, it had the power to block them. Other than the fourth-grade Emperor-level power, what else could stop them?
Merlin had experienced power at the fourth-grade Emperor-level. He knew that existences at this grade were truly at the peak. They had already comprehended the Void Zone’s secrets and the countless ways they were linked to the Void Zone.
Even the ancient Thirty-six Emperors, on a certain level, were merely Emperor-level. It was just that for some special reason, they were more formidable than ordinary fourth-grade Emperor-level contenders.
“That’s right, Wizard Merlin. This mysterious place is odd indeed. We can’t get in but with Wizard Merlin, we’re more a.s.sured!”
The Three-headed man might as well speak directly and not hide the truth, admitting that this place had frustrated them.
Merlin was silent for a moment. “Let’s go in then.”
The Three-headed man and the giant tortoise burst into gleeful expressions. With Merlin’s partic.i.p.ation, their a.s.surance was undoubtedly much greater. Therefore, they led the way and flew directly into the dark territory.
In the dark territory, Merlin immediately felt a difference. Here, any senses seemed to be inhibited. Even if he used Mind Power to investigate, its range was extremely limited. His surroundings were pure darkness, and he could not see clearly.
Merlin’s scope of perception was ten thousand miles at most. Anything further was out of reach. Nonetheless, to the Three-headed man, this was already terrifying. In the dark territory, they could only see up to a radius of a hundred miles, sometimes not even that.
A radius of ten thousand miles should be wide enough, but in the tremendous, borderless dark territory, a mere ten thousand miles was too microscopic. Even if they flew for tens of thousands of years, they might not find that mysterious place in the dark territory.
Merlin’s Mind Power could not sense anything else. This made him more curious about the dark territory. He could sense the power of the natural order here, albeit to a lesser extent. Still, it was there. This meant that the Void Zone encompa.s.sed the dark territory.
Furthermore, Merlin found that in the dark territory, there were still threads of the power of the natural order, connected closely to the origin of the natural order in the depths of the Void Zone. This indicated that the Void Zone had firm control over this region, just that perhaps this dark territory was unsuitable for life forms.
“Have you both sensed the place?”
Merlin noticed that the Three-headed man and the giant tortoise, upon entering the dark territory, simply wandered about, starting to feel for it. Although they said they would be able to perceive the imprint they had left behind after entering the dark territory, it was still a distance away. If this distance was too great, they would be unable to sense it.
“Why don’t I feel it yet? Last time, we came in here as well…”
The Three-headed man looked anxious. He could not sense his imprint. Without direct guidance, they were just blindly wandering in the dark territory. There was no practical purpose in doing so.
“Can’t sense it?”
Merlin’s face s.h.i.+fted slightly. If it could not be sensed, they could only barge around aimlessly, relying on luck, hoping that the Three-headed man would sense the imprint. Otherwise, they might become lost in the dark territory.
Merlin was sensing the origin of the natural order as well. Any fourth-grade Emperor-level contender would be able to sense the origin of the natural order. Even so, that potent force seemed to exist everywhere without a specific direction. Therefore, it was difficult to rely on sensing the origin of the natural order to leave the dark territory.
“I’ve got it, I’ve sensed the imprint. It’s very faint!”
Suddenly, the giant tortoise was happily surprised to find that it could sense the imprint it had left behind. Nonetheless, this sensation was very feeble, p.r.o.ne to disappearing at any time.
“Come on, let’s hurry. Follow the direction of that sensation.”
Merlin immediately took out the Aurora wars.h.i.+ps. Three of them swiftly turned into streaks of light, heading toward the direction of that sensation.
This sensing of the giant tortoise was sporadic, but still, they had a direction. With the Aurora wars.h.i.+p’s fearsome speed, the giant tortoise’s sensing finally stabilized. At a later point, the Three-headed man also felt his own imprint.
“Earlier, we must’ve been way too far from the mysterious place.”
The Three-headed man seemed to understand now. Previously, the place where they entered was too far from the mysterious place, so they were unable to sense their imprints. However, there was another possibility, which was that the mysterious place could move on its own in the dark territory.
If it could move on its own, that was truly troublesome. Fortunately, they had sensed the imprints now with a stable connection. They should soon locate that mysterious place.
Upon fantasizing that the mysterious place might hold treasures that would help them break through to the next stage, the Three-headed man and the giant tortoise were immeasurably excited. At their level, one would never break through to the stage of the fourth-grade Emperor-level without good fortune.
Merlin’s Mind Power still extended into his surroundings. Any changes occurring within this range could not escape his notice.
Merlin seized this window of time to immerse his consciousness into the Illusory World. Ever since the Illusory World was perfected, it still had not stopped expanding.
Currently, Merlin had learned the way of balance. Therefore, the Illusory Tribe Civilization might make a comeback in the Illusory World, but they would surely be met with greater disaster. The Illusory World even had a way of automatic readjustment. Once their strength had broken through to a certain critical point, the Illusory Civilization would automatically erupt with destructive power, sweeping through a majority of stars, annihilating everything.
Rebirth was only possible through destruction. Merlin was deeply enlightened on this point. Only then could the Illusory World be truly perfected, and it was constantly expanding. The previous Illusory World might not even be one ten-thousandth of the Void Zone, but at this rate of expansion, it would soon grow to a hundredth of the Void Zone or even more.
When the Illusory World had expanded to become as immense as the Void Zone someday or even bigger, Merlin found it difficult to imagine what the limit of the Illusory World would be.
As for materialization, the current Merlin had not a single clue. The experiments of anyone else had lost all practical significance to Merlin now. This final step could only be taken by Merlin himself.
“We’re here!”
Suddenly, the Three-headed man and the giant tortoise stopped. Merlin looked up as well. In the dark territory, there was a white ring of light that covered a region of the dark territory.
When Merlin looked at a place now, it was different from before. What he saw was how the threads of the power of the natural order intricately linked this place to the origin of the natural order.
The density of the threads of the natural order in this place was higher than other areas of the dark territory. Therefore, it was likely that this was the mysterious place the Three-headed man and the giant tortoise spoke of.
“Let’s go in.”
Just as Merlin was about to enter, he was stopped by the giant tortoise who said softly, “Wizard Merlin, this mysterious place must’ve been created by the Vestigial Tribe. We have to be careful. Once we enter the white halo, there’ll be a frightening gravitational field. Most ultimate existences would find it difficult to take even a step.”
“A gravitational field that makes ultimate existences hard-pressed to take even a step?”
Conversely, Merlin became highly interested. Although he knew that this mysterious place was not ordinary, he did not expect that there would be such a powerful gravitational field here. It should be known that only Merlin’s Golden Ray Armor possessed such a formidable gravitational field.
Nevertheless, the present Merlin did not fear much. He was pure Mind Power now. Why would he be afraid of a gravitational field?
“Swoosh.”
With one step, Merlin immediately entered the white halo. The giant tortoise and the Three-headed man also unleashed the power of the natural order to protect themselves, and followed Merlin, stepping into the white halo.