Piecing Together the Stone Slabs

Today's update includes 1000 words of new content inserted into Chapter 79, "Eden." This causes a delay in the text output, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to readers who are following the updates.

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Overwhelmed by immense frustration and overwhelming self-blame, Zijin thought, "[I'm sorry... I'm so sorry! I... I just wanted to say goodbye properly... It's all my fault for being so indecisive! If only I had been able to harden my heart and leave immediately--]"

With a slight thought, Su Ming silently severed the Nightmare Technique and cleanly disengaged the Mind Synchronization.

For Zijin at this moment, her greatest worry was that Su Ming had also been targeted by the will of the plane and would therefore suffer unknown calamities.

What she saw was a nightmare.

"No, not at all." Su Ming lay back on the bed. "From the very beginning, it was just the two of us being 'watched'—now we have to add Ms. Chloe, making it three." He yawned as he spoke, a deep weariness washing over him. "Alright, there's no point in worrying about that now. The most important thing is to conserve our energy and get back to normal."

A helpless sigh came from the foot of the bed.

Just as Su Ming was about to say a few more words of comfort, he felt the blanket beneath him being pulled with considerable force.

"Hey, you—" Before he could even react, most of the warm blanket had been snatched away and wrapped around him. "Go back to your own room and sleep!" Su Ming protested.

Zijin ignored him and, right in front of him, naturally curled up, found a comfortable spot at the foot of the bed, and buried her head in the rolled-up blanket.

Soon, even breathing resumed, and she had fallen into a deep sleep.

****

Su Ming sat up, gazing at the girl's peaceful sleeping face, a complex sense of accomplishment welling up inside him.

Successfully outmaneuvering this scholar was no easy feat.

Su Ming once again exploited Zijin's weakness in her mental defenses. And because she was his companion, the scholar was completely unsuspecting.

In addition, the girl had forcibly suppressed her defensive instincts last night in order to integrate Su Ming's spiritual power, which had already consumed a great deal of energy. Afterwards, she had been worried and her condition had already plummeted to its lowest point, which gave Su Ming an opportunity to take advantage of her.

He gave up fighting for the blanket, got up and rummaged through the closet for another blanket, then leaned back against the headboard.

The problem with the Zijin is now considered resolved.

As for the Bridge of Planes...

Su Ming's gaze suddenly sharpened.

He had to get involved in this matter. On the one hand, he needed to take this opportunity to delve into the root cause of the abnormal actions of the dimensional will behind it.

On another level, with Chloe and Zijin, plus other top-tier intelligence that may gather from other worlds, and with the help of the Rift Tribe ruins—a treasure trove—whether Su Ming participates or not, unlocking the mysteries of the dimensional bridge technology may only be a matter of time.

That's why he has to be a part of it! Only in this way can he have the power to intervene in and choose the Bridge of Planes!

He summoned Jin Rongjia and briefly recounted what had just happened and his countermeasures.

"It's okay, just go for it!" Jin Rongjia couldn't suppress the upturned corners of his mouth. "Anyway, it's beyond our control!"

"Hehe!" Su Ming had seen through him; this guy was definitely on the "conservative" side!

"... Since they dared to extend an invitation," Jin Rongjia's tone regained some of its official composure, "Why should we be afraid? Civilization is not a flower that can be protected in a greenhouse!"

"The problem is," Su Ming pointed out the key point, "That a rabbit would willingly run towards a hunting dog. Isn't that a bit hard to guess?"

"Either this rabbit has poor eyesight and thinks the hunting dog is a soft, easy target," Jin Rongjia joked, then his tone suddenly turned serious, carrying a piercing coldness, "Or, a ferocious tiger is chasing after it!"

****

Thousand-Blade Dragon Cliff, the third day after the illusion incident.

Su Ming looked up at the towering dome of the cave, listening to Zijin beside him recount everything that had happened after he fell into a coma the day before yesterday.

"So, my Magic Power depletion wasn't because I used ' Reverse Object Reversion,' but because I was drained by the ' Dawn and Dusk Bracelet.'" Su Ming began to sort out the corrected information. "And then you were 'entangled' by the will of the plane because you summoned the Divine Favor Staff here to protect me?"

"Not entirely correct." Zijin shook her head, a hint of helplessness in her voice. "I suspect that even if I don't actively summon it, it will manifest on its own."

Given the divine favor Divine Favor Scepter, it is indeed possible that this will happen.

Su Ming had intended to tease the unruly artifact, Zijin, but when his gaze fell upon his empty left wrist—where the hidden "Dawn and Dusk Bracelet" was located—he realized that his mysterious item was just as willful, and swallowed his words.

"In short," Su Ming turned to dredging up old grievances, pressing the issue, "You deliberately concealed this information from me because you wanted to sneak away!"

"It's not that I intend to keep it a secret forever..." Zijin looked away somewhat awkwardly, "Afterwards, I'll always send you a letter or something..." Her voice grew softer as she spoke.

Su Ming reached out and roughly pressed his hand on Zijin's head, ruffling her neatly combed blue hair into a mess.

"Hey!" Zijin shouted angrily, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, "If you keep doing this, I really will fight back!"

"This girl, she actually has a habit of warning with words instead of actually hitting me," Chloe chuckled softly to Stacy beside her, who was busy working on the other side.

"... They're clearly flirting, okay!" Stacy corrected, dissatisfied.

"So, can we stop worrying about this?" Chloe raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not optimistic," Stacy said. "How about we make a bet? I won't interfere for now. If they're still like this when you finish collecting the data here and come to meet us, then you lose. Then it'll be your turn to solve their problem, how about that?"

"Oh?" Chloe said, "What if you lose?"

"If I lost, I'll settle it," Stacy said. "Isn't that fair?"

"No way!"

Before the two of them, a huge stone slab was slowly lifted from the ground with their combined efforts and then moved to another location.

When Su Ming experienced that illusion from ten thousand years ago, he keenly observed that the stone slabs engraved with primitive runes were not originally arranged in the order they are now. After the Crystal Dragon's attack destroyed part of the magic array, the Rift Tribe moved intact stones to fill the gaps during the repair, disrupting the original positions of the stone slabs.

Therefore, to truly restore the original appearance of the ancient magic array, the order of the stone slabs must be completely corrected. Fortunately, each stone slab is huge, and the total number is not too many.

The two quickly and steadily placed the stone slab in its position. As long as she wasn't on the battlefield, Stacy's magical abilities were quite reliable.

"Or, if you lose," Chloe thought for a moment, "If I have a child, how about you help me incubate it?"

For the Feather Race, incubating eggs isn't just about maintaining a certain temperature; it also requires a continuous infusion of Magic Power. The Magic Power requirement isn't high, and even non-supernatural beings can do it, but incubating eggs is always a troublesome task.

"... I can cover for you for a week at most!" Stacy said.

"Make a deal!"