Chapter 394: Hidden Passage (22)

Mountain forest.

Luosen successfully helped Tilalin improve her time talent, successfully raising her perception to 18 orders of magnitude.

Tilalin indeed once again felt the element 'Ghost Tunnel'.

She immediately guided Luosen.

"Your Majesty, this Ghost Tunnel element is extremely fine, requiring extremely high perception; in the former Breaking Dawn Empire, only I mastered this element."

"But this certainly wouldn't stump Your Majesty."

Luosen focused his mind and followed Tilalin's guidance, gradually coming to perceive the full picture of the Ghost Tunnel.

After carefully contemplating, he drew a conclusion.

"This element requires perception to sink to 17 orders of magnitude; its structure is also extremely fine, so it's no wonder only you could perceive it."

The spacetime structure of the sub-element realm is extremely complex, like a lush, leafy big tree.

To find the fruit hidden among the branches and leaves, one must spend much effort and also need luck.

Although Luosen already possessed the utmost perceptual ability in the mortal realm, if he had to rely solely on his own exploration, it would take a great deal of time and energy.

Now Tilalin directly pointed out the hiding place of the 'fruit' to him, naturally saving a great deal of time.

Of course, Tilalin not only pointed out where the fruit was, she also explained in detail how to 'eat' it.

Soon, Luosen obtained a very powerful spacetime element technique, named 'Hidden Passage'.

The effect of the technique is, with strong spacetime perception, to seek power equilibrium points in the nearby spacetime and freely transfer among them.

According to the principle of the technique, the maximum transfer distance of this technique is directly related to the user's spacetime perception.

For example, Luosen, without the aid of a magical device, can only transmit up to 500 kilometers at most.

In terms of transfer distance, it is far inferior to the phase transfer technique activated with a magic ring.

However, this technique is applicable in any environment, and there is no need to worry about being intercepted by mortal spacetime techniques.

Similarly, according to the principle of the technique, the transfer itself does not consume much power, but during the transfer, ensuring the structural integrity of the macroscopic body requires a tremendous amount of power.

Specifically, the amount of power required is unrelated to the transfer distance in spacetime, but depends only on the strength of the spacetime barrier between the two spacetime equilibrium points.

After careful contemplation, Luosen said: 'The strength of the spacetime prison is extremely high; I estimate that each transfer would consume 100 grams of solar essence.'

At this rate of consumption, the solar essence he carries will not last long.

But the vibration of the thread of time told him that ahead lay a great turning point of fate, not only his personal fate, but also that of the entire empire, and even the turning point of fate for two worlds.

Good steel is used on the blade's edge; at such a time, one naturally cannot be stingy.

"Lilin, are you ready to transfer?"

Tilalin was his guide in the Breaking Dawn Empire; without her leadership, he would be almost like a blind man, so he must bring her along into the spacetime prison.

Tilalin took a deep breath: 'Ready.'

Luosen then grabbed her hand, closed his eyes and carefully sensed, and soon found a spacetime equilibrium point within the prison.

"Let's go!"

Whoosh~~

Before their eyes went dark, then slightly bright, the two entered the spacetime prison, standing in a rugged, dimly lit hillside.

Looking up, there were flocks of birdpeople flying at high speed, too many to count.

Luosen asked: "What's the situation with these winged birdpeople?"

Tilalin immediately explained: "They are flesh-and-blood puppet warriors, also called desireless warriors."

"'They are warriors cultivated in batches using life technique, sharing a special combat bloodline, so they have extremely high mutual understanding.'"

"'Because their bloodline is special, and the cultivation process is carefully screened, the end result is a pure killing machine that obeys orders completely and has no personal desires.'"

Having said this, Tilalin's brows were already furrowed.

"But such inhumane, evil warriors have been banned for years; who would have thought that Aolatesi would dig them out of history's trash heap!"

Luosen understood: this is the clone army of another world.

He sighed softly: 'It seems the Breaking Dawn Empire has indeed reached its twilight years, its conduct having completely lost its bottom line.'

A country, as it continually ages, sees its ability to mobilize resources and create wealth grow weaker, making the country poorer. In this situation, rulers, to maintain their own interests, will resort to ever more extreme measures.

Externally, this manifests as increasing lack of decorum and conduct that increasingly lacks a bottom line.

Sigh~~

Tilalin had nothing to say, and could only let out a long sigh.

Because the two maintained an undertow surging technique on their bodies, and the large trees in the mountain forest concealed their forms, they were not discovered by the warriors flying all over the sky.

But this is only temporary.

They will soon be exposed, because everything inside the spacetime prison is monitored by the Breaking Dawn Emperor.

Since exposure is inevitable, Luosen also couldn't be bothered to hide.

He directly used spiritual technique to contact Adela: 'Dear, where are you?'

He immediately got a reply: 'Your Majesty. You. You how did you come?'

"Of course I came to save you."

As they spoke, they were exposed.

In the sky, a squad of birdpeople had already begun to turn around, numbering over 200, and they screamed as they charged at them.

At the same time, Luosen, with the help of spiritual technique, located Adela's position: 'Hold on, I'll come find you right away.'

Bringing Tilalin along and bolstering various auxiliary techniques, they sprinted madly toward Adela's location.

While running, Luosen, with a thought, consecutively released several spacetime annihilation spheres toward the direction of the birdpeople swooping from the sky.

Hum~~

Several faintly glowing, translucent spheres shot straight into the birdpeople flock, violently exploding and triggering countless annihilation waves.

These annihilation spheres are all super‑giant spacetime spells, each infused with roughly 1,000 Luosen of magical power.

Under Laifu's control, each spell's casting time does not exceed one second, yet its power is several orders of magnitude stronger than ordinary spells.

"Wha‑la‑la~~"

The sky instantly poured down a rain of severed‑arm debris and blood; none of the 200 bird‑people survived.

The commotion was so huge that it immediately attracted even more bird‑people.

"Wow~~ Wow~~~ Ah~~~"

Countless bird‑people surged toward them, forming neat rows in the sky and closing in at extreme speed, like a massive school of fish in the deep sea. Ti La Lili whispered, "The number is at least over ten thousand."

Luosen chuckles, "No matter how many come, it's fine."

With another mental push, about 2,000 Luosen of power surge into the "Hercules" artifact, and at the right moment it releases a super‑giant mass spell.

"Buzz~~"

Like the resonant toll of a morning bell and evening drum, a semi‑transparent ripple spreads upward, directly enveloping the bird‑people within roughly a 200‑meter radius.

Once covered by the spell, the bird‑people are given a hundredfold mass, and instantly 'plop~ plop~~ plop~~' they fall like rain, crushing themselves into mush on the spot.

On the other side, Laifu's "Heart of the War God" enters multi‑line casting mode.

One super‑giant mass spell after another erupts continuously.

The previous spell has not finished exploding when the next one has already formed; there is virtually no gap between the two spells.

So the bird‑people chased all the way and died all the way, yet none broke within 300 meters of Luosen.

When Luosen reaches the mouth of a cave, the so‑called "Desireless Warriors" he has slain already number over eight thousand.

"ADaila, are you inside the cave?"

"Yes."

"I'm coming in."

"Your Majesty, be careful; the cave is filled with many enemies who call themselves Purifying Angels, and they are very troublesome."

"I will be careful."

He has already seen a huge flock of bird‑people lunging toward him.

At close range, one can see that these bird‑warriors are all strikingly beautiful women, all looking identical, with white feathered wings and no clothing on their bodies.

Probably not that they refuse to dress, but that there are so many they cannot afford clothing.

When Luosen thinks of having just slain over 8,000, he sighs inwardly, "Alas, I truly am a ruthless flower‑crusher~"

"Shall I crush the ones before me?"

"Of course I must crush them!"

The cave is narrow; Laifu continues the multi‑line operation, clearing the way with wave after wave of annihilation shockwaves.

The spells push forward steadily, flesh and blood flying everywhere, blood splattering in all directions.

In no time, he reaches the hideout of ADaila and PatenaLuosi.

The two women are forced almost to the deepest part of the cave, their bodies drenched in blood and covered with wounds, while a large circle of bird‑warriors lies around them.

It can be seen that both have reached the end of the strong bow; if they come any later, they will be finished.

"Buzz~~"

A precisely ranged mass spell is thrown, crushing all the remaining bird‑warriors into mush.

Immediately after, another annihilation shockwave is cast behind him, turning an entire line of pursuing bird‑people into severed limbs and debris, while he says:

"Ladies, it seems I have arrived at the right moment."

ADaila gives a weak smile, tears hidden in her eyes: "Indeed, Your Majesty, you have come at the right time."

PatenaLuosi opens her mouth, seems about to say something, but ends up saying nothing, while her gaze at Luosen clearly softens considerably.

"Are the injuries serious?"

"No, they are all minor wounds."

As she speaks, she is about to cast a healing spell on herself.

Luosen, however, acts first, bestowing each of the two women with an 8‑rank natural healing spell, while also clearing the flood of pursuers behind him.

Throughout the whole process, he remains calm and unhurried.

It seems the spell he casts is not of extremely high difficulty, but a massive‑power artifact that can be triggered by a simple snap of the fingers.

Yet the three women present all know the ultra‑high difficulty of these spells, and they become increasingly astonished by Luosen's displayed casting ability, even feeling a bit of awe.

Although the three are all strong practitioners above 20 ranks, Luosen only has a soul strength of 13 ranks.

After clearing the pursuers once more, Luosen asks his court Sage, "Ti La Lili, I'm certainly now under AoLaiteSi's focused attention, right?"

Ti La Lili nods, "Exactly. Based on past experience, he will soon send stronger cage guards."

Logically, that poses no problem.

But Luosen suddenly sees a time‑space illusion.

In the illusion, the sky cracks open with a massive fissure, and a colossal pillar of solid light descends from above.

When the light pillar hits the ground, it triggers an incredibly violent explosion.

A wildly ferocious shockwave rushes outward in all directions; wherever it strikes, buildings are flattened, rocks melt into lava, and even entire mountain peaks are sheared down in massive waves.

In no time, the interior of the spacetime cage, covering nearly a 300‑kilometer radius, turns into a molten lava realm.

Within the cage, almost all life—including the bird‑people flying in the sky—is killed utterly clean.

Clearly, Emperor AoLaiteSi has no patience for a cat‑and‑mouse game and goes straight for a ruthless strike.

Luosen tells Ti La Lili about the time‑vision he witnessed.

She, face full of shock, says, "It's the empire's light‑plasma super‑cannon, a weapon used in the Star Realm War, never deployed against a plane."

"It seems he has gone completely mad."

Luosen secretly sighed: "Tsk tsk~ This cannon is really powerful. But we can't stay here, let's go."

How to go? Of course, we'll escape using the newly learned spell 'Secret Passage'.

But as soon as his words fell, Tirarilin interjected: "Your Majesty, don't rush!"

Although the light‑cannon is terrifying, activating it requires mobilizing enormous power beforehand.

Such a massive power flow is hard to conceal; it is very likely to reveal the spacetime coordinates of the Dawn Imperial Palace.

Once the coordinates are confirmed, we might be able to teleport directly into the Dawn Imperial Palace!

After a pause, Tirarilin's face showed a hint of resolve: "Your Majesty, it's time to put an end to the Dawn Empire once and for all!"

Luosen quickly weighed it, then nodded: "Mmm~~ a bit risky, but worth a try."

From the illusion, it can be seen that the shockwave will take some time to arrive.

So, why not give it a try first? If we can't get in, we can still flee later.

(End of chapter)