Chapter 1673: Chapter 1673: Blue-Eyed Visitor from Afar
Xu Huo had to avoid the Spatial Bodies; distractedly glimpsing only a simple snippet of the scene, he then left this region.
Uncertain whether the “Nine Great Divine Paths” referred to nine roads or was merely a metaphor, Xu Huo spent nearly two hours evading the torrent of Spatial Bodies and still hadn’t left the area of the Divine Temple. Just as he began to suspect he was trapped in an illusion, a stretch of residential buildings made of bluestone appeared ahead.
Unlike the tall Divine Temple, the residences were very low. Except for a lookout tower that was two to three stories high and more than ten meters tall, the other buildings were just single-story, not quite high.
Unexpectedly, in the residential area, the number of floating Spatial Bodies sharply decreased, and most were concentrated high in the sky, leaving the ground unobstructed.
Here, Xu Huo was able to judge a rough direction. It was evident that these Spatial Bodies were expanding outward from the “Nine Great Divine Paths,” so the entrance crack was likely right at the city’s core. The residential area away from the “Nine Great Divine Paths” and the Divine Temple was at the city’s edge, less affected.
Manipulating Spatial Rays in the Chaotic Space was extremely difficult, and having been exhausted for nearly three hours, Xu Huo was very tired. After stopping, he found a place to rest and checked for messages in the game backend.
Nie Xuan hadn’t contacted him directly. The messages were sent by the Super Evolvers outside; the recent upheaval was indeed caused by Nie Xuan and his group. They had fallen into an illusion, mistaking a captured fragment of Time Force as real. Time Force is a subtler rule force than Spatial Power; unlike Spatial Power, which can be directly used as a weapon, Time Force is gentler. From Xu Huo’s experiences, it doesn’t seem to have coercive power.
In other words, although Time Force covered this space, it couldn’t actually affect reality, because the recorded images were just images—they weren’t real. No one was forced to travel back in time to the past or trapped in a closed temporal space; even seeing past images didn’t hinder one’s freedom to enter and exit.
Moreover, as long as you wear a Space-Time Item, it can render the Time Force acting on you ineffective. With Nie Xuan along, Xu Huo didn’t believe they were really panicked into mistaking the false for the real. The only explanation is that the further they proceeded, the more intense the Mental Interference Force became, making it hard for them to distinguish reality from illusion.
Of course, this was just his conjecture, because the Special Defense Department only informed him of the basic situation without detailing Nie Xuan’s progress.
However, Yu Qingqing soon secretly reported to him that Tian Zhengjiang, who was with Nie Xuan, had died. Sha Chuan and Wei Xiaoyi, like her, had escaped into the game and returned.
Nie Xuan hadn’t come out and was still going deeper.
The situation inside was so chaotic that the Special Defense Department had no plans to send more people in yet. They would wait until Nie Xuan made contact again to decide the next step. Meanwhile, their elite unit had already sealed off this Primeval Forest, planning to clear out all the players in the surroundings—if it weren’t for her obstinacy, the “Capricious” team certainly wouldn’t have stayed behind.
After reading the messages, Xu Huo closed the game interface and ignored the cautious probing from the Special Defense Department and Yu Qingqing’s queries.
The fatigue from over two hours of intense activity couldn’t be alleviated easily. After sitting for a while, he had to drink a few bottles of Physical Energy Potion, resting for more than ten minutes afterward before feeling a bit better.
A new ray of sunlight pierced the gray mist, illuminating the entire residential area. The once-bustling street scene reappeared, and a little boy ran over from the opposite side, stopping in front of him with a flower basket on his side, saying, “Traveler, buy a flower!”
The image from an earlier time segment showed that the people in it were of the same race judging by their appearance and clothing. Generally, they wouldn’t use terms like “traveler” to attract customers; the boy using it indicated that time had advanced considerably, perhaps to when this city, initially built due to religion, began to attract foreign tourists.
Xu Huo turned his head; sitting next to him polishing shoes was a young man with a handsome face. Upon hearing the boy’s call, he looked up, his blue eyes filled with laughter, “Sure, how much for your flowers?”
“Ten per flower.” The boy displayed some local paper money.
The man, however, smiled apologetically, “I just came from out of town and don’t have your local currency. Can I use this?”
The young man took out a White Note.
The boy recognized the White Note and nodded vigorously, “The traveler’s money can buy all my flowers and more.”
“I’ll treat you to juice with what’s left.” The young man gave the money and took the basket of flowers.
The boy, excited, took the White Note to buy juice, returning with two cups. He handed one to the young man, “Uncle, I’ll treat you to juice too.”
“Ha ha!” The young man cheerfully accepted, “I was just thirsty.”
Having sold all his flowers, the boy asked the young man what he was doing here out of curiosity.
The man replied vaguely while munching on the fruit pulp in the juice, “I heard there’s a pair of magical Divine Eyes here…”
The boy pointed towards the “Nine Great Divine Paths” direction, “The Great Divine Temple is there, and lots of people go to worship every day.”
“Have you seen the Divine Eyes?” The young man actually started chatting with him.
The boy shook his head, “They only show believers. I wasn’t chosen.”
The laughter in the young man’s eyes diminished, “Do they take kids?”
“Adults say kids are more spiritual. If chosen, not only do they get new clothes, but there’s also endless delicious food every day.” The boy was almost drooling.
“Uncle, do you want the yummy food too?”
The young man finished the last drop of juice, his blue eyes curling into a smile, “Everyone wants good things, of course.”
Returning the cup to the boy, the man lifted the flower basket and patted his head, “These flowers are beautiful, perfect for a gift.”
The young man turned and walked in the direction of the “Nine Great Divine Paths,” but before he could walk a hundred meters, the street’s light and shadow dissipated, once again covered by the gray mist.
One couldn’t glean much from a snippet of imagery, yet judging by the conversations among residents when the young man spoke, this timeframe wasn’t long after sweeping believers mentioned the “Divine Eyes.”
Connecting this to the still-unfinished Divine Temples, perhaps the “Divine Eyes” successfully created a sensation, bringing players from other regions, and resulted in a disastrous catastrophe for this place.
Looking at the state of this space, perhaps those “Divine Eyes” really were incredible props.
Xu Huo got up and continued moving away from the “Nine Great Divine Paths.” With few Spatial Bodies in the residential area, perhaps he could use the “Cubic Space” here.