Chapter 423 - 277: Multi-Space-Time Secret Realm (2)

Su Zhi nearly spat out a mouthful of wine.

’Jeez, you’re actually concerned about that... Were people from ancient times this interested in this kind of stuff?’

"It’s fine, not a big deal."

Su Zhi forced a calm expression and waved his hand dismissively.

Shao Ya had indeed told him not to drink too much, but she just said not *too much*. She never said he couldn’t have any at all, right?

’Ugh... but Su Zhi realized he’d already finished two jars at Tuoba Jing’s urging...’

Then again, the grain wine made with classical techniques had a much lower alcohol content than the wine from the Current World. It was crisp and refreshing, with a unique flavor. Even after two jars, he didn’t feel drunk in the slightest.

’Yes, this isn’t drinking. This is savoring history.’

Tuoba Jing cupped his hands. "My apologies. That young lady must be waiting anxiously in the Current World, and you must be trying to find a way back, young friend. It was presumptuous of me to bring up such a topic at a time like this."

"It’s alright. To be honest with you, Senior, I have been trying everything I can to leave, but I’ve found nothing..."

Now that they were on to serious business, Su Zhi quickly pressed, "Senior, do you have any clues about how to leave this place?"

Tuoba Jing shook his head with a bitter smile. "If I had any clues, I wouldn’t have been trapped here for so many years."

"As I thought..."

"But there is one thing I don’t understand. You claim to be from more than two hundred years in the future, young friend, yet I have only been in this place for a few years. Aside from Beastmasters who have reached the pinnacle, no one can live for several centuries."

Su Zhi’s eyes widened. "You mean... the flow of time outside is faster than it is in here?!"

’Doesn’t that mean if he’s trapped here for a while, several years will just WHOOSH by on the outside?’

"Not exactly."

Seeing his concern, Tuoba Jing shook his head. "At first, I had the same thought as you. But after discovering some clues, I realized the relationship between this place and the Current World cannot be measured simply by the speed of time."

"Then what is it?"

"Young friend, please take a look. What kind of meat is this?" Tuoba Jing casually held up a skewer of meat.

Su Zhi answered immediately, "Black Bell Chikin."

Tuoba Jing: "Chi... kin?"

"Ahem, I mean, Black Bell Chicken," Su Zhi corrected himself.

The Black Bell Chicken was a Low Level Extraordinary Race of the Earth and Gold elements. This Exotic Beast once roamed the Hundred Rivers Region and was a common source of meat at the time. Later, due to the combined effects of human hunting and changes in the natural environment, the Black Bell Chicken went extinct in the early Classical Era.

A meaningful look appeared in Tuoba Jing’s eyes. "This creature did not exist when I first entered the Secret Realm. It was only two and a half years later that villagers discovered traces of them."

"I didn’t expect you to show... huh, wait. So you’re saying the Black Bell Chicken only appeared in the Secret Realm after you arrived?"

Su Zhi spotted the blind spot. "That’s not right. Even in the era you lived in, this Exotic Beast should have already been extinct."

"Correct."

Tuoba Jing nodded while stuffing a piece of chicken into his mouth. "The time here is not perfectly equivalent to the Current World. In other words, this is a..."

"A Multi-Space-Time Secret Realm!"

The two said in unison.

There are many ways to classify Secret Realms, and the spatio-temporal scale is one of them.

A so-called Multi-Space-Time Secret Realm is defined in contrast to a single-space-time Secret Realm, where the flow of time is consistent with the Current World.

The entrance to this type of Secret Realm connects to multiple points in spacetime. It’s like a complex and ingenious machine that can systematically place beings from different points in time, and the exits are often unique, corresponding to each individual.

Little is known about Multi-Space-Time Secret Realms even now. Besides this one, Su Zhi had only heard of one other registered Multi-Space-Time Secret Realm at the Alliance Headquarters.

"So you’re saying, if we manage to leave the Secret Realm, we will be transported back to a point near our corresponding time? For instance, I’ll return to the Current World, you’ll return to over two hundred years ago, and that chicken will return to a time before it went extinct?"

Tuoba Jing nodded. "That should be the case. As for things like temporal paradoxes, they don’t seem to exist. My master once told me that all things are preordained."

Su Zhi let out a long sigh of relief.

’That’s good. When he gets out, Shao Ya will still be Shao Ya.’

’It’d be a real tragedy if he was trapped here for a while and they ended up becoming friends with a huge age gap.’

Of course, he still had to get out first.

The problem came back to square one.

Su Zhi looked utterly exasperated.

He had originally thought this senior would have a way out, but from the way things were going, it felt more like a prison buddy reunion.

"Senior, how did you enter the Secret Realm? And what happened before and after you entered?"

Su Zhi decided to change his approach. "From what I learned at the Flying Shadow Alliance’s History Hall, the last record of you, Senior, was during a disaster relief effort in a village in the Hundred Rivers Luojin Mountain Range..."

"That’s right."

Tuoba Jing said in a low voice, "To be honest, the situation was dire. The village was filled with people starving to death, but support was delayed. My two Dao companions were also sacrificed in an Exotic Beast attack. My Pet Beasts and I were gravely injured. At that time, I even considered..."

Tuoba Jing paused, casting a guilty look at Zi Lu beside him.

"At that time, I even considered killing Zi Lu to feed the disaster victims."

Su Zhi remained silent. He had already learned about this part of history and could understand how the man felt.

Zi Lu moved its head over, nuzzling into Tuoba Jing’s arms and rubbing against him gently. The solemn look on Tuoba Jing’s face eased slightly, and he smiled as he lightly stroked its forehead.

Fuyue wanted a hug too, but was rejected with a look from Tuoba Jing and retreated to the side, looking aggrieved.

"And just as I was about to bring down my Sword, several broken walls in the village suddenly lit up with a Golden Light, and golden patterns appeared on the ground, like some kind of Array... When I woke up again, I was already in the Secret Realm."

Tuoba Jing mused, "After that, Zi Lu and I wandered through the Secret Realm. It wasn’t until one day we happened to rescue some villagers who were being attacked by an Earthquake Beast that we learned there were people here. You should know the rest."

Su Zhi propped his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

’The Array Tuoba Jing mentioned must be the Classical Restriction in the village. That part matches up...’

’And then... that’s it??’

Compared to how he and Yu Bao had gone to great lengths to activate the Restriction, this senior’s entry seemed a little too unceremonious.

"No... the key was the night before!"

Su Zhi suddenly came to his senses. "According to your journal... the Exotic Beast that attacked you back then was an Earthquake Beast?"

He hadn’t made the connection before, but now that they were on the topic, Su Zhi immediately recalled the written descriptions of the Exotic Beast from that time.

’A massive body, numerous legs, a gigantic mouth disproportionate to its body, and no other facial features... what else could it be but an Earthquake Beast?’

The thought that the Earthquake Beast was powerful enough to wipe out Tuoba Jing’s entire team made Su Zhi’s scalp tingle.

’Something that dangerous is loose in the Current World? I wonder if it’s dead by now... I sure hope it’s not okay.’

"Yes. I didn’t think much of it at the time. It was only after entering this place and seeing the Earthquake Beasts here that I realized the two might be connected," Tuoba Jing said thoughtfully.

"That Restriction was also full of oddities. Late at night, the day before the Earthquake Beast attacked, several disaster victims suddenly woke up as if possessed and began moving the broken walls.

"Their movements were bizarre: they walked with tiny, shuffling steps, as if wriggling. Their upper bodies were rigid, and their mouths opened and closed, letting out beast-like roars. They had been starving for days, yet they could lift broken walls weighing hundreds of pounds. It was beyond our comprehension.

"The other victims were terrified. We couldn’t wake the possessed ones, nor could we stop them. We could only watch as they moved the debris. After they finished, all of the crazed victims died from complete physical exhaustion. We guessed they might have been arranging some kind of Array, so we didn’t act rashly, planning to wait for reinforcements to arrive before deciding what to do."

Su Zhi frowned in thought. "And then, on the second day, you were attacked by the Earthquake Beast, and your companions were sacrificed... So that’s the reason you left those two sentences in your journal?"

"Precisely."

Tuoba Jing’s expression grew even more solemn.

"Judging by the behavior of those villagers, they clearly weren’t just driven mad. They were being controlled by some unknown entity. The attacking Earthquake Beast was most likely just a pawn.

"We don’t know what that entity’s goal was, nor do we know the meaning of what happened. But my Beastmaster’s intuition tells me that the earthquake was far from simple, and the same goes for the attack we suffered..."

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