Chapter 422: The Scythe Skulls

Only one month had passed since the three returned to the main camp with their critical discovery.

Gao Jie Ming stood on the core observation platform of the Wizard Legion, gazing at the distant horizon where a new black tide was once again coalescing and rising, and sighed helplessly.

This time, the Scythe Skulls' response speed far exceeded all previous records.

Less than a month into the sixth reincarnation, the enemy had already lost patience, assembling an unimaginably vast force and preparing for total war.

They no longer seemed content with passive trial-and-error learning—they had become desperate.

Frost's figure appeared at the platform's edge, his gaze equally grave as it fixed on the distance.

"Advisor Gao Jie Ming, what is the progress on each research project? Have there been any substantive breakthroughs in verifying the 'paradox' or detecting the possible 'higher will'?"

Gao Jie Ming turned his gaze from the horizon to the commander, a faint bitter smile on his face: "Most research has just established theoretical models and experimental designs using data from the last cycle, and is now entering deep simulation and validation phases. Many key hypotheses—such as the mechanism of the 'paradox' and whether eighth-rank individuals possess 'anti-correction' traits—require more precise experiments and longer observation periods to confirm. Our manpower and time… are still too tight."

In other words, although knowledge had been preserved through recording crystals, the wizards' process of digesting, understanding, and innovating upon it could not be accelerated.

Frost frowned deeply.

He understood the rigor of research—but the battlefield did not wait.

"I understand. I will do everything in my power to turn this battle into a war of attrition and buy you time. But the enemy's resolve this time is unlike any before—I fear my ability to delay them won't last long."

"That's enough, Commander." Gao Jie Ming nodded, then made a request: "Also, during combat, I request that all combat units capture and transmit real-time visual footage of every Scythe Skull individual they encounter, especially details of their chest honor armor and any unique bodily markings."

"To further verify your hypothesis? Confirm whether the 'partially collected' individuals truly 'fully restore,' and whether those 'completely erased' have vanished entirely?" Frost immediately grasped it.

"Yes. Although previous validation at the forward outpost supported our theory, the sample size and environmental conditions were limited. I need massive data from a large-scale, high-intensity frontline battlefield to cross-validate and perform statistical analysis. This will help us assess the coverage, precision, and potential blind spots of the possible 'Behind-the-Scenes Will's' 'editing' capability." Gao Jie Ming explained.

"Agreed. I will issue this as a tactical directive." Frost accepted, then turned and began broadcasting detailed defensive and delay orders through the magic network.

Soon after, four terrifying pressures, capable of altering heaven and earth, crushed down from the horizon like four moving mountains of fundamental law.

The eighth-rank Scythe Skull leaders had once again arrived on the battlefield—much earlier than any previous total assault.

Gao Jie Ming looked up at the four massive dark-golden figures, his mind calm, even a faint, unmocking smile curling at his lips.

He thought of the eighth-rank leader's corpse stored within his dantian, from the previous cycle.

He recalled how, upon retrieving it after returning to camp, it had been instantly erased by the paradox.

It proved that even eighth-rank beings—at least Scythe Skull eighth-ranks—could not escape this total deletion based on spacetime continuity.

And now, with one fewer eighth-rank leader, it further confirmed his theory.

"Simply absorbing them directly into my dantian would be the cleanest solution…" The thought flashed through his mind, but Gao Jie Ming immediately suppressed it.

For wizards, killing was never the ultimate goal—understanding and mastering the secrets behind it was.

These eighth-rank leaders were themselves the most valuable living specimens for studying reincarnation and the 'Behind-the-Scenes Will'.

The reason he had immediately released the eighth-rank leader's corpse after returning to camp was precisely to see whether the enemy would restore it in the next cycle.

The supreme confrontation in the sky unfolded once more.

Frost fought alone against four, his silver-gray figure darting through violent lawstorms, dragging the battlefield skyward.

Ground and low-altitude combat strictly followed the "delay and attrition" script.

The wizards did not commit their full main force, relying instead primarily on the upgraded bio-beast hordes to withstand the assault.

These silver-gray killing machines moved like living tides, repeatedly colliding with, devouring, and splitting apart the black insect swarms, holding the front line firm without rushing forward.

Meanwhile, Gao Jie Ming and several specially selected wizards, skilled in high-speed information processing, set up a temporary "image processing hub" in one corner of the observation platform.

Vast streams of real-time footage from every frontline sector poured into the rune arrays before them like waterfalls of light.

Each frame was rapidly parsed, its features extracted.

Color distribution of the honor armor, unique carapace patterns, old limb scars…

Countless details were encoded and compared at high speed against the feature database stored in Gao Jie Ming's dantian from the "partially collected" samples of the previous cycle.

This was an extremely mentally taxing task. Gao Jie Ming's spiritual sense operated at full capacity, processing hundreds of comparison threads simultaneously. The other specially chosen wizards, skilled in data analysis, each performed their roles, continuously filtering and making preliminary judgments.

Amid the data flood, conclusions gradually became clear:

"Area K-7712, image match confirmed. Target: fourth-rank 'Stinger' variant. Right-wing root special spine arrangement matches 'partially collected-right wing sample.' Real-world individual has complete wings, spine arrangement unbroken."

"Cluster S-3098, match detected… sixth-rank 'Commander' variant. Left side of crown, third groove depth matches 'partially collected-crown carapace' data. Real-world individual's crown is intact, grooves continuous."

"No instances found where 'partially collected' samples corresponded to real-world individuals with missing tissue or abnormal healing."

"No image records found corresponding to any 'completely stored and vanished' samples."

The results once again confirmed prior findings.

The power of time reversal tended to "repair" or "overwrite" biological entities partially "cut" into complete states.

For entities entirely removed from the timeline, it cleanly "deleted" their existence and corrected related logical chains.

Half a month passed amid the flow of data and the consumption of flesh.

Despite the wizards' strict control of pace, the Scythe Skulls' frenzy and disregard for cost this time were unprecedented.

The bio-beast hordes' consumption rate began exceeding replenishment; frontline pressure increased daily.

When monitoring data showed the Scythe Skulls' total numbers once again neared the threshold triggering reincarnation, Frost knew the limit of delay had been reached.

"Execute final cleanup protocol! All research units, immediately seal your data!" His command was decisive and clear.

On the platform, Gao Jie Ming and the others were already prepared.

Instruments shut down, crystals sealed, notes archived… everything proceeded in orderly fashion.

Gao Jie Ming extended his spiritual sense like an invisible net, drawing every critical research asset on the platform into his dantian.

The instant the last crystal vanished into his dantian, that irresistible pull from the world's origin descended once more.

This time, Gao Jie Ming "felt" it with exceptional clarity.

He could even "perceive" a certain anchoring sensation as his consciousness and body were pulled backward through time—the resistance granted by his body-refining art's evolution was at work.

Darkness swallowed his vision.

But this time, the darkness was not empty.

Countless clear images, sounds, data, insights… the complete memories of the sixth reincarnation, like perfectly preserved scrolls, were etched into the deepest core of his soul before his consciousness sank.

As soon as he crossed the spatial rift, Gao Jie Ming's body remained perfectly still.

No dizziness, no disorientation—only the calm of stepping into a familiar scene.

He opened his eyes. Behind him stood three thousand support wizards, their expressions slightly bewildered. Before him, his own alert forces stood ready. Far off, the horizon began to writhe.

Seventh reincarnation.

He remembered everything that had happened in the sixth reincarnation.

Frost's tactical arrangements, the Scythe Skulls' frenzied total assault, every detail of the image comparisons, and his own orderly "data rescue" before time reversal.

"Captain?" A voice came from behind.

Gao Jie Ming turned, his gaze sweeping over these comrades who would once again fight beside him, his voice steady and certain:

"All's well. Prepare yourselves. We have work to do again."

He lifted his head, watching Frost flying toward him from the command platform.

…

…

After completing the routine opening of each reincarnation, Gao Jie Ming's first concern was not the battlefield, but those "constants" requiring continuous monitoring.

He mobilized logistics wizards, combining detailed data stored in his dantian from previous cycles, to perform high-precision verification of the current realm's base elemental abundance, energy tide baselines, and spatial curvature parameters.

Results came quickly: everything was normal.

No 0.3 percent systemic decay. No subtle loosening at the level of fundamental law.

The realm's foundational "constants" stood firm as a rock, perfectly matching the baseline data from the fourth reincarnation.

"As expected…" Gao Jie Ming stood before the rune-lit screen in his lab, studying the comparison results, understanding dawning within him. "The energy decay observed in the last reincarnation was not 'wear' from time reversal itself—it was the 'cost' of our experiment."

With data to support it, the conclusion was clear:

When time reversal occurred, to "repair" the Scythe Skull individuals he had "partially collected" and restore them to completeness, the realm had to expend extra energy and "information," extracting data from earlier timelines or some kind of "backup" to fill the gaps Gao Jie Ming had cut out.

This "repair" operation was the source of the 0.3 percent decay.

Those individuals entirely stored in his dantian, whose existence had been completely "deleted," were not subject to the repair logic—and thus likely incurred no such loss.

(End of Chapter)