Chapter 1208: Mirage and Astral Creation

Swish—

Xia Duo did not hear the Tower of Time's countdown of "1"; after a brief pause following "2," he instantly flew out.

Perspective detached, upward, infinitely upward.

It was extremely similar to the feeling of heading to a Projection Plane, yet different; it seemed not only his consciousness was being projected out, but as if more of his essence was as well.

At this moment, Xia Duo only felt everything around him receding; his mental will was constantly rising, and after experiencing a very brief process of Yaoyue, he discovered he had arrived in a silver void.

Unlike the perception projection used in the Tower of Time to sense the Astral Plane via the Plane Exploration array, where only perception appeared in the Astral Plane, this time, Xia Duo's body appeared in the Astral Plane void in its entirety.

After experiencing an initial moment of panic, Xia Duo quickly controlled his emotions; when sensing the Astral Plane, even a slight fluctuation of thoughts could trigger an Astral Wind, and now that his entire body had arrived, such a situation was even more likely to occur.

After calming his mind, Xia Duo finally had the time to properly feel the Astral Plane environment he was currently in.

Just like the 【Blue Crystal Plane】 discovered by the Tower of Time before, there was no gravity here, and as far as the eye could see, it was nothing but a silver void.

Xia Duo waved his arms a few times, which actually stirred up specks of starlight, and the surrounding space was more like a body of water, producing ripples.

This also seemed very similar to the 【Blue Crystal Plane】.

But the differences were also very obvious; besides one being a Material Plane and the other a mental plane, their essences were different, and the Magic Net within the planes provided a completely different experience.

As a Mage, Xia Duo noticed this immediately; the Astral Plane also possessed a Magic Net, but the Astral Plane's Magic Net was like flowers in a mirror or the moon in a well—seemingly present, yet impossible to touch.

Xia Duo attempted to cast a spell, the simplest 【Light】; following the Mage's method of Spellcasting, the moment he began, corresponding Magic Net Strings spontaneously derived from the Astral Plane void.

Seeing these newly born Magic Net Strings, Xia Duo subconsciously wanted to continue operating them; this was the normal Spellcasting process for a Mage, but because of this thought, additional unnecessary Magic Net Strings were derived once more.

At this, Xia Duo immediately realized that the method of Spellcasting in the Astral Plane was completely different from the normal Magic Net environment of the Material Plane, so he began to try the most simple and primitive method of Spellcasting in the Astral Plane mentioned in "Kangjienio's Astral Plane Overview"—

Visualization!

Or, to use Kangjienio's own words: "No need to care about the process, you only need to imagine the final effect of the Spell and provide the support of your will!"

Almost instantly, a sphere the size of a human head, glowing with a scorching white light, appeared before Xia Duo, but the next moment, he subconsciously extinguished it.

During this process, Xia Duo discovered that the Astral Plane's Magic Net still had not changed in the slightest; it did not automatically respond like the Main Plane's Magic Net responded to Bloodline Spells—it really was the moon in the well and flowers in the mirror!

Moreover, the appearance of this Spell was also very bizarre, born out of thin air.

If it were in the Main Plane, it would be impossible to cast a Spell with will alone, unless there was a Magic Net to cooperate, whether it be the external Great Magic Net or the Micro Magic Net expanded by one's own Arcane Fire.

But in the Astral Plane, this thing that was originally impossible to happen occurred so easily and so naturally.

Could this be the special nature of the mental world?

Xia Duo wanted to continue trying, but just then, a familiar voice abruptly arose from the bottom of his heart; Xia Duo subconsciously developed a sense of rejection, so he only heard the first half of what Kelifu said—

"Lord Xia Duo—"

Following the sensation in his heart, as well as the ripples and light reflections in the void here, Xia Duo turned his body around and saw Kelifu waving at him not far ahead.

Xia Duo took a step, instantly arriving beside Kelifu, though this action of his gave Kelifu a fright, and a circle of bright starlight appeared around Kelifu.

At the same time, ripples instantly arose around Kelifu and continued to spread outward, but when they reached Xia Duo, they were quietly smoothed out by an invisible force.

"Lord Xia Duo, you really gave me a big scare!"

"Apologies, I am not yet familiar with the environment here."

This was not a lie; Xia Duo was indeed not yet familiar with the environment here; he had only been thinking of getting to Kelifu as quickly as possible, not expecting to teleport over in an instant.

After the teleportation was complete, he felt some regret, but it was too late by then, so he could only try his best to control his thoughts to avoid causing any more trouble.

However, the Astral Wind stirred up by Kelifu was so weak that it made him very curious: was Kelifu's control truly exceptional, or was his mental will very weak?

Almost without needing to think, Xia Duo was certain it was the former; if even the mental will of Kelifu, who possessed deep obsessions and even dared to do things that transcended Faith, was weak, then whose mental will could be considered strong?

After the small interlude, Xia Duo immediately asked about the main business: "Lord Kelifu, what about Lord Suo En? Is he not with us?"

"Of course he is with us, it's just—"

Kelifu hesitated, seemingly not knowing how to explain; just then, the void beside the two suddenly had violent undulations, as if a behemoth were about to leap out from the void.

Such a situation naturally drew Xia Duo's attention and vigilance, though Kelifu looked as if he had let out a sigh of relief, saying, "Lord Suo En is here."

Suo En is coming?

Xia Duo carefully observed the undulating and turbulent void location; the next moment, a point of light was born out of thin air, and immediately after, that light grew brighter and brighter, almost overwhelming the surrounding silver void background.

And in his Perception, Xia Duo felt an eternal and unchanging Order Force constantly spreading outward; as the light grew to its peak, the surrounding environment gradually began to change.

Beneath his feet, it was no longer empty; bit by bit, dark brown soil derived, and something like a Plane Barrier appeared around them.

No, it should be a Plane Barrier!

Suo En had actually created a micro plane in the Astral Plane!

Was this a virtual plane similar to a Projection Plane, or a Reality plane similar to a Material Plane?

Taking advantage of the fact that Suo En had not yet appeared, Xia Duo immediately squatted down to grab a handful of soil; while pretending to inspect the dirt, he used his Personal Space to perform a very small-scale overlap with this plane.

The overlap was right in the middle of the slightly damp soil in his hand, the size not even as large as a grain of wheat.

In just that instant of plane overlap, a tiny bit of soil was simultaneously located in this plane and in Xia Duo's Personal Space.

In that instant, Xia Duo performed a simple Identify on this grain of soil through his Personal Space; it was not virtual, but real!

If he were to put this grain of soil into his Personal Space, he could even bring it to the Main Plane, and during this process, there was absolutely no need to pay any price (to manifest items from a Projection Plane, the Personal Space must shrink)!

Suo En had actually created a real plane in the Astral Plane!