Chapter 201: Hmph! Trying to Escape?!

"……"

"……"

After a brief silence.

Haruhi Suzumiya parted her lips slightly, her gaze fixed on him with a hint of shock. After a few seconds, she finally came to her senses, immediately clutching his arm tightly, her tone slightly excited: "That thing, just now, was that thunder? Was it that one?"

"……"

"……"

"Should be it——"

Xia Zhi pondered for a moment, then took a deep breath, affirming this fact with a firm tone: "It seems to have come even faster than I expected."

——The might of the Thunder, one listen and one knows it is no small matter, like the Heavens' furious rumbling.

——Absolutely incomparable to ordinary thunderstorms, its momentum so strong it cannot be underestimated.

In fact, an ordinary thunderstorm absolutely could not shake this special area; the relationship between here and the outside world is no longer simply good soundproofing, but a semi-independent, semi-closed unnatural space, yet even so, that rumble just now was so terrifying……

The momentum was so great, like heaven and earth collapsing; if one were in the outside world, it would make one suspect whether the entire world would be torn apart by this grand Divine Revelation.

But outside there was no reaction at all, not a sound.

The Literary Girl should not be this dull, she absolutely would not be unaware of this.

Or perhaps——

This Nine Heavens Thunder Movement that sounds infinitely powerful seems to target only this specific space, targeting the area coordinates where oneself is located?

——Therefore it can only be the so-called Heavenly Tribulation.

——That is, the "Thunder Shock" specifically targeting oneself.

Although the effect was somewhat immediate, or rather simply surprisingly good, Xia Zhi's mind moved, and he still decisively directly finalized this matter. After all, letting it become a settled matter would be better; although it was somewhat abrupt, he had indeed waited too long, unwilling to continue waiting.

Now having barely changed his approach, letting Miss Suzumiya understand his realm advancement from another angle——

In her view, as long as he completes a specific "Challenge Mission", Xia Zhi can unlock a higher level cap; the conditions could be said to be intuitive and clear.

Satisfy prerequisites, complete mission, level+1……

This is much simpler to understand, no longer needing to understand the abstract concept from "Qi Refining Stage" to "Foundation Establishment Stage" like before. Miss Suzumiya has a more intuitive understanding of this, very clear, easy to understand.

Therefore, to avoid unforeseen complications from delay, Xia Zhi still decided to settle it as soon as possible, lest dragging it out cause other problems. Anyway his state is constant, no need to make any more preparations. Or rather, one could say preparations were already done; whether one second before or one second after, he remains unchanged in the flow of time, always maintaining a stable state.

"So it really is like that……"

Having received an affirmative answer, Miss Suzumiya was momentarily stunned.

Afterwards, she seemed to not have fully accepted this fact, murmuring softly, her tone revealing a few parts of indescribable emotion.

Xia Zhi, who was lowering his head in thought, couldn't help but glance at her, then also felt slightly guilty for his conduct of using her; he sighed, just about to open his mouth to comfort the other party a few words, saying this actually wasn't a big deal, he would definitely be able to get through it, and such.

But right at this moment, the Team Leader let out a long breath——

"Hey! Can I go watch too!?"

She seemed to have come back to her senses from this sudden news, a delighted expression blooming on her face, her eyes shining with anticipatory light. Immediately after, she excitedly pulled Xia Zhi's arm shaking it: "Can you take me to see! This will definitely be interesting, right!"

"……"

"……"

In this instant, the air fell quiet again.

Xia Zhi's expression also froze somewhat; after he reacted, he couldn't help but slightly narrow his eyes, sizing up the unaware Goddess before him.

He opened his mouth to retort: "Wait, your reaction isn't right, Suzumiya-san…… shouldn't you be worrying for me at a time like this?"

"What's there to worry about, you definitely won't have any trouble, back in August you were still alive and well, right? Nothing happened, definitely no problem!"

The girl said unconcernedly, her eyes still shining: "So wait, can you let me watch? I've never seen this kind of thing before!"

"If you could watch that would be the problem! And what's there to see in me getting struck by lightning!" The youth broke free of her hand tracelessly, then extended a finger, rubbing his brow.

This dramatic turn of events is truly laughable, and happening to oneself at that, making him suddenly not know what to say.

The Team Leader reacted extremely swiftly; for her who had already experienced the summer vacation in advance, she naturally came to this conclusion. This is undoubtedly a good thing, meaning she already has a "Guaranteed Drop" there; Xia Zhi's "Challenge Mission" will definitely be completed, no need to worry.

But……

It just feels like something isn't quite right.

But this is also normal; ordinary people even knowing the result can't help but worry about the process. However Haruhi Suzumiya is not an ordinary person; she is the unconscious Goddess, so she truly judges by the result.

Thinking here, he sighed, and didn't dwell on it further. At this moment, the rumbling thunder was already close at hand, imminent.

Vibration……

Trembling……

Feeling a distinct tremor transmitted from underfoot, Xia Zhi calmly scanned around, looking over the surroundings.

He perceived that this special space, which had always behaved very stably since its construction, was currently trembling incessantly.

As if the entire building underfoot was shaking, making one suspect an earthquake; although the surrounding smooth metal sliding walls were still just as solid, no cracks appearing because of it, this solidity is not something simple materials and craftsmanship can bring.

But the double blessing of unreasoning Mystery and technology brought simultaneously.

However even so, the soundproofing still couldn't block out those successive waves, sounding like stir-fried beans, of rolling thunder noise.

——Seems to be getting closer……

——Getting closer……

Despite obtaining the Guaranteed Drop result, a nameless palpitation emerged in Xia Zhi's heart. He reacted swiftly, gaze turning to the Team Leader beside him, discovering the girl's face full of excitement, eyes flashing with curious light, staring at the surrounding vibrations, as if sunk in deep thought.

Perhaps because those sounds can only be heard but not seen, making her imagination run wild. In this deafening noise, Haruhi Suzumiya might be weaving all kinds of wonderful imaginings in her little head,

Indeed! This "Challenge Mission" is a Black Box just like the initial drawing lots; I must complete the drawing lots as soon as possible, confirm the result!

To prevent her from brain-supplementing even more troublesome things.

This situation of seemingly constantly feeding reinforcement patches to the Opposite Side really cannot let one rest easy; he must act as soon as possible, stop her imagination from continuing to spread.

"Alright, I'm leaving……"

He spoke quickly, and his silhouette suddenly blurred—

"Suzumiya, go find Yuki later; she'll tell you the specifics, and tell you what you should do next."

"What?"

Haruhi Suzumiya, who had been eagerly surveying her surroundings and lost in her own thoughts, heard him say this and immediately felt a flicker of unease in her heart; she turned her head at once. Just in time to see his figure begin to fade, becoming indistinct.

She panicked in her heart: "Hey! Wait for me!"

The next moment—

Everything around seemed to be frozen.

Space no longer churned, sound disappeared, and the air in the whole room seemed to have stagnated.

And in this quiet moment, footsteps came softly from outside the door. The door was pushed open gently, and the figures of Nagato Yuki and Asakura Ryouko appeared outside the door.

Looking at the empty workshop that had lost the figures of the two, the former's expression was calm, while the latter's expression was somewhat troubled.

"Indeed—"

"Not here."

……………………

……………………

First was the boundless thunderclouds like a churning giant beast, exhaling dazzling electric arcs, spreading in all directions, causing the entire Void to be suffused with an ominous black-red glow.

Second was that the force fields around fluctuated violently, various substances surging like boiling water, as if even the Vacuum had been affected by some mysterious power and could not maintain its original calm,

In the distance, huge fireballs repelled each other under the push of their own gravity and fusion power, burning endlessly, releasing dazzling light and scorching energy. Magnetic fields, cosmic wind, and high-energy particles fluctuated and churned constantly before this power.

This was the environmental information he read in the first moment.

Chaotic, disordered, lawless, yet containing a majestic aura of Destruction.

Xia Zhi did not lock onto the source of the Thunder to Teleport, but wanted to leave the Workshop first, then see the situation. However, perhaps it was some mechanism at the level of rules; the Teleportation position changed silently, and the moment he Teleported out, he found himself in the desolate Space.

Cold.

But not dead silent, nor pitch black.

Because of the strange thunder roaring in the Vacuum and countless tribulation lights crossing the sky, this vast outer Space was illuminated, as if a grand cosmic celebration.

The Thunder roared like ancient war drums, surging on this vast Vacuum Stage, performing a grand and mysterious cosmic symphony together with the flashing tribulation light.

Of course, most importantly...

"What are you doing?!"

Grabbing Haruhi Suzumiya's arm, ignoring the girl's shouting, Xia Zhi's tone was strange, weak and powerless.

Logically speaking, he had actually already completed the Teleportation at that time, meaning he was no longer in the original position then.

The afterimage she saw was merely a Visual Persistence afterimage; under such circumstances, how could it be possible to just reach out and grab his arm, and be Teleported along with him? This was completely unscientific... However, this strange thing did happen, becoming an ironclad fact.

"Uwa—eh eh eh eh—!!"

The girl flailed her arms and legs, struggling hard, obviously unsuited for the sudden weightless environment, still shouting something subconsciously in her mouth.

After finally stabilizing her figure, she gasped for a few breaths, but did not worry about her situation in the first moment; instead, she glared at him angrily: "You're the one doing what?! Why suddenly say such things, saying you're leaving! As if you wouldn't be here anymore!"

It was simply as if he was leaving never to return, saying such things!

This was why she suddenly felt both angry and anxious in her heart, subconsciously wanting to "grab him".

"You're overthinking; what I meant by leaving is that I can't stay there, otherwise I would only attract the Heavenly Tribulation..." The youth explained a sentence, but compared to his outward calm, his Inner Heart actually felt a bit guilty.

"Hmph! Who knows, sounds like you ate everything clean and want to pull up your pants and run away!" The girl glared at him, looking indignant.

"Ate everything clean and want to pull up your pants and run away... Don't put it so crudely, who did I eat..." Xia Zhi sighed long, refusing to admit such scumbag behavior.

"Ugh—"

Miss Suzumiya also reacted at this time, momentarily speechless, but she didn't know why she subconsciously blurted out, "Anyway, anyway it's your fault, saying such things, isn't it easy to be misunderstood!"

"Fine fine fine..."

The youth dealt with her helplessly on the surface, but his Inner Heart became increasingly guilty.

Just now was absolutely the Goddess's blurted-out words in a hurry, because she actually perceived the truth in an unconscious state... That's right, he indeed had the scumbag thought of grabbing the bucket and running away after tricking the upgrade opportunity, thinking of leaving immediately after crossing the Tribulation.

Because in the short term, this Copy seemed to have no more stable greater gains—

Only greater instability risks.

Even if the future was already decided, determining that he would still be in this World at least until the August summer vacation, that was a matter of the "future"... Perhaps it could be something that happens after he enters this World again next time?

He made a bold hypothesis and boldly sought proof, decisively preparing to put it into action.

However, unexpectedly...

A certain Goddess seemed to realize his irresponsible behavior, and even though he had calculated perfectly and successfully run away, she still caught him in some reasonable yet unreasonable way.

"Quiet down, it's starting!"

Seeing the girl still looked indignant, Xia Zhi hurriedly interrupted, preparing to divert her attention first.

The next moment—

A deafening roar, as if Heaven and Earth collapsed.

Above the boundless thunderclouds, a vast ocean suddenly descended!

Unimaginable Destruction power turned into black Thunder, striking down from the Horizon, shocking to the heart!

"Hey! You're just... going to take the beating like that?"

Facing such vast Lightning Tribulation, the Team Leader also clearly felt a bit nervous, even though actually, she should be the one who needs to worry the least.

"Of course... not! Foundation Establishment Foundation Establishment, the foundation established is naturally the foundation for attaining the Dao; this is actually a harsh test, I need to reconstruct my own power in this test, achieve several key indicators..."

Xia Zhi said quickly with an unchanged face, while constantly shifting and moving with her, traveling through the gaps of countless lightning strikes. And all this was merely a prelude, and not just one bolt, but one after another constantly falling, frequency becoming more and more urgent, more and more dense...

However, this had just begun; he was not yet unable to hold on immediately.

Otherwise, there would definitely be no hope of crossing it.

By this point, Xia Zhi no longer dwelled on the fact that Team Leader had followed him, after all, this one was ostensibly a burden, but in reality the best support servant.

As expected, she subconsciously began to ask:

"What indicator?"

"The first is naturally 'energy,' without it, all is empty." The youth spoke nonsense with a straight face: "Since it is Foundation Establishment, the Dao Foundation laid should hold under the universe, rather than only being useful in certain specific occasions, otherwise it wouldn't be a Dao Foundation, but a bubble that bursts at a poke……"

——For example, espers who only have superpowers in Closed Space……

——Can that count as an esper?!

"So, so what?" The girl, half-understanding, subconsciously asked.

"So in terms of energy, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator must shake off the shackles of Qi Refining, no longer be restricted by environment and Spiritual Energy, but should open the Heaven-Earth Bridge and be able to freely obtain energy anywhere."

"This…… can it be done?" Haruhi Suzumiya looked somewhat doubtful.

"Of course it can!"

Xia Zhi naturally had to make Team Leader believe it was possible, directly bringing out the theory: "After all, energy is everywhere, even in a vacuum there is immense background energy, and it still exists under absolute zero conditions."

"The vacuum is not empty; all matter in the universe originates from zero-point electromagnetic fluctuation energy. Every material particle on our bodies constantly exchanges energy with vacuum zero-point energy. According to the properties of physical vacuum, we can extract energy from any point in the universe."

The youth explained so seriously, indicating this had reliable theoretical basis.

But just at this moment, he suddenly felt a pang in his heart, and as if sensing something, raised his head.

Only to see the sea of Lightning Tribulation surging and tumbling at the horizon, streaks of electric radiance like dazzling, colorful flowing light waterfalls. Those were streaks of black tribulation light, they were not scattered sparsely, but emerged in patches, brilliant and dazzling, from beginning to now only a few minutes, already rising to such a terrifying intensity.

Making evasion start to become difficult for him, even the Nano Intelligence running at full power could no longer completely accurately predict the position of every lightning strike.

But this was not the point—

The point was that at the highest point of those thunder clouds, at the end of the shattered firmament, a huge gap seemed to have appeared, deep within that gap connected to another dimension, faintly revealing an aura of something completely strange.

Huh?

He looked down at the girl in doubt and uncertainty, not quite sure.

(Chapter End)