Chapter 275: Quantum Collapse Eye (Two-in-One)

The sunset‑like crimson glow seeped from the core of the Chaotic Demon Star, flowing over Juan Ce Long's silvery dragon‑scale armor. Naimi Xisi deliberately lifted the Artifact half an inch, so the star's lava‑like surface patterns reflected precisely in the depths of the Shadow Dragon's pupils—he knew all too well the suppressive power this ancient Artifact holds over the True Dragon Bloodline.

Alvarez's slender dragon neck instinctively recoiled, the shadow‑coalesced mane evaporating into wisps of black vapor under the star's radiation. He could feel the True Dragon instinct deep within his soul trembling, a fear memory etched into draconic genes—thirty thousand years ago, the Elf Court's Dragon Slayers wielded this star‑shaped Artifact to rend the pride of the ancient True Dragon.

"It seems you have deciphered these ancient runes," Naimi Xisi let the star spin on his claw tip, the Artifact grinding against the scales and emitting a sour‑tinged shriek. "Will you serve as a Shadow Dragon attendant, or become firewood for a Hellfire Dragon?"

When he mentioned "Hellfire Dragon," the Shadow Dragon's tail tip, patterned with stardust, twitched. They had all seen those pitiful creations: giants forced to be infused with hellfire by the star, shedding their ancestral scales, their newly formed lava shells riddled with pulsating veins, even the dragon crystals reduced to hollow shells exhaling sulfur smoke.

"How dare you desecrate Tiama te's bloodline," Alvarez hissed through clenched teeth, his vertical pupils fixed on the dancing black flame at the star's core. As a direct descendant of the primeval dragons who survived the Dragon Meteor War, he knew better than anyone the venom of this Artifact—it can bypass the Dragon Mother's protection and rewrite the very essence of the True Dragon.

Naimi Xisi suddenly restrained his Dragon Might. He lowered his head and neck, the seemingly submissive posture causing the Shadow Dragon's scales to emit uneasy friction. Juan Ce Long's slender foreclaw brushed the star's surface, and the Artifact instantly projected countless blood‑red Runes, weaving on the temple's ruined walls a holographic image of the blue dragon transformed in the desert years ago: those mournful dragon roars, still shrill after twenty years of sealing, and the stripped inheritance memories turned into light particles that vanished in the infernal wind.

"The devils would probably call me the worst contractor," Naimi Xisi's voice suddenly filled with abyssal echo, his shadow splitting into seven snarling forms under the star's light. "After all, it took over a decade to transform a single dragon; I truly am unworthy of the Artifact forged personally by the Great Devil."

Alvarez felt a needle‑sharp chill run down his spine. He noticed Juan Ce Long's shadow devouring the lingering shadow energy on the temple floor—an ability the dragon should not possess. When a twisted shadow brushed his bleeding left wing, the wound erupted with excruciating pain as if countless insects were gnawing it.

"A millennium!" the Shadow Dragon roared, spreading its wings; the shattered membrane wings in the star's crimson light resembled two blood‑stained battle flags. "White Mystery above, Alvarez Star‑Mark offers a thousand years of service!" He embedded a triple true‑name oath in ancient dragon language, a shackles heavier than any soul contract.

Naimi Xisi's violet vertical pupils flickered with amusement. The Shadow Dragon had finally spoken? Still, it was fine—though Hellfire Dragons are formidable, the Shadow Dragon's innate talent for shadow mystic arts could greatly benefit Naimi Xisi's own study of those arts.

"A wise choice." Juan Ce Long suddenly resumed a humanoid form, his pallid fingers passing through the star's projected blood‑red Runes. Alvarez only then realized that even in human shape, the dragon's pupils retained the vertical draconic structure, with flecks of the star's Runes shimmering on the iris.

The instant the oath was sealed, the Shadow Dragon shuddered violently. Between its shattered scales leaked a star‑like substance, the shadow essence that should have healed wounds now surged of its own accord toward the ancient tome in Naimi Xisi's hand—a massive volume bound in dragon hide that greedily devoured his very source of power.

"Don't worry, it's just a side effect of the contract." In his humanoid form, Naimi Xisi smiled and opened the Spellbook; the freshly formed page prominently displayed the Shadow Dragon's star‑patterned scale armor illustration. "After all, mastering shadow mystic arts always requires some experimental material."

A sudden roar of space fracturing echoed from outside the temple, but Alvarez had no time to attend to it. He stared intently at the ever‑multiplying shadow Runes on the book, feeling his entire strength leaking away.

After a long while, as countless dark shadow energies were drawn into Naimi Xisi's Spellbook, a third of its pages turned a grim, ominous gray.

This is the ability of the Rune Guardian; although he can, through this vocation, transcribe any spellcaster's techniques, a clever housewife cannot cook without rice.

Only by saturating Naimi Xisi's Spellbook with massive amounts of alien energy can the newly formed pages support his transcription of shadow mystic arts.

At that moment, Xia Nai and the others nearby were already staring in stunned amazement.

Xia Nai was fine; having endured the countless battles on the Maztek continent, she already understood how terrifying Juan Ce Long's power truly was.

But Erbis and Kaide, two ordinary mid‑rank adventurers, were far less worldly.

Erbis slumped on the altar steps, the shirt beneath her leather armor soaked through with cold sweat. As an adventurer who had entered the Path of Paradigm, she should have been accustomed to the supernatural. Yet when Alvarez lowered his scar‑scarred dragon head, she distinctly heard the brittle crack of her own common‑sense framework collapsing—like the drunken old mage in the Deepwater City tavern three years ago who suddenly unraveled a Space‑Time paradox.

Kaide's situation was worse. The Wanderer, famed for bragging about his courage, curled in the shadows, his teeth clattering uncontrollably. Three hours earlier he had mocked the "pretty‑face scholar" for not even holding a torch steady; now he seemed desperate to gouge out the eye he had once offended on a giant dragon. He gulped furiously, the rolling of his Adam's apple sounding starkly clear in the dead silence.

When Naimi Xisi turned, Xia Nai noticed an anomaly in his human form: the hair that had masqueraded as silver threads in the tomb now clearly flowed as liquid mithril, the tips shedding tiny dragon‑language Runes.

The dragon's magical power had become even more terrifying, manifesting uncontrollable draconic traits even while in human form.

As his gaze swept over Ma Luofu's desiccated corpse, Xia Nai's eyes followed.

"I thought you would head to the Fallen Dragon City," Juan Ce Long's voice carried the dragon‑language's characteristic multiple resonance. A crack in the temple wall suddenly seeped silver light, illuminating Xia Nai's pallid face in stark detail.

In response to Juan Ce Long's question, Xia Nai remained silent for a moment, then pressed her thumb onto the claw imprint, exerting force until her knuckle whitened: "Some debts must be reclaimed before the creditor's lair collapses."

Naimi Xisi noted that Xia Nai's gaze at the long‑dead Ma Luofu on the ground was filled with intense hatred, tinged with a hint of bewilderment.

He seemed thoughtful, did not press further, and his draconic eyes turned toward Erbis and Kaide.

When the Dragon Might shifted toward the two adventurers, Erbis's long boots scraped a harsh screech against the floor. She nervously rubbed her hands, trembling all over—an instinct lower beings cannot control when facing a True Dragon.

Kaide also felt a jittery fear because of his earlier actions.

What he didn't know was that, to Juan Ce Long, both he and Erbis were merely ant‑like figures, unworthy of attention; Naimi Xisi had long forgotten his prior deeds.

"Apologies, Your Majesty the Great Dragon, we were unaware," Kaide stammered, his words faltering, before Naimi Xisi waved his hand to cut him off.

"Mo Lei Nuo is waiting for you," Naimi Xisi said, his casual finger wave leaking Dragon Might that silenced them: "The ice cavern halfway up the mountain, where there are traces of campfires."

"He's still alive!" Erbis's scream shattered into a choking sob when it met the Dragon Might.

"You found Mo Lei Nuo?!" Erbis exclaimed excitedly. Ah, the Mo Lei Nuo she had long yearned for was indeed still alive—thanks to the Great Dragon.

Naimi Xisi gave a slight nod, and Erbis grew even more excited. By contrast, Kaide, beside them, twitched his lips, a gurgling sound like a drowning person emanating from his throat. When Juan Ce Long's gaze fell upon him, the mage finally, in a breakdown, realized that those inhuman violet pupils held no reflection of himself at all. The memories of "pretty‑face" and "dead weight" were now thinner than morning mist. His frantic mind suddenly calmed, even allowing him to contemplate other matters.

Is she still alive?

"Ai Ai Sha," the young man croaked, the name spilling from his cracked lips, his tongue tasting the iron‑sweet of Tie Xiu. He instinctively brushed his mouth with his cuff, but upon seeing the dark‑red bloodstain his pupils trembled, his Adam's apple rolling as he swallowed unease: "Have you ever seen a girl named Ai Sha?"

Naimi Xisi curled his tail finger around his silver hair at his ear, his violet vertical pupils reflecting the cold sweat seeping from the youth's temples. As he shook his head, the last spark of hope in the young man's eyes extinguished like a dying candle in the wind. Juan Ce Long turned and walked toward the jagged back of the Shadow Dragon, his cloak studded with Selennye Runes rustling in the temple's draft.

"Activate the sub‑plane nexus, Alvarez."

The bowed Shadow Dragon emitted a fractured bellows‑like gasp, indigo blood pearls seeping between its dark‑gold scales. As the ancient incantation trembled in its throat, the entire temple began to roar with the clatter of gears meshing. Naimi Xisi lowered his gaze to the marble beneath his feet, his reflection warped into countless silver shards by the rippling surface.

In the instant the sensation of weightlessness enveloped his body, darkness like velvet swaddled every sense.

——

"Stagnant Observation Tower"

When his vision cleared, Naimi Xisi floated in a void resembling a sea of stars. Tens of thousands of gray‑white gears hovered in rings, each tooth slot streaming dark‑purple stardust; the cold precision of the machinery blended perfectly with the uncanny brilliance of nebulae. Encircling their center, a towering spire constructed of rhombic lattice pulsed, each mirrored facet refracting remnants of different Space‑Time.

The High Tower seemed forged from countless gears, its surface inlaid with abundant reflective transparent glass.

Naimi Xisi's body floated in the void, feeling no hint of gravity.

"Is this a solitary pocket space? What a genius design," Naimi Xisi marveled, looking around. "Within a sub‑plane lies an even smaller pocket space; without the corresponding incantation to unlock it, intruders may never discover where the sub‑plane's nexus lies."

"Is this it?"

!

As he drifted toward the central mechanical tower, a cold sense of being watched crawled up his spine. The tower's embedded mirrors were not glass but flattened void‑crystal prisms, each reflecting a possible end of his various timelines: sometimes a mechanical tendril piercing his skull, other times his form disintegrating into quantum dust.

"Buzz—welcome—zz— Observation Tower!" A light sphere shot out from the tower's tip conduit, its surface flickering with vintage cathode‑ray‑tube scan lines. "Loading visitor protocol: Species—Juan Ce Long (variant); Contamination Index—17.3%; Recommend executing—zz— decontamination procedure?"

Naimi Xisi's fingertip silently formed a Dragon‑language Dissociation Rune: "I prefer a friendly visit, Tower Spirit."

The light sphere suddenly emitted a cheerful electronic tone: "Just kidding! Only a little joke! I am Seagull‑One, offering you 99.73% sincere service!" It dutifully circled Juan Ce Long, scattering metallic‑sheened ribbons, and chirped, "Please be sure to ignore those cute little prisms; the previous master loved tossing failed experiments into them."

When the Tower Spirit mentioned "failed experiments," the nearest void‑crystal prism suddenly displayed a lich's face—its rust‑corroded, riveted visage silently screaming, its eye sockets turning not with soul fire but with miniature gear assemblies.

Naimi Xisi observed rusted metal conduits extending from certain corners and the Mage Tower's interior filled with massive metal doors, feeling as if he were inside a technological world.

The sensation felt terribly out of place.

Seeing the Tower Spirit's agreeable attitude, Naimi Xisi directly asked, "Where is the sub‑plane's nexus, and can you take me there?"

The light sphere emitted a lively laugh in the air, seeming pleased by Naimi Xisi's question: "Of course, but first you must pass a trial."

Naimi Xisi frowned and asked, "What test?"

The light sphere said mysteriously, "Learn the basic theory of a Legendary spell called Quantum Collapse Eye."

Naimi Xisi's eyes widened; he was only a seven Spell Circle Mage, and this light sphere actually let him study the basic theory of a Legendary spell?!

Although it doesn't let him directly learn how to cast the Legendary spell, even so it's already extremely difficult.

"Detected a surge in dopamine secretion; you seem excited?" the light sphere suddenly pressed against his nose tip, a red light scanning like an iris sweep across his violet pupil. "Warning: the probability of cognitive collapse from learning this theory is 63.5%; need to sign a liability waiver?"

"No need? That's best."

The light sphere, without waiting for his reply, suddenly emitted a beam from its surface that struck a wall in the center of the first‑floor lobby of the Mage Tower.

The wall let out a 'Boom—Boom—Boom' sound, revealing a hidden door, and the light sphere eagerly guided Naimi Xisi along the way.

"Within this secret storage room lies the work most cherished by my former master—Half‑god Lich Ya Se Lie Ke—and it is also one of the hardest Legendary spells. All knowledge about it is sealed in this storage room; learn the basic theory of this spell and answer my questions, and you will earn the qualification to go to the hub."

Naimi Xisi pushed aside the noisy tower spirit and strode toward the hidden chamber revealed by the cracked wall.

Inside the secret chamber, aside from the central stone platform, there was nothing; a thick book with a transparent crystal cover lay quietly above the platform.

He hovered his hand over the spine of "Vikna Poetry Anthology". He could feel the anthology heating up, and some verses reassembled under the dim light into a warning: "When machines devour stars, the observer also becomes prey."

The stone platform in the chamber's center was covered with patterns resembling cathode ray tubes, and the crystal‑covered tome floated within an electromagnetic field. When Naimi Xisi touched the "Vikna Poetry Anthology", its cover suddenly opened three mechanical prosthetic eyes, and deep within the pupils a Fibonacci sequence spun.

"When I wrote it, the source code detected 47% unknown machine language… that is not the power of Vikna."

The opening warning text burned a afterimage onto his retina. Naimi Xisi suddenly coughed violently; the blood droplets he spat out floated in the air, each reflecting a different future scene, all wildly absurd.

"Timing starts~" the tower spirit's voice, tinged with eerie electric static, said, "If you fail to finish the basic theory— before cognitive overload, your brain fluid will turn into a beautiful probability cloud~"

(End of chapter)