Time slipped away like a white colt flashing past a crack, vanishing quietly amid the rule turbulence and civilization wars of the Light Universe Time-Space.
Five hundred and twenty years later, Saine appeared outside Lina's laboratory.
Unlike his own laboratories, which were always piled high with Truth research materials, Rule Specimens, and precision instruments, Lina's laboratory, though likewise dominated by death and dark elements—condensed shadow crystals floated in the corners, while ghostly blue reagents containing special soul bodies sat atop the Laboratory Table—always held some fresh little thing that caught Saine's eye whenever he came.
For instance, his gaze now fell upon the several pots of emerald-green plants on the windowsill. A faint rule-fluorescence shimmered along the edges of their leaves. They were clearly specially cultivated varieties from Lu Lianman's laboratory, forming a marvelous harmony with the surrounding darkness.
When Saine pushed open the wooden door engraved with death runes, Lina was intently conducting a Truth research project.
Within the magic array before her, pale-purple energy patterns continuously flowed. She had just raised a reagent vial containing dark-green special rule slime, and the light refracted from its surface fell across her long eyelashes, lending her focused expression an added charm.
Lina's Life Realm was currently at the Level-8 Peak. Judging purely by Combat Power, as more and more Half-Level-9 and Level-9 Beings were born among Saine's followers, the strength of a Level-8 Peak truly no longer stood out.
But to Saine, Lina had never been a Dominator-class combat force under his command. Since the days when he had still been a magic apprentice, she had accompanied him all the way, an irreplaceable "family member." That bond had long surpassed everything else.
"What made you think of coming here today?" Sensing the familiar aura, Lina gently set the reagent vial on