Chapter 596 Ways of Sealing!
"Shula shula shula…"
The lines of power engraved on the Grandmaster"s arms seemed to have gained a life of their own as they began extending out of his body.
Long, tendril-like constructs were formed from these lines, which then descended like a net towards Alex and his companions.
"Bish bish bis.h.!.+"
Slowly and agonizingly, Alex felt more and more pressure piling on his body, forcing him to almost fall on the floor.
His bones, muscles and organs were all affected by his pressure, and if it weren"t for his will to stand up, Alex could have already been smacked flat on the floor.
"Ugh… this pressure… this is not just some kind of normal pressure. This… this is a suppression made by compressing s.p.a.ce itself!" Even if Alex was currently in trouble with the Grandmaster"s attack, his mind still found a way to a.n.a.lyze his situation. "This seal of his sealed everything on my s.p.a.ce, including even my powers and other abilities. Hmph, this must be the reason why my circulation of Conqueror"s Aura is slower!"
This a.n.a.lysis quickly led him to what was actually happening, although his quick discovery did not please him at all.
Instead, his discovery made Alex feel more solemn, as he realized that his opponent was much more powerful than what he had really expected.
"The Grandmaster said that his power lies on the path of Sealing Magic. That means that he must have an a.r.s.enal of spells meant to seal things…" Alex grimaced inwardly as he continued to resist the pressure piling on him. "The attack that the Grandmaster just unleashed to me now was one that he called as Way of Sealing Volume 1. If this is just volume 1, then the Grandmaster must have a lot more volumes that are all related to sealing!"
"Hoho, this is just my first attack, and you"re already crouching down like an old hag? My, my, Traveler Alex, is this all that you can do?" At the sight of Alex and his allies trying their best to not fall down, the Grandmaster only laughed, with his p.i.s.sed-off face now having a strange smile in it. "Oh right, you"re still not a Half-Step Transcendent Being, so you really don"t have a way to fight back at me. Sigh, you should just stay there and be smacked later!"
"…."
As much as Alex did not want to admit it, he was now sure that the Grandmaster"s status as a Returner was something that is genuine.
With the power of the seal that he used on Alex, there is no way that Alex can deny the Grandmaster"s real power….
"The seal that the Grandmaster just used on me… was something that uses the Essence of s.p.a.ce to seal everything inside it. If I were a different person, then I might not have felt it. But I have been training together with Alina, and I also have the s.p.a.ce-Time Dao Soul. Because of that, I am sure that the Grandmaster is using his sealing arts to compress s.p.a.ce in a large scale." Alex thought as he tried to ignore the stinging laughter from the Grandmaster.
"The Grandmaster"s control on s.p.a.ce is not that good compared to Alina, but for some reason, the compressive effect of his seal on the s.p.a.ce around me is extremely strong. In fact, it was so strong, that even Alina"s strongest spatial seal might not be as strong as this." Alex further added, with his eyes now trembling from the ever-increasing pressure.
"This just tells me that the Grandmaster"s Sealing Magic must be extremely so strong, that he does not need to be that knowledgeable about different concepts. He just has to learn the proper Sealing Magic, and he can unleash it without any problem!"
"This kind of talent… is really monstrous! No wonder the Grandmaster is a Returner!"
"He must have created a Personal Law that turned all of his Sealing Magic into frightening abilities! That can be the only explanation for this freaky power!"
The more that Alex a.n.a.lyzed his opponent, the more that he felt admiration for him.
After all, Alex already had a few encounters with Sealing Magic before, and from those encounters , he knew that Sealing Magic are the kind of Magic that are only useful for support-type fighters.
Sealing Magicians were never intended to be frontal fighters, as it is hard for them to develop abilities that can make them fight at a high level. At best, they can use their seals to suppress their opponents from a distance, and they will only bombard these opponents with attacks once when they"re sealed.
With this kind of power, Alex did not really think that much of Sealing Magicians.
But today, that disrespect was now gone, as Alex has now faced a Sealing Magician that was greatly powerful in all aspects!
"Sigh, for the Grandmaster to be this powerful, he must have trained a lot to hone his skills. Even I, who is not a Sealing Magician, can feel the intricacy and complexity of his Sealing skills." Alex thought with interest as he now observed the lines of power that are currently pressing down on him.
"Even when he was not that talented in manipulating s.p.a.ce, the Grandmaster was able to make it so that his Sealing Lines can emulate the power of s.p.a.ce. Hiss…. This man is a genius! No wonder he calls himself as the Grandmaster! With this kind of intelligence, only t.i.tles like this can suit him!"
If he can just move his hands freely, then Alex could have already clapped his hands for the Grandmaster, as his feats were just too awe-inspiring to Alex.
But even if Alex can really move his hands, he will not choose to clap for the Grandmaster.
After all, clapping is not Alex"s goal right now. He"s more interested on getting out of his current dilemma.
"….If it were a different person, they might have a difficult time getting free from this seal. But as for me? Hmph, this seal is nothing more than a paper towel to me!"
After declaring these words silently to himself like a madman, Alex let out a loud laugh as the body of a man appeared behind him.
This body, which was only at the size of a kid, floated behind Alex like a balloon.
At the sight of this body, the Grandmaster could be seen narrowing his eyes, which is natural given the behavior shown by the body.
To everyone"s surprise, this body seem to be not affected by the sealing spell that the Grandmaster has placed. This body just continued to float behind Alex, as if the pressure applied by the sealing spell was nothing more but mere breeze.
Even when the Grandmaster tried to increase the spatial compression of his seal, the best thing that it caused was to make Alex hunch further forward.
The floating body still stayed floating on its spot, with its small appearance seemingly taunting the now-irritated Grandmaster.
"You, what is that body, Traveler Alex? I can feel the concepts of s.p.a.ce laid within it, but I can also feel some aspects of… Time? Curious, curious, curious, this is making me curious…" The Grandmaster asked softly, with his eyes now turning slightly red from irritation. "I never expected that body to resist my first sealing spell. Hmph, it must be related to the way it is made…"
"Of course it can resist your sealing spell. This body was the s.p.a.ce-Time Dao Soul after all!" Alex thought to himself with mirth as he tried his best to not laugh. "MY s.p.a.ce-Time Dao Soul is filled to the brim with the Essences of s.p.a.ce and Time. Because of that, they are highly-suited to deal with abilities meant to manipulate s.p.a.ce and time."
"In the case of this spatial seal, since it has the power to control s.p.a.ce, my s.p.a.ce-Time Dao Soul has formed a resonance with it, which allowed it to be unaffected by the seal." Alex further thought. "Hehehe, I bet you did not think of this happening, did you, Grandmaster?"
"But do you really think this is the only reason why I summoned my s.p.a.ce-Time Dao Soul here? Of course not! This display here was just a minor goal of mine…." If Alex could lick his lips maliciously now, he could have already done it given the sheer evilness of the glint on his eyes.
"The main reason why I brought out my s.p.a.ce-Time Dao Soul here, is because I will be using it to invalidate this seal of yours!"
"Boom!"
Right after Alex thought of this, his s.p.a.ce-Time Dao Soul suddenly jerked, releasing tons of s.p.a.ce Essence out of its body.
This s.p.a.ce Essence were all absorbed by Alex, whose body then glowed as if something powerful was awakened inside him.
Once this has occurred, something unexpected happened, which made the observing Grandmaster widen his eyes in surprise.
"Creak…"
In front of the Grandmaster, whose sealing art was supposed to suppress anything, Alex could be seen moving and standing up!
The pressure created by the spatial seal seem to not work on Alex now, as he moved his body smoothly without any interruptions.
In fact, Alex appeared to be extremely comfortable with his surroundings now, something that is hard to believe given the fact that Queen Mother and Professor Frances were still being squished by the spatial seal.
"You-how could you-" The Grandmaster found it hard to speak as he witnessed Alex"s actions, as what he was doing was against common sense!
Alex should be suppressed right now, and he should be crying out to be freed already!
"How could you move this quick now? Are you casting an illusion on me? Now, that is not possible, since I have the protection of a Realm Lord…." The Grandmaster muttered sullenly while Alex began prancing around like a deer. "If he did not put me in illusion, then does that mean that he was able to decode my seal? No, that"s not possible! My seal is omnipoten-"
"I"m sorry to tell this to you, Grandmaster, but your seal is not omnipotent." In face of the Grandmaster, who seem to be close to a nervous breakdown, Alex only shook his head as he began rebuking him. "I can see that your Choric Manifold relies on the manipulation of s.p.a.ce Essence to seal the s.p.a.ce itself. That was a novel move, since not many can use their powers to manipulate the essence of s.p.a.ce itself…"
"However, that move is not going to work on me, since I happen to have the ability to manipulate and absorb the Essence of s.p.a.ce!" Alex gave the Grandmaster a scornful laugh at this point, as if he was mocking his deluded attempts to clarify the situation. "Since I can absorb and manipulate s.p.a.ce Essence to some extent, it renders the power of your Choric Manifold meaningless to me."
"You-"
"How would I be suppressed at this point, when all the s.p.a.ce Essence pressing down on me can be manipulated by me too? Heh, what you are doing now is just like me tickling myself with my own hand! Since it is a part of me already, there is no way that I will be affected by it!"
"Argh!" It took the Grandmaster a little long to realize it, but with Alex"s words, he had now realized his blunder. "You-you can manipulate s.p.a.ce essence? B-but my spies did not say anything about that!"
"Oh, don"t blame me if your spies failed to provide you with basic info. It"s their fault, so feel free to reprimand them later."
"You…."
"Ok, now that your Choric Manifold has failed, why don"t you try using your other Sealing Magics on me? Who knows, they might be able to suppress me fully." Alex"s wide grin only became more p.r.o.nounced as he said this, making it apparent that he was taunting the Grandmaster right now.
"!!!"
"What? Don"t tell me that you"re already scared just because I managed to crack your seal? Come on, you are the best Sealing Magician that I have seen, so you must have some powerful seals hidden in your a.r.s.enal! Come on, use that to me, so that we can know if you have the ability to defeat me!"
"Argh, you asked for it, Traveler Alex! Since you want to boast this much, then receive all of these!"
[WAYS OF SEALING VOLUME 2: ENTROPIC PATHWAY!]
[WAYS OF SEALING VOLUME 3: ANCESTRAL SUMMONS!]
[WAYS OF SEALING VOLUME 4: NETHER PRISON!]
[WAYS OF SEALING VOLUME 5: CELESTIAL EDICT!]
[WAYS OF SEALING VOLUME 6: COSMIC DESCENT!]
"Boom boom boom!" The Grandmaster released all of these seals at once, creating an onslaught of powerful abilities that poured down on Alex like rain.
Each ability was just as frightening as the one before it, which made their descent appear like the end of the world.