Although the gap is small, its symbolic meaning is extremely profound.
Beside Merlin, his daughter Roma said solemnly, "Father, that power... it actually pierced through the starlight barrier."
"Indeed unusual," Merlin murmured, his fingertips brushing against the lingering heat of the void. "It seems to originate from beyond the known universe."
His gaze shifted to Brian, who lay unconscious on the ground.
After the talisman arrived in the Avalon, its light intensified, continuously gathering energy to gradually dispel the remaining fist energy within his body and repair his shattered body.
The process is just slow.
Merlin's expression grew serious. "Such a strong residual force, lingering for a long time, as if it's determined to kill him."
After a long while, under the continuous effect of the amulet drawing upon the endless starlight, Brian was finally brought back to life. The light faded, his eyelids fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the familiar scene before him, muttering blankly, "I... I'm still alive?"
Roma nodded. "That's right, you're not dead. We've summoned you again. Last time it was a car accident, this time you were almost killed on the spot."
"If it weren't for the timely protection of the Amulet of Life, which pulled you here, you would have been reduced to a pile of blood and gore long ago."
Brian suddenly remembered what had happened, sat bolt upright, and exclaimed in a tense voice, "Oh no! Ruth and the others are in danger!"
"Master Merlin, please send me back, I..."
Merlin said calmly, " Brian, your companion is dead."
"What?" Brian froze instantly.
Merlin said calmly, "The enemy you encountered was far beyond your imagination. He crushed you all in an instant with a speed you couldn't even fathom."
"Going back now won't save them, it'll kill you. Unless..."
Brian blurted out, "Unless what?"
"Unless you can pull out that sword."
"That sword!" Brian's breath hitched.
Years ago, he was summoned to this place by Merlin when he was on the verge of death. Not only were his injuries healed, but he was also given Amulet of Life, and from then on, he was transformed into Superman.
With the help of the talisman, he became a household name as the Captain Britain.
Later, Merlin gifted him a staff that could cast various spells; he also gave him a longsword, which was exceptionally sharp.
The Britain officially declared that it was the legendary Sword in the Stone, possessing the power to cleave the universe.
Only he himself knew: that was not the real Sword in the Stone, but only a slightly stronger magical weapon. The real Sword in the Stone still lies quietly deep within Avalon.
The reason is simple: when he left, Merlin gave him a choice between two things: the amulet or the Sword in the Stone. He chose the amulet that protected his life.
Unexpectedly, after surviving this ordeal, Merlin once again pointed to that legendary artifact capable of cleaving the universe.
Brian felt a surge of warmth in his heart, and he leaped to his feet, his eyes gleaming brightly.
If he could obtain the Sword in the Stone, and combine it with the power of the amulet, crushing that Mutants would be no difficult task, and avenging his companions would be just around the corner.
Under the continuous erosion of spatial power, Chen Xiao is prying open the nodes of the sealed land inch by inch.
Whew, Whew!
A sudden gust of wind swept through the factory, causing Yidileisi and Clarice's skirts to flutter and their long hair to fly; but as soon as the wind reached Chen Xiao's side, it seemed to hit an invisible barrier and dissipated silently.
As Chen Xiao's divine sense reached, the air within a radius of several tens of meters trembled slightly, and fine, spiderweb-like spatial rifts quietly appeared, with a surge of immense energy flowing out through the cracks.
Wherever this force passed, the magnetic field became disordered, gravity was lost, and the ground beneath one's feet seemed to instantly lose its weight.
He looked up and saw that the power of the Reality Stone had seeped into the dimension of reality, distorting and tearing the space above, revealing several void rifts invisible to the naked eye.
The most stable one of them, suspended halfway up the fifth floor, resembles a dark doorway.
Behind the door, a vast and ancient pressure emanated faintly, as if whispering or summoning.
"Found it."
Chen Xiao turned to Clarice and Yidileisi: "I'm going in to get a sample. You two stay outside."
Yidileisi nodded solemnly, "Don't worry, darling! With us here, no one will get close."
Although she didn't know what Chen Xiao was looking for, the significance of his actions—searching for clues throughout London and forcibly breaking the spatial seal—was self-evident.
Before he could finish speaking, Chen Xiao rolled his eyes. "Don't make empty promises here. If a powerful enemy really comes, retreat immediately. Don't try to hold out."
"Ah?"
The two women were taken aback.
Chen Xiao waved his hand dismissively. "What are you standing there for? I'm just going in to get something, not on vacation. If someone really barges in, I'll deal with them myself."
Needless to say, Yidileisi had long been under his wing, and it was perfectly legitimate for her to be under his control.
Clarice was his fiancée whom he had chosen at first sight when he first arrived in this world, and the person he had raised since childhood.
He always cared deeply for these two girls and was unwilling to let them take any risks.
As for why they weren't taken along, that sealed land opposite was personally set up by Odin, a place even the Reality Stone could suppress—it was no ordinary place.
The nine stars have not yet aligned, and the seal is already loose. He forced a gap open with brute force, and there is a high possibility of a counterattack from the other side.
Given the two women's current strength, if they decisively withdraw from the periphery, no one can stop them, especially Clarice.
After giving his instructions, Chen Xiao's figure flashed and disappeared in an instant. The next moment, he was standing in front of the invisible passage on the fifth floor. He stepped in and vanished without a trace.
Deep within the mountain lies an altar resembling that of an ancient evil god, the entire mountain hollowed out, dark and eerie.
Chen Xiao appeared out of thin air, standing in the center of a giant pillar several meters in diameter, with a bottomless abyss beneath his feet.
Ancient and obscure incantations are densely covered on the surface of the distant rock walls and the stone pillars at our feet.
The runes glowed faintly, and silently, a heavy, abyss-like suppressive force spread out, pressing down in all directions.
But when it landed on Chen Xiao, it was like a gentle breeze, causing no reaction whatsoever.
The suppressive power emanating from these runes is comparable to a hundred times the force of gravity; the moment an ordinary person steps into them, their bones will be shattered and their flesh turned to mush.
But for Chen Xiao, this kind of oppressive feeling didn't even cause a ripple.
He glanced around briefly, his gaze immediately locking onto the depths of the mountain, where a towering stone pillar, over ten meters thick and stretching for an unknown length, stood:
Reaching the dome above and plunging into the abyss below, its entire body is engraved with secret mantras.
In the middle of the stone pillar, a tiny, almost imperceptible crack stretched across it, within which churned a suffocating energy. A wisp of dark red light struggled to escape, but was firmly suppressed by the sealing power contained within the stone pillar itself.
Ignoring the overwhelming suppression around him, Chen Xiao flew straight to the pillar, his gaze piercing through the cracks and fixing firmly on the crimson substance inside that flowed slowly like living things.
It is the Aether, also known as the Reality Stone.
In the Marvel Multiverse, the origins of the Infinity Stones are subject to various theories: some say they originated from the crystallization of the will of the Nemesis, some say they came from the chaotic Origin before the birth of the universe, and others say they were naturally formed from the six Origin at the beginning of creation.
Regardless of the type, these gems possess world-destroying power; whoever wields them can rewrite reality with a flick of the wrist and rise above the gods.
But this immense power is not something everyone can wield.
Otherwise, Odin, who possessed the Space Stone and the Reality Stone back then, would not have either sealed them away or hidden them deep in a treasure vault.
This is because each time the power of the gem is activated, it causes a severe backlash to the user, whose body is eroded by the power and whose spirit is washed away by the laws.
Those who are slightly weaker and rashly use this technique will be completely wiped out by the counterattack energy in an instant.
Like Iron Man the Snap.
More importantly, the Infinity Stones from different universes, once they leave their original universe, become nothing more than rocks, losing all their divine power.
The Time Variance Authority's warehouse is overflowing with expired gems, which is irrefutable proof.
After a moment's thought, Chen Xiao suddenly exerted force with both hands, one above the other, causing the edge of the stone pillar to crack. He then reached his arm deep into the crevice.
With a flick of his wrist, a burst of Berserk power exploded forth!
boom!
The entire giant pillar trembled violently, and the rough and ancient runes on it suddenly blazed brightly, unleashing a tremendous suppressive force that crashed head-on into Chen Xiao.
But Chen Xiao at this moment is no longer the same person he was before.
The grip strength of millions of tons and punching power of tens of millions of tons displayed on the data panel are just the tip of the iceberg.
With the boost of Super Strength and the "materialization" trait condensed after his Second Awakening, the power he truly unleashed had already surpassed the trillion-ton level, terrifying beyond measure.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The giant pillar swayed violently under the impact, and the runes at its top and bottom points flickered rapidly, their light changing from strong to weak.
However, due to the constant erosion of the Reality Stone and the erosion of time, these seals had long since decayed and could not even last a minute.
Bang!
One rune exploded first; then the second, the third... and so on, all collapsing in succession.
As the runes Oblivion one by one, the suppressive force that resisted Chen Xiao rapidly weakened and finally collapsed!
He actually managed to pry open the entire stone pillar, which weighed tens of millions of tons!
The instant the stone pillar cracked, the dark red, liquid-like Aether were fully revealed, swimming towards him as if they were alive, and wrapping around his palm.
Buzz!
Just as the Aether were about to merge into Chen Xiao's palm, as in the movie, a warm yet indestructible golden halo quietly appeared, firmly isolating them from the outside.
This is precisely Bio-Force Field that integrates top-tier power.
At the same moment, the system's emotionless notification sounded in Chen Xiao's mind:
"One of the Origin forces of the current universe has been detected: the Reality Stone. The host may choose to absorb it into their right arm, gaining a preliminary ability to rewrite reality."
"Alternatively, 5 points of Origin can be consumed to completely fuse the gem into the Superman's body, resulting in a qualitative leap in strength."
"This move will also simultaneously activate the two super-powerful advancement paths: the Golden Superman and the Silver Superman; it is estimated that after the fusion is completed, the advancement progress will directly increase by 10%."
Chen Xiao's breath hitched.
More than half a month ago, he had already reached the Bronze Peak. Although his body continued to strengthen slowly afterward, it never experienced the explosive growth he had in the early stages.
It was as if they had run into an invisible high wall, approaching the evolutionary tipping point of their current form.
The ten points of Origin he had accumulated remained unusable to this day.
According to the system's previous explanation, he has not yet truly reached the Bronze limit, and the path to leapfrogging has not yet been unlocked.
Unexpectedly, a breakthrough opportunity has emerged. Without waiting, the Reality Stone can directly open the jump portal!
The thought had barely formed in his mind when Chen Xiao had already responded decisively:
"System, remove the Origin and completely fuse the Reality Stone into Superman's body."