Chapter 248: Time Stasis Series (Request Monthly Tickets! Request Follows!)

What's going on?

Looking at the third-floor pavilion about to collapse around him, Wu Xian's face was blank with confusion.

Come on, he'd already scattered the ashes of the First God—why was it still collapsing? Even if the worldline was tightening, it shouldn't be this unreasonable!

Wait—could it be…

Suddenly, Wu Xian's mind flashed with an image: a pair of icy, glasses-wearing, poker-faced features… His instinct told him that the collapse of the Floating Pavilion was almost certainly this person's doing.

You sneaky bastard!!

Snarling in fury, Wu Xian dared not delay—he sprinted through the trembling pavilion, spreading his mental force rapidly to search for objects resembling the East Emperor Bell and the Jade Disc of Creation.

Not long after, Wu Xian spotted two items matching his target: he dashed like lightning to an ancient bronze bell, sucked it into his internal space using 【Devour Heaven】, then ran to a distant, secluded corner and reached out to grasp a palm-sized mirror.

But at that moment, an invisible ripple spread outward—passing through Wu Xian's body, freezing him mid-stride like an insect trapped in amber, utterly motionless.

Simultaneously, the rapidly collapsing pavilion halted its destruction, as if time itself had been frozen in this area—an inexplicably eerie sensation.

Then, clear footsteps echoed from behind Wu Xian.

There stepped the Copy of Chu Xuan into the third-floor pavilion, holding the tattered black scroll, walking calmly to Wu Xian's side.

He first glanced at the staff in Wu Xian's hand, then studied Wu Xian for a long moment, before extending his empty left hand toward the mirror-like artifact—the Jade Disc of Creation.

Crack!!

The sound of shattering glass erupted—terrible, terrifying energy surged from beside him, its source unmistakably Wu Xian, who had been motionless.

The Copy of Chu Xuan spun around—saw Wu Xian, who should have been frozen, suddenly raising his hand; terrifying power tore jagged rifts through spacetime, snatching the Jade Disc of Creation—then froze again.

At the same time, on the Copy of Chu Xuan's face—calmer and more detached than the original's—a flicker of surprise finally appeared.

"He can resist the spacetime force of the Divine Record? Has his power already touched the Immortal Saint realm…?"

The Copy of Chu Xuan murmured to himself.

Undoubtedly, this scene of time standing still was his doing.

Precisely speaking, this was one of the many abilities of the Divine Record—Time Stasis. Each activation consumed vast amounts of Karma Points.

That was why the Copy had waited until Wu Xian had finished dealing with the First God before acting—he wanted to acquire the Jade Disc of Creation at the lowest possible cost.

As for using the Divine Record's ultimate ability—manipulating causality, altering reality, directly or indirectly erasing Wu Xian's very existence—honestly, the Copy had entertained this thought before, more than once.

But each time he prepared to act, fragments of the Divine Record in his hand sent warnings and signals of danger—as if doing so would summon something far more terrifying than death.

Now, seeing the rifts of spacetime flickering around Wu Xian, the Copy hesitated again, wondering whether to risk one final attempt.

After all, the Divine Record was a Great World Artifact—even the fragment in the Copy's possession could unleash power far surpassing the Fourth Stage.

Yet even so, Wu Xian had shown signs of resisting it—meaning he had already surpassed the Fourth Stage in some aspect, nearing the legendary Immortal Saint realm.

In other words, if he wanted to kill Wu Xian, this was the Copy's best—and possibly last—chance.

Thinking of this, the Copy's gaze fell upon the Divine Record in his hand, feeling the Karma Points burning furiously to sustain Time Stasis…

After a few seconds of silence, he abandoned the tempting idea, instead reaching again for the Jade Disc of Creation. Using some unknown method, he split it in two—taking one-third for himself, leaving the rest in Wu Xian's grasp.

After completing this, the Copy used his remaining Karma Points to activate another ability of the Divine Record—Spatial Transit—teleporting himself to a pre-anchored coordinate in another dimension.

Hummmmm—

Amidst the strange hum, the Copy's figure began fading rapidly—when he turned once more to Wu Xian, a flash of white light passed across his glasses.

"We'll stop here for now. But when we meet again, it will be the end of everything…"

His voice grew faint; when the Copy's form vanished completely, spacetime around them resumed its flow. Wu Xian's body trembled slightly, then continued forward due to inertia.

The combined power of his Mindlight was too immense—he couldn't stop in time, smashing through several pillars and accelerating the pavilion's collapse.

But Wu Xian paid no attention to this—he only stared at the broken mirror in his hand and the spot where the Copy had vanished, his expression dark.

During the Time Stasis, though his body was frozen, his mind remained unimpeded—he had seen Chu Xuan appear, and thus had deliberately unleashed his Mindlight.

Unfortunately, the Divine Record's power was still too terrifying. Even with the combined strength of Wu Xian's counterparts from multiple worlds, and the use of the Wind-After Mystic Gate's 【Mastery of Self-Transformation】, he could only briefly break free—not fully regain movement—and could only watch helplessly as Chu Xuan took part of the Jade Disc of Creation, leaving him seething with frustration.

Damn it! I knew this four-eyes guy never told the truth—he swore he had no fragments of the Divine Record! Then what the hell is he holding? Pfft! Scumbag!

Wu Xian fumed, thinking of the portion of the Jade Disc the Copy had taken—wondering if it could offset the side effects of overusing the Divine Record—and felt a surge of irritation.

But this emotion came fast and vanished faster.

What's done is done. Better to leave the Floating Pavilion first—otherwise, if it collapsed fully into the lava below, even Wu Xian's abilities might struggle.

As Wu Xian burst out of the Floating Pavilion and flew upward toward the crumbling white continent, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

【Ding!】

【All members of the Zhongzhou Lunhui Squad, note: Hidden Side Quest Triggered—Dimensional Invasion. Expel all invaders. Each eliminated invader grants one B-rank side quest and 5, 00 points. Eliminate the source: All members receive one A-rank side quest and 10, 00 points. Failure: No penalty.】

…

"Dimensional invasion?"

In the sub-space of the Huangquan Fragment, members of the Zhongzhou and Demon Teams, who had been conversing with Lan Zhan, exchanged glances, then all turned to Lan Zhan—their expressions turning suspicious.

"…"

Lan Zhan's eyebrow twitched. Though he didn't know what had happened, his instinct told him something unpleasant was about to occur.

Hummmmm—

At that moment, a patch of void nearby began slowly twisting and rotating, forming a five-meter-wide spatial passage—out stepped Zhan Lan, her tall, graceful figure.

She was bathed in flames, her long crimson hair streaming in the wind, her vibranium-magic battle armor gleaming—she looked like a war-goddess just returned from victory.

Yet at this moment, no one's gaze was on Zhan Lan—they were all fixed on the scene beyond the spatial passage.

Amidst a sky of yellow sand, a black dragon over a hundred meters long lay motionless, its eyes lifeless, like a statue—devoid of all vitality.

————

Second update at noon. Last night, my older siblings dragged me out for hot pot. Got home late. Sorry.

(End of Chapter)