Chapter 345: 351. Chapter 351: Behind the Door

351. Chapter 351: Behind the Door

Lin Ke discovered he had entered a misunderstanding.

Or, as this world says, he had given rise to a knowledge obstruction.

Who said that if space is real, the timeline must necessarily be even?

Regarding the rules of spacetime, let alone comprehending them, even what little can be understood is scarce.

Where does he get the confidence to firmly believe that what he sees, hears, and touches must be true?

And where does he get the confidence to firmly believe that what he thinks must be valid?

Knowing he is in the midst of a rather special trial, why would he still pre-establish a stance?

Lin Ke pondered this question.

Most of his memories of the wizard world have already been restored.

Including the fact that his cognition was altered by the True Spirit Wizard's Cognition Witchcraft, leading to the ambush.

Logically, after recalling this incident, he should carefully check whether his cognition has been tampered with or induced.

But he did not.

Why is that?

One after another, questions rose in Lin Ke's mind.

Some found answers, some did not.

However, these are no longer important; right now there is something more important: entering the hatch to see what lies beyond the door.

Danger may very well exist.

Just be on guard; don't give up on something because of a minor setback.

After coming to his senses, Lin Ke again heard Hu Suqi's words about the 'Extraterrestrial Visitor,' and a speculation involuntarily arose in his mind.

However, Lin Ke did not continue to ponder; he suppressed that speculation and slowly walked to the front of the interstellar warship's door.

"Junior Brother?"

Senior Brother Shi had been keeping an eye on his junior brother with the corner of his eye; seeing this, he immediately spoke up to inquire.

"I want to go in and take a look."

Lin Ke did not turn back, responded to Senior Brother Shi, paused, and emphasized, "I will go in alone; you stay outside on guard."

Making this decision is not because of other thoughts, such as not wanting Senior Brother Shi and them to see the facilities inside the interstellar warship; it is purely from a safety consideration.

Acting alone, one comes and goes freely.

Acting together only adds risk.

Senior Brother Shi naturally understood this meaning.

However, he was not angry about being slighted; rather, he was very understanding.

The junior brother's misty aura grew more and more, and the secret arts he knew increased as well, especially that hand of mysterious appearing and disappearing instant transfer.

After going in, even if he discovers nothing, if he encounters danger he can retreat in time.

"What do you all think?"

Senior Brother Shi, however, did not readily agree; he turned to look at Hu Suqi, Min Rouhua, and Xu Huiyun.

Everyone came together as companions; making major decisions naturally requires consulting opinions.

"I have no opinion."

Hu Suqi was the first to state her position.

Not to mention Lin Ke wanting to act alone; even if he asked her to come along, she would not want to go in.

As a practitioner who diligently studies ancient witchcraft, rashly entering an unfamiliar place is a major taboo.

A witch can only exert her maximum combat power on her own foundation.

How many years has it been since the Director of the Imperial Observatory last descended that stargazing tower?

If it weren't for the dual pressure from the imperial court and her father, Hu Suqi would hardly bother to move, going to the Valley of the Dead to serve as cannon fodder.

"Everything will be as the elder brother says."

Min Rouhua seemed thoughtful, then stated her position.

The affection between the Bright Heart Sword School and the Eight Extremes Martial Hall had actually been formed several generations ago.

The connecting hub is none other than Li Shuwen.

"The saying 'Gang Quan has no second strike, Divine Spear Li Shuwen' is not a monkey jumping out of a rock; he also has a master lineage."

The two families are closely intertwined; whenever a disciple goes out, they always enter and exit together.

"I want to go in… I want to… I… I have no opinion."

Xu Huiyun, under Min Rouhua's tender, watery gaze, repeatedly changed her words.

After getting along for a while, feeling that the other three's personalities are quite good, Xu Huiyun's nature began to release some of its traits.

Loving to cry, love to laugh, love to play, love to make a fuss, fond of novelty—everything a little girl should have, she also has.

In the Valley of the Dead, after passing through a mist, they arrived at the destination of this trip; under the Longevity Peach tree, Xu Huiyun already felt extremely shocked and novel.

Upon discovering a strange door beneath the tree roots, it even caused the usually calm and unflappable Senior Brother Lin Ke, who seemed as if nothing in the world could faze him, to fall into a stunned silence.

Xu Huiyun became even more curious about the origin of this door and what lay beyond it.

Especially after Hu Suqi related the legend of the 'Extraterrestrial Visitor'.

What a pity……

Xu Huiyun pouted, displeasedly watching Lin Ke step by step walk to the door, observing carefully.

"Return to your senses, be on guard!"

Min Rouhua patted Xu Huiyun's shoulder, waking her up.

Not entering the door doesn't mean there's nothing to do.

In Dead Person Valley, danger is everywhere; they have made it this far smoothly, but that doesn't mean they can continue smoothly.

Being extremely careful is not excessive.

Oh.

Xu Huiyun still had her composure, and she hurriedly got down to business.

She couldn't help but glance at the door with the corner of her eye, wanting to see Senior Brother Lin Ke's progress in breaking through the door.

Upon looking, she was utterly stunned.

Senior Brother Lin Ke simply pressed a certain button on the door, heard a strange, unfamiliar language, replied in the same language, and the door automatically opened!

Xu Huiyun could be certain that she had never heard or understood that unfamiliar language before.

Could Senior Brother Lin Ke really be an extraterrestrial visitor?

Don't think wildly!

Min Ruhua wasn't blind either; she likewise took in the scene, also noticing Xu Huiyun's eyes rolling about, not knowing what she was thinking, and promptly gave her a light tap on the forehead.

Oh.

Xu Huiyun gripped her sword with her left hand, touched the top of her head with her right, and responded in a dazed manner.

Having arrived at the lookout point assigned by the Senior Sister, she kept wondering whether Senior Brother Lin Ke was really an extraterrestrial visitor.

Senior Brother Shi's mood was rather complicated at the moment.

There was a contradictory thought: hoping the Junior Brother was not an extraterrestrial visitor, yet also hoping he was.

If the Junior Brother were an extraterrestrial visitor, that would rule out the possibilities of him being parasitized by someone or being the reincarnation of some old monster.

Sigh!

Senior Brother Shi let out a heavy sigh, wondering what I was thinking.

He lightly shook his head, cast aside his unrealistic thoughts, and focused on standing guard for the Junior Brother.

After discovering that door, Hu Suqi's attention never left it.

Naturally, she discovered how Lin Ke had entered the door.

Unlike Senior Brother Shi, Min Ruhua, and Xu Huiyun, she did not agonize over whether Lin Ke was an extraterrestrial visitor.

What Hu Suqi focused on was the language Lin Ke had just spoken.

In the incomplete inheritance of ancient witchcraft she had received, there was a mention of an anecdote.

It is said that in ancient times, the language used by shamans to sacrifice to heaven and earth had no relation to the language used today.

Could what he just said be the sacrificial language used by ancient shamans?

Hu Suqi had a suspicion arise in her mind.

If this suspicion turned out to be true, that would be no small matter.

If one could learn this language from Lin Ke, many lost ancient witchcraft and techniques could be fully restored.

Ignoring the wild thoughts of the four people outside, after Lin Ke entered the door, he completely focused his mind, entering a state of high alert and concentrated exploration.

Beyond the hatch was a corridor several meters long.

The lighting on the cabin walls on both sides was still functioning normally.

Sensing Lin Ke's presence, it automatically adjusted its brightness. Besides the lighting, there were two backup manual operation valves and several screens.

Lin Ke didn't touch anything; not even his feet touched the floor, but instead he hovered a few centimeters above it.

Moving forward, he reached the end of the corridor, where another door stood.

This time, no verbal command was needed; the door opened automatically.

Mm...

Watching this, Lin Ke had a vague suspicion.

After hesitating for a moment at the door, Lin Ke entered the second door, truly stepping into the starship buried beneath the Yanshou Peach Tree.

'Heaven Shuttle' welcomes your return, Captain Linke Grand.

A humanoid holographic projection suddenly appeared before Lin Ke, bowing in greeting.

Perhaps due to age or lack of power, the holographic projection was unclear, with water‑ripple‑like interference from head to toe.

After delivering the welcome message, it disappeared and switched to voice mode.

Heaven Shuttle?

Lin Ke muttered to himself, recalling his first starship.

Named the Heaven Shuttle by him, this Hummingbird‑class starship had disintegrated and been scrapped in the timespace turbulence.

It wasn't scrapped?

How did it get here?

And its arrival time was so ancient?

Is this the effect of the timespace turbulence?

Wild speculation is useless; better to investigate it myself.

Lin Ke's memories of the Heaven Shuttle surged, and he quickly recalled the starship's layout.

Following his memory, Lin Ke went straight to the cockpit.

Looking at the nearly intact facilities, he hesitated a bit, but still did not sit in the captain's seat.

He clearly remembered that the Heaven Shuttle had already been damaged before encountering that claw.

At that time, all his energy had been focused on the defense system.

After ejecting in an escape pod from the Heaven Shuttle, even if he hadn't paid attention to its fate afterward, it seemed impossible for it to remain so intact.

Unless the spacetime turbulence, while sending the Heavenly Shuttle to this world's ancient era, also backtracks in spacetime, reversing the state of the Heavenly Shuttle back to before it entered the spacetime turbulence.

This could exist.

However, Lin Ke, erring on the side of caution, still thought it best not to come into contact with anything inside the warship.

"Tower spirit, pull up the navigation log, and play it from after entering the spacetime turbulence."

After some thought, Lin Ke smoothly "accepted" being the warship's captain and issued orders.

Thinking back, when he first got hold of the Heaven Shuttle, he was penniless and couldn't afford even a basic intelligent tower spirit.

Consequently, the Heaven Shuttle's tower spirit was merely a factory‑provided add‑on and could not operate the ship independently of the captain's command.

"Yes, sir."

The tower spirit replied in a stiff, routine manner.

The huge screen at the front of the cockpit flickered, then stubbornly managed to light up.

The navigation log file appeared, the video opened, and it played at fast speed.

The beginning was a crackling sound and a mosaic picture.

Lin Ke estimated that this was recorded by the Heaven Shuttle during the spacetime turbulence and had suffered interference.

Soon, the noise and mosaic disappeared.

A planet appeared on the screen, while the warship had lost power, could not escape its gravity, and was captured by the planet.

After the tower spirit repeatedly hailed the captain to no avail, it followed the set procedure and activated survival mode.

The warship gathered its last bit of backup power and, just before impacting the planet's surface, activated its defense systems for an extremely hard landing.

The impact gouged a huge crater in the ground, and the warship sank into it, unable to move.

If that were all, the Heaven Shuttle in survival mode could not simply be left buried.

After recharging its power by basking in sunlight, the warship would automatically return to seek the wizard world.

However, meteor after meteor fell from the sky, striking beside the warship.

Some were intact escape pods, some were building ruins.

Deadman's Valley was formed exactly in this way.

Not long after, over a dozen wizard apprentices in robes of the Ruwo Si Thinking Academy walked out of several warships.

After a period of adjustment, they overcame panic and began seeking ways to survive and escape.

Gathering supplies was the first step.

All the supplies that could be gathered from the intact escape pods and building ruins were completely scavenged by those over a dozen wizard apprentices.

Until they discovered the Heaven Shuttle, those over a dozen wizard apprentices were inexplicably excited, shouting and yelling.

However, with the abilities of wizard apprentices, they still could not crack the Heaven Shuttle's security system, nor force their way inside.

The hope of escaping this unknown planet and returning to the wizard world was thus dashed.

Those over a dozen wizard apprentices were disheartened as if dead, and then a fierce argument broke out.

Irreconcilable differences arose, and those over a dozen wizard apprentices split into several factions.

The vast majority left this place; only Lin Ke remained, watching a somewhat familiar wizard apprentice.

After careful thought, Lin Ke recalled this person's identity.

This person had some renown in the rear base of the Paragon Sage Legion, skilled in rune formations, which is a real pity.

Had he not been distracted, he would surely have advanced to full wizard within four years.

This wizard apprentice probably hoped to rely on his rune‑formation expertise to break the warship's access controls.

Alas, the knowledge and technology used by the warship far surpassed what he could comprehend.

Even after being assigned to the rear base of the Paragon Sage Legion, because of his specialty he received some training and could access first‑tier rune‑formation knowledge.

The playback speed of the video increased considerably again.

Lin Ke noticed that this wizard apprentice had spent over thirty years trying, yet still could not breach the warship's access controls.

The price was white hair, a stooped frame, and his days were numbered.

It seemed he sensed that he would die on this unknown planet, with no hope of ever escaping.

The wizard apprentice came to his senses, but did not give up.

He began planting trees, cultivating organisms, digging pits, and laying out rune formations.

The first thing he planted was what is now the life‑extending peach tree, and he deliberately chose a spot close to the Heaven Shuttle.

Since you won't let me in, I'll bury you even deeper.

I can't leave, and neither should you think of leaving.

Just like that, ten years passed, and a massive rune formation was successfully laid out.

Watching on the screen the full process of the rune‑formation layout captured by the Heaven Shuttle, Lin Ke's eyes gleamed with excitement.

All the escape pods and building ruins that the other wizard apprentices could not take away were put to good use.

Either as nodes of the formation, or as energy‑collection hubs, or as intelligent control centers…

This person truly is a rune‑formation genius; despite being only a wizard apprentice, he managed to lay out a growable third‑tier rune formation by combining elements.

Had this happened in the wizard world, it would surely have caused a sensation that reverberated throughout the wizard world.

The wizard apprentice laid out a third‑tier rune formation—his talent is practically overflowing!

After many years of growth, and with over a dozen tower spirits linked to the rune‑formation intelligent control center jointly evolving and adapting, the rune formation shrouding the entire Deadman's Valley, based on the wizard apprentice's general direction, has reached strength comparable to a fifth‑tier formation.

No wonder so many Void‑Realm martial artists died inside the formation.

Later in the navigation log playback, there wasn't much worth noting.

It was just continual footage of people dying after Deadman's Valley was discovered.

Lin Ke closed the navigation log and fell into contemplation.

◆c〇

Spacetime, truly wondrous.

Unfathomable.