Chapter 1093: Successful Entry

The southern continent roughly resembles an upright obtuse triangle; its western coast is a north‑south vertical line, while the eastern coast forms the other two sides of the triangle. The northern part is broader, the middle bulges, then narrows again, and the southern base stretches nearly ten thousand li, with the tip at the far south forming a very narrow angle and a slight curve.

The eastern coastline, however, is divided into two sections.

About one‑third along the coast, the two edges meet, forming a cape jutting out from the continent.

The flaw that the Thundercast Divine Soldiers discovered lies here, at the tip of the cape, where the barrier over the whole area is noticeably weaker than elsewhere. Because they cannot enter the continent, they cannot precisely measure the weak zone's size, but this nearly two‑thousand‑li stretch of coastline is uniformly like that, leading to the conclusion that the ancient Saint altar sealing this direction must have malfunctioned.

Lei En was overjoyed and immediately ordered the Thundercast Divine Soldiers to cease scouting other coasts and converge on this region.

At the same time, hundreds of Thundercast Divine Soldiers began striking the invisible barrier.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom…

Thunderous roars exploded one after another as the Thundercast Divine Soldiers surged into the continent at top speed, attacking from the sky at various altitudes, from the ground, and within forests, trying every angle and method to break the seal.

Bolt after bolt of lightning shot in, vanishing in an instant.

Half a day passed.

The Thundercast Divine Soldiers tried thousands of times, yet still could not pass the invisible barrier; it was right before their eyes yet an insurmountable distance, visible but unattainable.

Here, the Thundercast Divine Soldiers could penetrate the barrier up to about four thousand meters, twice the distance elsewhere, but still far insufficient.

The invisible barrier, however, had not weakened much.

Clearly, this ancient Saint altar was not completely destroyed; it may be partially damaged or low on energy, yet it can draw power from other altars on the southern continent to sustain the seal, preventing obvious gaps.

"The Thundercast Divine Soldiers aren't of Saint Rank, they shouldn't be able to breach it,"

"Then I must go myself."

Lei En handed his current tasks to his substitute, slipped away silently from the Fubei Deng Imperial Palace, and after several teleports and planar jumps, arrived on the southern continent, appearing on a wind‑howling coastline.

The damp sea breeze slapped his skin as Lei En's gaze pierced the invisible barrier, looking toward the continent's interior.

An endless primeval forest exuded a wild, natural aura.

His figure flashed and hovered mid‑air.

The All-Seeing Eye and the Key of Doors ran at full power, rendering the invisible barrier clear in his sight; it appeared feeble yet was immensely resilient, spanning heaven and earth. The barrier stretched along the southern continent's coastline, with no end visible on either side.

Lei En slipped his hand in, brushed lightly, and felt a faint resistance.

The deeper he entered the barrier, the greater the resistance.

These days, the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers have run repeated tests; the barrier blocks any living being with a soul, regardless of type—beasts, monsters, specters, or essences cannot pass.

Soulless objects larger than a fist also encounter resistance.

The Star Destroyer fired another shot.

The invisible barrier did not react; the main cannon's beam pierced the continent, blasting a swath of forest into a clearing without any hindrance.

Lei En rose higher to extend his view; his Soul Eye granted ultra‑sharp sight, and his device, after eight system upgrades, could now see up to thirty li away, though here interference made anything beyond ten li very blurry, preventing him from seeing through the other side of the barrier.

"I guessed right; the barrier's width exceeds ten li!"

After a moment's thought, he devised a possibly viable plan and immediately acted, teleporting several li beyond the barrier.

Clap!

Lei En unfurled titanium‑gold wings behind him, electricity crackling over his body, drew the Thunder God's Hammer, and simultaneously endowed himself with Wind‑and‑Thunder Wings, Time Acceleration, and Advanced Acceleration Technique; with a thought, he instantly activated Electric Flash Teleport toward the barrier.

Thunderbolt Leap!

Lei En transformed into a massive golden bolt, instantly leaping over a thousand meters and leaving a white void dozens of meters in diameter at the origin point.

Boom—...

Amid thunder that rang across heaven and earth, Lei En vaulted headfirst into the invisible barrier.

The whole world rushed backward in his eyes; the light in his sight warped and stretched. Upon entering the barrier, Lei En's speed had already reached ten times the speed of sound and kept accelerating.

Then, he felt resistance.

Bang!

Lei En felt as if he had slammed into an invisible wall of air; a massive force erupted everywhere, crushing every part of his body. The faster he went, the stronger the resistance became, inevitably slowing him down.

"Ho!"

Lei En let out a low hum, and solar‑bright electricity burst from his body.

Five Lords of Thunder pushed to their limits, causing lightning elements within thousands of meters to boil instantly; the sky filled with dense clouds, and the amplification of Thunderbolt Leap surged. The speed he had just slowed surged again as he thrust toward the continent's interior.

In just two seconds, Lei En broke through more than six thousand meters of the barrier, roughly a fifty‑percent gain over the Thundercast Divine Soldiers' progress.

Visible ripples rose between heaven and earth.

Lei En was like a massive stone dropped into a calm lake, churning everything; vast energy converged from all directions, forming concentric ripples that instantly locked onto the high‑speed Lei En and launched a counterattack.

Lei En had been waiting for this moment.

His gaze pierced the void, his Willpower remained absolutely calm, and his device's multicore chip ran at its limit, making his thoughts as fast as lightning.

At this moment, the world in Lei En's eyes slowed, allowing him to discern the tiniest changes.

An energy effect, resembling yet surpassing a spell, formed in the air, spanning about a hundred meters and enveloping him.

The ancient Saint altar's spatial shift!

Previously, the Thundercast Divine Soldiers never saw the moment of their displacement in time; now, Lei En saw it clearly.

And he was prepared.

As he entered the invisible barrier, Lei En began casting, employing the spell‑delay technique that lets a completed spell be held without release until the optimal moment, then unleashed instantly. He had been waiting for this very instant.

Time Stop!

In an instant, the world within several hundred meters of Lei En froze; time ceased to flow.

The ancient Saint altar's counterattack also stalled.

Within the Time Stop radius, everything except Lei En—including all spells—could not take effect; Lei En prevented himself from being displaced outward.

He slowed his speed a little, while leaping back and forth within the Time Stop area, and instantly activated Mirror Image.

Ten Mirror Images appeared around him.

Using the six seconds of Time Stop, the ten Mirror Images all accelerated wildly within the area; in the final second, one Mirror Image surged ahead toward the barrier, while Lei En and the other nine Mirror Images lagged by half a second, following that Mirror Image.

The Mirror Image, just after leaving the Time Stop area, immediately encountered massive resistance and triggered the Ancient Sacred Altar's counterattack.

Its speed reached roughly eight times the speed of sound.

Although the Ancient Sacred Altar reacted at the limit, an energy effect instantly locked onto the Mirror Image and released a spatial displacement.

But the Mirror Image was already prepared.

"Nine‑Ring Time Stop!"

The Mirror Image shouted loudly as soon as it appeared, and the moment the words finished, it vanished.

However, the Wish Spell still succeeded, and about fifteen hundred meters from where Lei En cast Time Stop, it released another Time Stop!

Those fifteen hundred meters were the farthest distance the Mirror Image could travel before being displaced, creating a brief time offset.

Nevertheless, that was enough!

Lei En and the other nine Mirror Images flew into the Time Stop area; within this region where time no longer flows, they were safe. The Ancient Sacred Altar's spatial displacement was blocked outside, unable to penetrate, and returned empty‑handed.

The second Mirror Image flew forward out of the safe zone, and Lei En and eight Mirror Images, half a second slower, landed behind it.

"Nine‑Ring Time Stop!"

Before this Mirror Image was displaced, it successfully shouted the Wish Spell, creating a third safe zone spanning several hundred meters.

Lei En and seven Mirror Images advanced another fifteen hundred meters.

Each Mirror Image was produced in the same manner.

Sacrificing one Mirror Image to cast Time Stop once allows Lei En and the remaining Mirror Images to advance roughly fifteen hundred meters.

Every few seconds, a resonant Wish Spell sounds from the high sky.

"Nine‑Ring Time Stop!"

"Nine‑Ring Time Stop..."

The Mirror Images around Lei En grew fewer yet penetrated deeper into the invisible barrier. When only five remained, he had entered the barrier more than fourteen li, but the Ancient Sacred Altar's counterattack continued unabated, and the resistance surged dramatically.

The sixth Mirror Image shouted the Wish Spell, and before Time Stop formed, it was displaced outward.

Lei En and the remaining four Mirror Images entered the spell range in time.

Then the seventh.

The eighth.

For each Mirror Image lost, Lei En could advance over a thousand meters, like a massive golden lightning struggling through the high sky, as if a single person opposed the great forces of heaven and earth!

"Nine‑Ring Time Stop!"

After the ninth Mirror Image finished shouting, it also vanished.

He looked forward within the Time Stop, thinking to himself: only one Mirror Image remains; together with himself they can advance at most another two thousand meters, yet the barrier is not yet at its end. But he is not in a hurry; at worst they fail and are displaced, the Mirror Images are not dead, he cannot die, and he can try countless times.

Ten Mirror Images are insufficient, so he will use the Endless Storm Staff to create twenty‑four Mirror Images, which will surely be enough.

Immediately, the tenth Mirror Image surged forward a thousand meters, shouting the Wish Spell.

Lei En entered Time Stop.

He did not linger; he raced through the spell range at top speed, pressing against massive resistance, and before the Ancient Sacred Altar's counterattack arrived, successfully cast Time Stop.

The casting interval of this spell had already ended.

Lei En did not hesitate, surged forward again; while Time Stop was still cooling, he instead activated the "Space Freeze" on the Thunder God's Hammer.

Also a manipulation of space, Space Freeze can prevent displacement of oneself.

Lei En was not surprised by this.

He leapt back and forth within the range of Space Freeze, buying time, and only flew out in the final second of Space Freeze, then triggered a second Space Freeze. The Thunder God's Hammer can cast Space Freeze three times per day; he used them all at once, allowing himself to advance nearly four thousand meters smoothly.

At this point, Time Stop became usable again.

Lei En cast Time Stop within Space Freeze, employing the spell delayed‑cast technique, soaring at high speed while awaiting the moment to release.

He was about to cast the spell when a lightness washed over him, and the massive resistance vanished.

"Did it come in?"

Lei En was momentarily stunned for half a second, then flew forward over two thousand meters before halting, turned to look back, could no longer see the Thunder‑Forged Divine Weapon beyond the barrier, but by locating through Mirror Images, estimated his distance from them at roughly twenty‑five li.

Twenty‑five li!

He couldn't help shaking his head in amazement; the barrier's thickness far exceeded his expectations, teleportation spells were useless, and covering such a distance to fly in was as hard as scaling the heavens.

It was only him; anyone else would have not even a single chance.

"Is this the interior of the Southern Continent?"

Lei En looked around; it resembled what he saw outside the barrier, with the sun hanging high in the sky overhead, and an endless primeval forest beneath his feet, covering every stretch of land in view, leaving no gap.

He wondered that if there were a race adept at climbing and leaping among trees, they could traverse the entire Southern Continent without touching the ground.

Clack!

Lei En descended into the forest; the air was humid and stifling, dense shrubs and vines grew under the canopy, and the chorus of all things rang out— insects chirping, birds singing, beasts' heartbeats and breaths—filled with vibrant life.

Of course, many dangers also lurked within the forest.

Lei En did not rush to explore; instead he tried a spell, raising his hand to instantly cast a Random Door.

It succeeded.

He nodded, then tried other teleportation spells; as he had predicted, as long as the destination was inside the barrier, they were unaffected.

However, if the teleport destination lay outside the barrier, it still failed.

"Wormhole" could not be opened.

Interdimensional teleportation and Astral Shift were also unusable, but he could slip into the Shadow, Aether, and Fairy planes; within these projections of the Prime Material Plane, movement remained equally restricted, and the Ancient Sacred Altar's barrier prevented crossing to the outside.

"Outside can't come in, and inside can't go out."

Lei En muttered.

No wonder there has been no news from the Southern Continent for over twenty‑thousand years; clearly, the Southern Continent has no strongman with the power to breach barriers like he does.

"I wonder if castling still works?" Lei En's mind shifted, activating castling.

In an instant, he swapped positions with Reslin.

Lei En appeared on the bridge of the Augustus, looking down at the Fubei Deng Imperial Palace, surprise on his face; he hadn't expected castling to remain unaffected. In that case, he might be able to send the Lei Zhu Divine Weapon into the Southern Continent!

Still, he decided to explore first.

Lei En swapped Reslin back, returned to the Southern Continent, flew west for several li and saw a river in the forest; water is the source of life, so he proceeded along its banks.

Not long after, he heard several distinct sounds.

Someone was talking.

Troll language!

Lei En followed the sound and soon, not far ahead, saw a few bluish‑green‑skinned trolls. They were a hunting squad, clad in leather armor, riding raptor mounts, wielding bows, arrows and spears, swiftly moving through the forest.

(End of chapter)