Chapter 309 - 306: Space Slash and Temporal Body

Chapter 309: Chapter 306: Space Slash and Temporal Body

Once again, they were back in the first room, where the surrounding white jade shimmered with a cool, clear luster.

Fang Can leaned against the jade wall beside Liu Qingmeng, his mask reflecting the cold light.

His knuckles rhythmically tapped the hilt of the Purple Rhombus Sword at his waist, his manner leisurely and teasing.

The black-robed old man narrowed his cloudy eyes and said irritably, "It seems the two who left first didn’t fare any better."

The youth in brocade robes suddenly stepped between the old man and Fang Can, his moon-white robes fluttering without a breeze. "How do you want to cooperate, Fang Can?"

"It’s simple. I’ll lead you to the safest way down, until we escape this endless matrix," Fang Can said confidently, standing beside Liu Qingmeng.

"If you have that ability, why lead us? Just state your demands," the black-robed old man from the Five Demons Sect said hostilely.

"I can sense the danger level behind every portal. Here, aside from our starting room, every single other room contains a threat."

Fang Can explained, "Since that’s the case, rather than you all blindly stumbling your way through, I’ll point the way. You can scout the path down for me, and we’ll focus on clearing this trial first."

Fang Can made no attempt to hide his intentions, but everyone knew that if he truly possessed such an ability, they would be willing to scout the path.

"For example, take the room you just returned from. If Elder Liu and I had gone in, it would have been more dangerous than any other. Yet you managed to retreat after losing only four Third Turn members. Can you tell me what was in there?" Fang Can asked.

As the black-robed old man recounted what had happened, Fang Can understood.

’If Liu Qingmeng and I had gone in, and it had copied my [Charming Blue Film]... the resulting scene would have been horrifying. Anyone below the Fourth Turn would have been instantly killed on sight.’

"When you entered the other room just now, did you feel your power being suppressed even more strongly by the Sixth Turn restriction?" Fang Can asked.

"No, the level of suppression was the same as in this room," Purple Robe replied.

"Then it seems you were just moving about on the same layer of the matrix," Fang Can said calmly.

"What do you mean?" a Martial Artist asked.

"Every room here is a ten-meter square, and they are all part of an interconnected matrix."

As he spoke, Fang Can’s Heart Image condensed in his hand, forming a complex puzzle cube as an example.

"The rooms are likely arranged just like this puzzle cube in my hand. I’m just not sure how many rooms there are in each row and column of the matrix."

"I’ve tested the space within these six portals. The six directions—up, down, front, back, left, right—are inverted. Just now, I went through the left portal, yet I arrived on the layer below."

"How do you know it’s the layer below?"

A Martial Artist asked reflexively, "These cubes are indestructible and identical. It’s impossible to tell where you are."

"It’s the degree of power suppression."

A Fourth Turn Martial Artist mused, "We entered from the top of this great hall. The deeper we go, the closer we get to the ground level below, and the more we’re enveloped by the Sixth Turn restriction."

At his reminder, everyone recalled the great hall’s exterior, which looked like an Inverted Exquisite Tower.

"So, the more our power is suppressed, the deeper we are in the hall, and the closer we are to the next trial."

Only then did they realize why Fang Can had been so certain they were just wandering on the same layer after he learned their power levels hadn’t changed.

"So... shall we cooperate? I’ll show you the way, and you’ll take turns scouting," Fang Can asked with a smile.

The few Fourth Turn Martial Artists present exchanged glances, then nodded in agreement.

After all, if his ability was real, they wouldn’t let him take any risks himself, even if he wanted to.

With the deal struck, a smile spread across Fang Can’s face behind his mask.

"Let’s go. Since we were able to come back here, it means each portal’s destination is fixed. Come with me to the layer below; the threat there has already been dealt with."

As he spoke, Fang Can walked toward the portal on the left. After a brief hesitation, the numerous Fourth and Third Turn Martial Artists followed him toward the portal.

As space shifted around them, everyone immediately felt the power within their bodies being suppressed once again.

The Heart Images of the Fourth Turn Martial Artists regressed to Third Turn strength, while Third Turn members were reduced to the level of First Turn. They were clearly closer to the ground level; they were on the right path.

Already accustomed to the power suppression, the group looked at a pile of ash not far away. The manner of death was the same as Xiang Hongtu’s.

"Alright, who’s going to scout first?"

Fang Can pointed to a portal shimmering with brilliant light on the ceiling. "I can feel it. That’s the way to the next layer down, but it’ll take at least three Fourth Turn Martial Artists to handle it safely."

Following Fang Can’s gesture, the Fourth Turn Martial Artists hesitated, uncertain who should be the one to scout.

Just then, everyone felt the Heart Images within them suddenly thaw like ice in spring, the shackles on their power fading away layer by layer.

Their suppressed power began to recover, and within moments, it had returned to the level it was on the floor above.

"The spatial orientation has shifted," the young Fourth Turn Martial Artist said, his expression changing. "Our room’s position has changed. We’ve moved up a layer."

"It’s not just the room’s position... The destination of every portal has changed. This must be the rule of this trial."

Fang Can sensed the differing levels of danger behind each portal and said,

"From now on, we’ll probably be moved up a layer periodically. If we don’t speed up our descent, I’m afraid we’ll never reach the bottom."

"Now the portal to the layer below is on the right, and its difficulty has changed to a level that means certain death for anyone below the Fourth Turn," Fang Can said. "So, have you decided who’s going?"

"I’ll go," the young-looking Fourth Turn Martial Artist volunteered. Then, as everyone watched, his body disappeared into the portal.

The instant the youth stepped into the new room, invisible ripples spread from the void, and tens of thousands of spatial cracks appeared like a spiderweb.

In the ten-meter square chamber, tens of thousands of transparent blades of light bloomed from nothingness, weaving an inescapable net.

Transparent fissures crisscrossed the space, then contracted violently.

’Space Slash?’

The youth’s pupils contracted. He instantly wanted to retreat.

Although he considered his physical durability to be second to none, he had never tested it against this kind of spatial attack.

Fragments of brocade scattered like butterflies as the youth’s figure became a streaking afterimage. He moved at more than ten times the speed of sound, setting off sonic booms in the narrow chamber as he did his best to evade the deadly attacks all around him.

But in such a small space, the slashes were too fast and too numerous.

Even moving at full speed, he couldn’t dodge them all. He could only try to protect his vital points, watching helplessly as the spatial slashes easily tore through his brocade robes.

CLANG—

A clear metallic sound rang out. The supposedly all-cutting Space Slash hummed as it struck the youth’s body.

One after another, the spatial slashes struck the youth’s body, but they only produced the hum of striking metal.

Although his clothes were being shredded, his body remained completely unharmed.

The assault lasted for several seconds. After withstanding tens of thousands of strikes without a single scratch, the youth slowly let out a breath of relief.

’It seems even Space Slash can’t cut this body of mine, which is frozen in time.’