Chapter 712: Start

After ending the communication with the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom", Lei Kedun again transformed into an information torrent, preparing to seek the "Great Mother Earth" to retrieve from her the second attribute of the "Knowledge Emperor".

As if sensing his intent, bright, pure shafts of sunlight materialized out of nowhere, surrounding him and forming an impenetrable barrier.

Beneath the light that even warped space, one scroll after another, like projections, gradually unfolded.

These scrolls were so thin they seemed weightless, yet they gave an overwhelming sense of heft, as if a civilization spanning tens of thousands of years were that massive, expansive, boundless, and grand.

The information torrent, having just broken through the Eternal Blazing Sun's blockade, was immediately engulfed by these unfolding civilization scrolls.

Amid the mottled light and shadow of the civilization scrolls, Meidiqi, still in the form of a flame giant, brandished a long sword wreathed in violet‑red fire and greeted Lei Kedun in a relaxed tone:

"Rude little fellow, we meet again. Last time you silently tossed me into the raging sea's depths; this time perhaps you owe me something?"

"I'm thinking of immersing you in the sea of ruins within the Divine War wasteland," Lei Kedun replied with a slight nod.

As he spoke, his silhouette kept expanding, the outer skin and flesh cracking layer by layer, sprouting an eye that shimmered with pure light, as if it could see through all things.

He seemed to become a conglomerate of countless bits of information, an embodiment of data and knowledge, constantly receiving and exchanging information.

Amid the convergence of innumerable tangled pure data, aside from the proliferating eyes, the rest of his body turned into a mass of blackness—a writhing, twisted darkness.

In his mythic beast form, each eye flashed with clear, pure radiance, coalescing into one complex, illusory symbol after another, pouring massive heaps of useless knowledge into Meidiqi's mind.

The giant ablaze with violet‑red flame emitted a faint golden light that flowed like water, coalescing into a full-body armor that shielded against Lei Kedun's attacks.

In the next instant, a great sword forged of orange‑red twilight light pierced the void and leapt straight out from Lei Kedun's position.

The black mass studded with countless eyes instantly became ethereal, as if it never existed, easily evading the sudden strike.

The orange‑red sword immediately shattered, turning into shards of light and debris that churned rapidly, forming an orange‑red storm.

Meidiqi swung the Sword of Dawn, intensifying the rotating Light Storm, which swept outward, enveloping everything; no matter how Lei Kedun moved, he could not escape.

Within the orange‑red storm, wave after wave of tangled information surged in an illusory torrent, piercing the raging Light Storm and rushing toward Meidiqi, only to be blocked by the faint golden armor covering them.

That armor, of unknown composition, possessed a strong information‑shielding property, making it difficult for him to breach the protection and land an effective strike.

Meidiqi seemed to have foreseen this, his body swaying slightly as he maintained the Light Storm and laughed aloud:

"The armor I wear comes from the world's finest craftsman, once the God of Craftsmen, now the God of Steam and Machinery; its function is simple, yet it is precisely aimed at you."

"Are you sure we should keep fighting? You have no chance of winning this battle, be it strategy, strength, or equipment."

As Meidiqi spoke, the swirling information torrent in the air rapidly converged, reconstituting Lei Kedun's figure.

He looked at the flame giant before him clad in faint golden armor and asked calmly, "You seem quite confident?"

Meidiqi answered by forcefully swinging his straight sword; a great sword of orange‑red twilight light pierced the void, erupted from Lei Kedun's revealed form, and sliced through his body from within.

Under the orange‑red glow, Lei Kedun's figure shattered swiftly, turning into specks of dim yellow fire that faded away.

Only a burnt‑out matchstick remained on the spot, crushed and vanished within the orange‑red Light Storm.

"Ha, when did you become like that little crow, always hiding?" Meidiqi glanced at the shattered match, kept a vigilant stance, and chuckled.

Lei Kedun's silhouette appeared behind Meidiqi, saying, "Your taunting technique seems to have regressed."

As he spoke, his right hand tugged at the void before him, conjuring a scene of the Ancient Sun God being devoured.

Beneath the faint golden armor, Meidiqi momentarily staggered, tightened his grip on the straight sword, then thrust forward fiercely, slashing down with a will of harvest and conquest.

Even though he cannot see its face now, Lei Kedun knows its expression must be terrible.

Meidiqi's move failed; the straight sword in his hand betrayed him, swinging toward another direction.

It was not a weapon forged by his extraordinary power, but a wondrous item from Steam.

He deliberately set fire upon it, disguising it as a weapon forged by his extraordinary power to lull Lei Kedun into complacency. The flame‑wreathed straight sword's orange‑red light flickered, then erupted within the faint golden armor, detonating inside Meidiqi.

Simultaneously, the faint golden armor contracted sharply inward, as if to crush him into mush.

Crack! Crack! Crisp sounds rang from Meidiqi as his armor split open with one fissure after another, orange‑red light spilling out.

Lei Kedun curled his lip, and within his eyes coalesced one complex, illusory symbol after another, pouring massive heaps of useless knowledge into Meidiqi's mind.

Under the rebellion of the wondrous item on his body, Meidiqi couldn't react in time; his body instantly stiffened on the spot, unable to produce any extra thought or movement.

Without pausing, Lei Kedun raised his hand, tugged at the void before him, produced an invisible object, and hurled it onto Meidiqi.

Engulfed in violet‑red flame, Meidiqi instantly became ethereal, as if detached from reality, entering another dimension and unable to affect the real world.

This is another application of "The Emperor's New Clothes" and hidden power, capable of briefly ejecting a target from reality, making it a spectator in another dimension.

With Meidiqi's obstruction gone, Lei Kedun began attempting to destroy the civilization scroll that sealed himself.

His body expanded rapidly, turning deep black under the infestation of countless tangled pure data, sprouting an eye that shimmered with pure light.

In the blink of an eye, he became the size of a small hill, cloaked in a black robe, continuously sprouting countless eyes on his silhouette.

Black mist surged out swiftly, spreading and quickly filling the entire civilization scroll, frantically analyzing and destroying everything within.

In the western part of the Land of the Abandoned Gods, the Giant King's Court, Ke Lai En used the key from the General of the Ice Mountain to open the great gate here.

A surging, black, viscous, illusory sea poured out from the hall of the Giant King's Court, easily contaminating the Secret Idol Ke Lai En had dragged from the Historical Rift, and tearing a shadow from him along the connection.

Ke Lai En's figure emerged from the Historical Rift; losing a false Secret Idol had no effect on him, but losing his shadow caused his mental state to deteriorate sharply.

Around here, the people of Silver City, who had long been waiting, stared at the suddenly appearing Ke Lai En with surprise and caution, their weapons already primed.

Dai Lik stared blankly for a while before realizing the person before him was Shijie Ge Erman Si Paruo, and, somewhat worried, stepped forward to ask:

"Mr. Shijie Ge Erman Si Paruo, are you all right?"

"There is something," Ke Lai En looked up at Dai Lik, who was half a head taller, his tone extremely restrained.

Ke Lin·Yi Li Ya Te, the chief of Silver City's six‑member council, gazed deeply at Ke Lai En, then turned his sight toward the main hall of the Giant King and said:

"I just sensed a terribly frightening aura; merely feeling a hint made me shiver, an uncontrollable fear urging me to flee."

Ke Lai En twitched his mouth, revealing a smile that oddly unsettled, and said:

"I just used the key granted by my lord to open the Giant King's Court gate, which triggered a mutation, apparently awakening the sleeping presence inside and leaking some aura."

"Fortunately, our luck is still decent; the danger that erupted inside that palace didn't spread far, didn't affect us, nor made us part of that peril."

"I think the level of danger here needs no further explanation; so, do you still dare to explore now?"

"Every expedition of Silver City's exploration team proceeds with the belief that they might die," Ke Lin·Yi Li Ya Te said in a hoarse voice.

Ke La En smiled, a sole transparent worm on his face writhed, crawling a bit faster: "Not bad awareness."

"Let's go, time waits for no one. After settling the matters here, I still need to keep playing cat-and-mouse with A Meng, eh."

"Those below demigod level need not participate; apart from adding a few corpses, you'll be of no use."

As the words fell, Ke Lai En turned and headed straight for the main hall of the Giant King Court.

In the ocean evolved from the Divine War ruins, a phantom realm formed of countless books projected from the star realm, breaking the balance between day and night here.

Books stacked rapidly, combined, forming a phantom tower, layers building upward, extending into the sky, as if to envelop the whole world within itself.

Each book bore a bronze-colored eye; the higher the layer, the darker it became, the more filled with madness, destruction, ill omen, disaster, and such atmospheres.

(End of chapter)