Chapter 427

Luo En's hand moved slowly toward his left chest, where an unusual burning sensation came from.

A crack as thin as a hair was expanding on the surface of his skin.

The shape of this crack was extremely regular, like an eye that was opening.

When the "eye" opened completely, a faint but clear pulse sound came from it.

Every beat was accompanied by a slight tremor in space, as if it were sending precise coordinate information to somewhere.

"How could this be..."

Luo En's voice trembled, and cold sweat seeped from his forehead:

"This should be the wound caused by that time hound last time; how did it leave a mark after healing?"

He activated "Hermit's Insight" for deep analysis and immediately discovered the terrifying nature of this mark.

It could penetrate the boundary between the consciousness space and the real world.

Transmitting the user's precise location in real-time to those hunters wandering in the river of time.

"The time reset ability of the pocket watch... why didn't it clear this mark?"

Luo En forced himself to remain calm, carefully recalling every detail of the last battle.

The conical mouthpart of that time hound had indeed pierced his consciousness body, leaving a shocking hole.

Although the power of the silver pocket watch healed the wound, perhaps... some deeper "brand" was not completely cleared.

The beating frequency of the mark began to accelerate, from once per second initially, gradually increasing to three times, five times, ten times per second...

At the same time, Luo En could feel the response coming from outside the crack.

Seven distinct malices were trying to squeeze in.

Each one carried a unique "flavor":

Some were like the biting cold wind in winter;

Some were like the deathly silence in a decaying tomb;

Others were like the sharp screeching when steel rubbed against steel...

"Seven of them... if I encounter them on their favorable terrain, I fear I wouldn't last even three seconds."

He gritted his teeth, and his brain began to operate at high speed.

Running away was unrealistic.

The tracking ability of the time hounds was extremely strong, and the mark was still continuously sending coordinates.

"When I was at the Morning Star level, I could only flee in a sorry state when encountering one hound, but now..."

He felt the changes brought about by his promotion.

The breakthrough to the Moon-Sun level was not just an increase in mental power values.

The activated radiation field wrapped around his consciousness body like a second layer of skin, with energy veins capable of memory and learning flowing within it.

The triple bonus of the "Triangle of Wisdom" increased his thinking speed several times over, and every tactical detail could be deduced in an instant.

The "Devour" magic characteristic awakened by reaching a new stage of "Whispers of the Star-Eater," although he had not yet fully mastered it, was already subtly influencing the energy environment in a small area.

"Since I cannot escape, I might as well test the strength gained after promoting to the Moon-Sun level."

A cold light appeared in Luo En's eyes, and an unprecedentedly bold plan took shape in his mind:

"But I must never let them swarm me; I must create terrain advantages and turn a group battle into a series of duels."

………………

Taking a deep breath, he began an unprecedented project—transforming his consciousness space into a hunting ground.

Completely different from the simple operations at the Morning Star level, the characteristic of "Micro-Structural Adaptation" was pushed to the limit.

Magic power surged from his spiritual core, beginning to carve every inch of "land" in the consciousness space like a scalpel.

The activated radiation field played a key role.

It acted like an extended organ with life, capable of sensing and remembering the most subtle energy fluctuations.

The originally flat and open spiritual domain began to undergo drastic changes.

The ground rose, forming countless towering "ridges."

The arrangement of these ridges was extremely precise, and the distance between them was calculated precisely to form narrow canyons that could only accommodate a single entity.

"In the last battle, that hound was accustomed to attacking from the left rear, and its movement trajectory tended toward an arc-shaped encirclement..."

Previous memories were retrieved like a database, providing precise parameters for the angle and width of each canyon.

"Although their bodies can change, they maintain a relatively fixed size in an attacking state..."

While modifying the terrain, Luo En conducted tactical deductions in his heart:

"The width of these canyons is just enough for a single hound to pass through, but it will hinder their group coordination."

At the key nodes of each canyon, he pre-buried the energy cores of the "Ring of Radiance."

These cores were hidden beneath the surface like landmines, waiting only for the right moment to detonate.

Light was the greatest nemesis of time hounds, capable of eliminating the shadow angles they relied on for attacks.

Next was the more exquisite part—the setting of bait.

In the southeast corner of the consciousness space, Luo En constructed an area that emitted a tempting aura.

He placed his most "important" memory projections there:

The first meeting with Lady Lady Ailan, the warm scene of the old woman teaching him to brew his first potion;

Academic discussions with mentors like Solon and Mentor Yuni when he was at the Black Mist School;

Playing with young Dael in the crystal pool, the little sea Sea Siren's silver hair floating in the water;

The afternoon time with Lady Ailan in the garden, the tree spirit's emerald branches swaying in the sunlight;

And the encounter with Nari, as well as the time spent with Eve...

Each memory was carefully "seasoned" by him, making it emit a richer emotional aura.

The pure emotions contained in these beautiful memories were the most delicious food for the semi-spiritual time hounds.

"They will be attracted by these 'delicious' memories, just like sharks smelling blood."

Luo En chuckled:

"And to eat this bait, they must pass through the canyon maze I designed."

When everything was completed, the originally simple spiritual domain had turned into a maze.

Canyons crisscrossed, traps were scattered like stars, and the bait area emitted an irresistible sweet scent.

"Come on..."

………………

The first crack began to appear at the edge of the consciousness space.

It was an extremely small slit, only as thick as a hair, but it emitted a hair-raising, heterogeneous aura.

The edges of the crack presented an irregular jagged shape, as if it had been forcibly torn open by some extremely sharp claws.

As the crack expanded, a low and rhythmic breathing sound came from it.

That was the rhythm of time itself, and every rise and fall was accompanied by a subtle distortion of space.

One of them was the first to expand to a degree sufficient for passage.

The first time hound squeezed in impatiently.

The form of this hound was completely different from the one encountered last time.

It was more slender, and its body flowed with a silver luster like liquid metal.

There was no fixed head; instead, it was an energy vortex that constantly changed shape.

That conical mouthpart was also thicker than the one seen before, and its surface was covered with spiral barbs.

"This one is clearly stronger than the last one; it seems the last one was just a bottom-level wandering individual?"

Luo En's heart sank, but he still executed his plan according to the steps.

After entering the consciousness space, the hound did not launch an attack immediately.

It probed cautiously in the edge area, constantly sniffing the aura in the air.

The silver body squirmed slowly in place, and every transformation adjusted its perception range.

The hound's movements were much slower than expected.

That flexibility of being like a fish in water in time and space was being weakened by the influence of the "Devour" characteristic.

"It senses the threat, but it doesn't understand the source of the threat."

Luo En deliberately created a weak spiritual fluctuation in the bait area.

It was a memory fragment of his farewell to Andre at the royal palace, carrying a strong emotion of loss.

The hound's "attention" was immediately attracted.

The energy vortex-like head began to rotate rapidly, and the conical mouthpart twitched excitedly.

It began to move toward the bait area, but the path inevitably had to pass through the "canyon maze" Luo En had carefully designed.

The silver body flowed like mercury, and the hound entered the entrance of the first canyon.

The width of the canyon just limited its range of activity, making it unable to perform large-scale flickering movements.

When the hound reached the middle of the canyon, Luo En's finger brushed over an invisible "switch."

"First trap, activate!"

Blinding golden light suddenly lit up on both sides of the canyon.

Several energy cores of the "Ring of Radiance" were activated simultaneously!

Intense light surged into the canyon like a tide, dispelling all shadows.

The hound let out a sharp and angry hiss, the sound as piercing as metal rubbing against metal.

The space-time angle it relied on for attacks was completely cleared, and its originally smooth movement became stiff and sluggish.

"The effect is even better than expected..."

A look of satisfaction appeared in Luo En's eyes, but it was soon replaced by new worries.

Only because this hound displayed an ability he had not anticipated at all.

Facing the overwhelming light, the hound's body suddenly became semi-transparent, and countless tiny space-time cracks appeared on its body surface.

By sacrificing its own essential existence, it forcibly created shadow angles for attacks within the pure light!

"This is an ability I didn't see last time..."

Luo En's pupils contracted suddenly:

"Or is it that the hound last time didn't consider me an opponent worth taking seriously at all?"

The conical mouthpart extended from a tiny crack, stabbing toward Luo En's spiritual core at a completely unexpected and eerie angle.

This attack had no precursor, no energy gathering, no spatial fluctuation; it was as if it appeared directly from the void.

At the critical moment, Luo En activated "Time Jump."

The world became as viscous as honey in his eyes again, and everything around him fell into an extremely slow state of motion.

Yet he himself maintained an extraordinary speed like an arrow released from a bow.

In this strange time difference, Luo En clearly saw the conical mouthpart slowly approaching, millimeter by millimeter.

On the surface of the mouthpart, every spiral barb emitted a disgusting sucking urge.

"Must not be hit!"