Chapter 535: The Battlefield of the Eighth Rank

Gao Jie Ming and Viola snapped back to awareness almost simultaneously after their initial astonishment.

They exchanged a glance, said nothing, and immediately focused all their attention on the nearby screen, jointly monitoring both situations: one was Clark's condition.

The gray-white figure within the spiritual light now had his eyes half-closed, as if sunk into deep meditation.

Vast amounts of spiritual force extended like invisible tendrils from his body, intricately interwoven with the soul of the entire plane.

The other was the array's operational status.

Hundreds of critical node readings flashed rapidly across the screen; every energy flow along every line had to remain within stable parameters. If any anomaly occurred, they had to immediately sever Clark's link to the plane and "pull" their mentor out of that state. This was their most critical task right now.

Gao Jie Ming stared at Clark on the screen, his brow slightly furrowed.

The mentor's condition… was strange.

Not unstable—quite the opposite: too stable.

Logically, the first time connecting to such a massive plane soul should have involved a difficult adaptation process.

He would need to constantly adjust the frequency of his spiritual output, repeatedly probe the plane soul's state, and carefully avoid being overwhelmed by its overwhelming spiritual force.

But Clark did none of that.

He simply floated there, as if he had always been one with this plane.

The details that should have required prolonged refinement simply did not exist for him.

And…

Gao Jie Ming noticed that Clark's expression was not one of "mastering immense power" or "full concentration in control." It was more like he was experiencing something.

Like a researcher encountering a brand-new theory, carefully savoring its subtleties.

"What is the mentor doing?" Viola also noticed the anomaly and murmured softly.

Gao Jie Ming shook his head without speaking.

The next moment, Clark on the screen moved.

Only the faintest motion: his eyelids twitched slightly, and his right index finger lifted just a fraction.

But on the plane's surface—in the shared vision Gao Jie Ming and Viola accessed through Clark—sudden changes erupted!

The frozen stream of death energy, the congealed torrent of antimatter explosion, both froze in place and then, in the same instant, as if gripped by invisible hands!

They began moving in the same direction.

Toward the highest point of the plane, where the four "suns" hung.

The highest reaches of the plane.

Here, it neared the edge of the plane's barrier.

Due to the plane's extreme scarcity of elements, the so-called "plane barrier" was virtually nonexistent.

It was merely a slightly warped transparent film, barely separating the thin internal air from the endless chaotic void beyond.

Through that film, faintly visible were the twisted, bizarre colors of the endless chaotic void outside, and the ceaseless torrents of elemental chaos. Four figures hovered just beneath this film.

Separated by millions of kilometers.

To mortals, this was an astronomical distance.

But to eighth-rank sorcerers, this distance was uncomfortably close.

The two eighth-rank sorcerers from Noren Workshop: Noren, and the newly promoted Andong; Bukannan, watched their opponents warily.

On the other side, the eighth-rank sorcerer of the Chaos Cult—the being known as the "Patriarch"—stood shoulder to shoulder with the eighth-rank sorcerer of the Tower of Annihilation. The four figures floated silently in the void, their bodies wreathed in unimaginably vast energy.

That energy was so immense that even the faintest leakage of elemental power made them appear from afar like four true suns—blazing, dazzling, impossible to look upon.

Occasionally, an attack would launch from one side.

The form of these attacks had long surpassed conventional sorcery.

Sometimes a distortion of cosmic laws, sometimes ripples altering causality, sometimes simply a pure void capable of annihilating everything.

The other side would respond with defense, evasion, or counterattack.

Yet both sides showed surprising restraint.

After all, at this level, even the ripples from each clash could instantly shatter an ordinary plane.

They had to carefully control the range of their power, avoiding the destruction of this battlefield.

Not only because this plane was designated by the Star Ring Federation as the battlefield, but also because hundreds of thousands of their own sorcerers lay below.

From the current situation, Noren Workshop was clearly at a disadvantage.

Andong; Bukannan had only recently ascended to eighth rank.

Though his talent was unquestionable, every sorcerer who reached eighth rank was a prodigy.

In terms of accumulated knowledge, depth of cosmic laws, and understanding of eighth-rank combat, he still lagged noticeably behind the two veteran eighth-rank sorcerers from the Chaos Cult and the Tower of Annihilation.

Only Noren's constant support and pressure-distribution kept the balance from collapsing.

But this balance was fragile.

At one moment, all four figures paused slightly.

They sensed it.

The changes occurring below.

The frozen stream of death energy.

The congealed torrent of antimatter explosion.

And… the surging, overwhelming plane spirit now rising.

"Someone is activating the entire plane," the Patriarch's voice resonated into the Tower of Annihilation's eighth-rank sorcerer "Annihilation's" mind, his tone grave, "and he has already succeeded."

Annihilation said nothing, but his body began to descend slightly.

He intended to go down and handle this change personally.

Yet two figures simultaneously blocked his path.

Noren and Andong; Bukannan.

"Where are you going?" Noren's voice was calm, yet carried unshakable resolve.

Annihilation narrowed his eyes, his aura instantly turning dangerous.

At that moment, Andong; Bukannan moved.

His body trembled slightly.

Then, Andong; Bukannan's form twisted in the void.

From his body emerged a child.

Then a teenager, a middle-aged man, an elder…

Four figures appeared simultaneously in the void.

The child's eyes were clear, his smile innocent.

The teenager radiated vigor, sharp and unyielding.

The middle-aged man stood firm as a mountain, his gaze profound.

The elder had white hair, his bearing serene.

More importantly, the aura of each of these four figures was identical to Andong; Bukannan's original body!

From their active spiritual energy and mental fluctuations, there was no doubt—they were not illusions.

Each one was his true self!

This was Andong; Bukannan's ultimate technique, mastered upon his recent ascension to eighth rank.

He pulled projections of himself across different time dimensions into reality, allowing his past, present, and future selves to fight simultaneously. The effect was astonishing.

But Annihilation had no time to admire it—he blurred his form, preparing to break through.

And Andong's five figures struck without hesitation.

Vast elemental forces erupted like a tidal wave, and with absolute power, they not only blocked Annihilation's descent but also forced the Patriarch back several steps!

In the blink of an eye, they exchanged countless strikes.

Thanks to Andong; Bukannan's sudden surge, Noren Workshop's two eighth-rank sorcerers briefly held the upper hand with six against two! But unfortunately, since he had not yet fully mastered this technique, Andong; Bukannan's state lasted only a few seconds.

Andong; Bukannan's face paled visibly.

The four figures flickered and blurred, then shattered like illusions, leaving only his original youth form—his aura diminished by more than half. He had paid a heavy price to block them.

But it was enough.

For in those few seconds of delay, the changes below were complete.

Clark's connection to the plane soul was now fully stabilized.

The surging plane spirit marked that this plane had been completely controlled.

The Patriarch and Annihilation's expressions darkened simultaneously.

If this were merely an ordinary living plane—even a super-large one—they, as eighth-rank sorcerers, would not have cared.

The gap between eighth and sixth rank was a qualitative difference.

But the problem was, they could sense that the one controlling this living plane was a sixth-rank sorcerer.

And not an ordinary one.

It was Clark—the one marked as "dangerous" in both their intelligence files.

If an ordinary sixth-rank sorcerer manipulating a living plane was like a child swinging a massive hammer—though the hammer was heavy, the child could not unleash its true power—

then Clark manipulating this living plane was like a master warrior wielding the same hammer.

He could fully, completely… even exceedingly unleash the plane's full power!

Just as he was doing now!

The two streams of death energy and the antimatter explosion were now directed toward the Patriarch and Annihilation.

The Lord Cult sneered, raising his hand to grasp the void.

His spiritual sense attempted to forcibly reclaim control over that cluster of death energy.

After all, it had originally been collected by the Chaotic Secret Cult; theoretically, he should be able to regain command.

Ji Mie also acted at once, trying to reignite the antimatter explosion cluster.

Yet…

The two clusters of energy, the instant they contacted the two men's spiritual senses, abruptly reshaped!

The death energy was compressed, remolded, and redefined.

The antimatter explosion cluster was condensed, transformed, and restructured.

In the blink of an eye, they were no longer their original strange and dangerous forms, but had become two ordinary, massive energy orbs composed purely of elemental energy.

Each was as large as a mountain range, containing power sufficient to destroy heaven and earth.

Then, they slammed toward the Lord Cult and Ji Mie!

Even an eighth-rank wizard would have to take such a direct hit seriously.

The two were forced to devote immense focus to neutralizing the two energy orbs hurtling toward them.

Without doubt, Plane Nuolun and Andong; Buchanan would never waste this opportunity!

Two figures surged forward simultaneously, launching a storm-like assault the instant their opponents were distracted!

The Lord Cult was pinned down by Andong; Buchanan and could not break free.

Ji Mie was suppressed by Plane Nuolun, gradually falling into disadvantage.

The tide of battle reversed within moments.