Alpha

"If that's really the case... then the Behind-the-Scenes Manipulators are targeting us quite specifically," Xia Feng said.

Bai Xiaowen nodded. When Xia Feng focused on making a judgment, his instincts were still very sharp.

"To be precise, they're targeting me," Bai Xiaowen said with a smile.

Bai Xiaowen had waited in Central Hub Square for so many days, yet Central Hub Divine Hall had never produced a false door. Only today, when they were about to enter, had it deliberately created one...

The intent behind it was indeed obvious.

If Bai Xiaowen had not possessed the Eye of Evolution, and if his Eye of Evolution had not "unlocked" its highest level and gained the ability to see through illusions, their group would inevitably have been lured into some Spirit Realm Plane.

"Could Senior Qiao be in danger?" Xia Feng asked.

Bai Xiaowen smiled. "It's only an Awakened-level Spirit Realm Plane. Senior Qiao can't possibly come to harm there. Nothing in it can threaten him."

That was also why Bai Xiaowen had not warned Qiao Liqun. If it had been a highly dangerous Spirit Realm Plane, he would still have given him a warning, even though he considered Qiao Liqun an obstacle.

"That's good... Just let me know when we can enter." Holding two Spirit Crystals, Xia Feng closed his eyes and entered meditation. Having rushed all the way here, he was quite exhausted as well.

Just as Bai Xiaowen had expected, the false door of Central Hub Divine Hall could not be maintained forever. In the end, it returned to its original state.

Bai Xiaowen woke Xia Feng and entered through the door together with the Demon Fire Crow, Luo Xie Er.

As for the other Chosen, they first had to dismantle the Immortal Array Bai Xiaowen had left behind before they could follow them inside.

"So this is the interior of Central Hub Divine Hall... I've never seen a sight like this before," Xia Feng said in astonishment.

Before them stretched a warped void.

The dimensions of time and space had become chaotic here, turning into intersecting lines that formed flat grids.

Unlike the neatness of ordinary grids, the Space-Time Grids here were twisted and uneven. As a result, the Space-Time Lines that formed them had changed from straight lines into winding curves.

"This is a maze of infinite scale."

"A maze? Infinite?" Xia Feng was somewhat puzzled.

Bai Xiaowen slowly explained, "You can't see the maze walls, because they aren't made of physical bricks and tiles. They are constantly shifting, distorted Space-Time Lines. If we deviate in direction while moving forward, we'll return to a Space-Time Node we've already explored, creating a 'dead loop.'"

"So the principle is indeed the same as that of an ordinary maze." Xia Feng nodded.

"As for its infinite size, that is only relative to us. We learned a principle in school: a straight line can extend infinitely. Although some of the Space Threads and Time Threads here are curved, from another perspective, they can still be regarded as straight lines, possessing the property of infinite extension. Naturally, the space-time maze woven from them is also infinitely large."

Bai Xiaowen said with a smile, "To mortals and ordinary gods, Space-Time Lines can extend infinitely, so time and space have no end."

Xia Feng turned his head, studying the slowly moving Space-Time Lines one after another. Bewildered, he said, "How do you know so much? It's as if you've been here before."

Bai Xiaowen pressed his Left Eye and said softly, "Because... ancient memories have awakened within my eye."

More importantly, the Eye of Evolution could play an even greater role within this distorted time and space.

The warped time and space Bai Xiaowen saw was completely different from the one Xia Feng saw.

Xia Feng could only see irregular curves crisscrossing to form uneven grids.

Yet Bai Xiaowen could discern the "parameters" of every curve: its curvature, the direction of its twisting, and its speed.

From this, Bai Xiaowen could calculate the coordinates represented by the Space-Time Nodes formed where the corresponding curves intersected, both in the "temporal sense" and the "spatial sense."

Then, he could choose coordinates that would lead ever deeper and continue advancing into the depths of the warped void.

Between the grids formed by the Space-Time Lines, a grid would occasionally Flash with a ray of light, like a doorway.

"What are those flashes of light that disappear in an instant?" Xia Feng asked.

"Those are Spirit Realm Portals, the equivalent of traps in a maze," Bai Xiaowen said. "If you accidentally step into one, you'll be passively sent away, just like Senior Qiao. The danger itself isn't great, since they're all Awakened-level Spirit Realm Portals, but leaving the Land of Origin means losing the qualification to find the Central Hub."

After a pause, Bai Xiaowen said, "This is also the Behind-the-Scenes Manipulators' final method."

Xia Feng immediately felt that the surrounding grids were fraught with danger. Perhaps one careless step would lead him astray—because the Spirit Realm Portals did not shine continuously. They merely Blinked now and then; the rest of the time, they were no different from ordinary grid passages.

There was no difference at all in a mortal's eyes.

But in Bai Xiaowen's eyes, everything was perfectly clear.

Seeing Bai Xiaowen lead him through the grids with practiced ease, Xia Feng could not help saying, "Is this kind of trap the Behind-the-Scenes Manipulators' final method? I thought they would show themselves and fight us head-on."

"They won't. Their true bodies have combat power close to zero. I even suspect they have no physical forms."

Bai Xiaowen said.

The Demon Fire Crow, Luo Xie Er, perched on Xia Feng's shoulder, cawed, "Isn't this kind of Space-Time Trap formidable enough? Aside from Christos, no one else could possibly reach the Central Hub safely! They don't need to fight, because no one can find them!"

"Quiet," Bai Xiaowen said.

The Demon Fire Crow, Luo Xie Er, shut its beak aggrievedly. "You weren't like this when you first found me..."

The route Bai Xiaowen took was extremely peculiar. Sometimes he moved parallel to the left, sometimes he retreated in a straight line, and sometimes he simply traced a large circle in place.

Yet every movement brought them into a new "grid," taking them one step deeper into the warped void. They never encountered a "dead loop," much less accidentally entered a Spirit Realm Portal.

There was no accurate passage of time while exploring the warped void, because the flow of time would speed up or slow down along with the distortions of the Time Threads.

Bai Xiaowen could only silently count his heartbeats. This was how he measured time in extreme environments. When he had waited with Qiao Liqun in Central Hub Square, he had specifically tested it.

One minute in Earth terms equaled seven of his normal heartbeats.

That was without deliberately affecting his body, because Bai Xiaowen could now use Spiritual Power to control the frequency of his heartbeat. Having his heart beat once every few hours while using Spiritual Power to guide his blood flow and maintain bodily functions was no problem.

After thirteen thousand five hundred and twenty-one heartbeats.

At the far end of the Space-Time Grid, a Blazing glimmer suddenly appeared.

It was like seeing the light at an exit after a long trek through a deep, dark passage.

The Time Threads and Space Threads converged at that glimmer.

"We're finally here." Bai Xiaowen let out a breath.

"Will we reach the Central Hub once we pass through that light?" Xia Feng was equally excited. He had been thinking all along about the possibility of reviving Bai Xiaohua.

Bai Xiaowen nodded.

They continued forward, but a figure appeared before the light.

More precisely, it was an illusory figure formed from mist, wrapped in a hooded cloak.

Beneath the hood, where a human face should have been, there was only slowly swirling mist.

"They've finally appeared, the Behind-the-Scenes Manipulators!" Xia Feng instinctively reached behind him and gripped the hilt of Half-Broken Blade.

Bai Xiaowen was not tense. He merely looked calmly at the Mist Person before him.

"Hello..."

A Thought Wave came from the Mist Person.

"Hello." Bai Xiaowen looked at the Mist Person. "You should already know our identities and origins, so there's no need for introductions. How should we address you?"

The Mist Person said, "You may call me Alpha. Of course, it is merely an insignificant codename."