Chapter 430 True Form and Data

The moment Artorias's true form stepped into this tributary of time, the situation changed dramatically.

That seemingly omnipotent will in front of Jemin immediately revealed a completely different "emotion" when facing this level eight wizard.

A violent shock, even mixed with a hint of unconcealable panic, spread without any hindrance.

Without the slightest hesitation, that will displayed astonishing decisiveness.

All its tendrils of will, diffused throughout this world of timeline rifts, contracted wildly at an unprecedented speed, like a startled octopus!

The force field that enveloped the world collapsed rapidly, converging towards the blue energy sphere on the central altar of the temple, clearly intending to sever its connection with this "temporary cage" and escape back to its true hiding place!

However, the wizard Artorias had painstakingly woven this vast web of "variable overload," so how could it easily escape?

From the very first moment Artorias set foot on this place, his eyes, as calm as the starry sky, reflected a torrent of data that was incomprehensible to ordinary people.

He was doing mental arithmetic.

With the terrifying speed of an eighth-level wizard's mind, he analyzed the structure of this temporary rift world, traced the source path of the shrinking will, and reversed the calculation of the "coordinate parameters" of the timeline in which its true form existed.

With clear "clues" in hand, the exposure of the other party's hiding place was inevitable.

All of this happened too fast.

Jemin felt the will that had almost erased him recede like a tide, and the pressure vanished instantly.

When he subconsciously looked up, that will had already retracted most of its power.

Just as that shrinking will was about to completely detach from the energy sphere and disappear into a deeper timeline...

Artorias's lips curled into a very faint smile.

"Heh... Gotcha."

Before he finished speaking, he raised his hand again and casually tugged at the empty space in front of him.

Sizzle...

A pitch-black crack, far more stable than when he guided Jemin before, with its edges flowing with rich starlight, was forcibly torn open from the "structure" of this world!

The aura emanating from the other side of the rift was completely different from that of this temporary time rift world.

It is more "profound", more "real", and carries a subtle resonance with this tributary world.

Without the slightest hesitation, Artorias stepped into the crevice, his figure instantly swallowed by darkness.

Jemin reacted extremely quickly.

He knew that if he stayed here, he might survive, but if something unexpected happened, he might lose himself along with this time rift world.

In comparison, following the Starforgers might be a better way to survive, and also the only chance to uncover the final mystery.

Without hesitation, he followed and rushed into the starlight rift.

After a brief period of weightlessness and distortion as you traverse between different dimensions, you are back on solid ground.

The moment Jemin regained his footing, he realized the fundamental difference.

The surrounding environment remains the same as that rugged temple, with its stone pillars, dome, and altar.

But the stone here is not a lifeless gray, but rather has a warm and restrained energy luster.

An ancient and solemn atmosphere permeated the air. The temple itself seemed to be imbued with the passage of time and some sublime "meaning," exuding a truly magnificent and sacred aura, which was completely different from the previous "replica" that was full of artificial coldness.

Without a doubt, this is the authentic product!

It is the core timeline world that was truly constructed behind the scenes and has been hidden for a long time!

The scene in the center of the temple further confirms this.

Above the altar, what floats is no longer a simple blue energy ball.

Instead, it is a giant metal sphere with a diameter of over five meters, full of mechanical beauty!

The surface of the sphere is not smooth; it is covered with crisscrossing, precisely arranged vertical energy wires.

Inside the conductor flows a highly condensed energy stream of gold and silver, emitting a deep and steady hum.

The entire sphere looks like a masterpiece that combines top-notch engineering aesthetics.

At this moment, the energy wires on its surface are flashing wildly at an unprecedented frequency, clearly operating at overload, processing massive amounts of energy and information to cope with the sudden invasion crisis.

Jemin quickly scanned the area but did not spot the wizard Artorias who had entered earlier.

But the moment he began to have doubts, the spiritual mark that had been imprinted on the surface of his soul was triggered.

Suddenly, streams of spiritual energy emerged from the surrounding environment.

Jemin immediately recognized that it was the spiritual power of the wizard Artorias.

Upon sensing the mark from the wizard Artorias on Jemin, these spiritual energies spontaneously converged and surged toward him.

At the same time, the "things" carried within his spiritual power were also received by Jemin.

That was a message Artorias had left behind, which was now being released automatically:

"The flow of time differs across different timelines, so you'll most likely not see me once you enter. I will do my best to lock down its core defense mechanisms and suppress and restrain them. Its active defense capabilities have been greatly weakened, but its inherent data firewall and information countermeasures are still operational."

"If you come in, immediately take advantage of the time while I'm restraining the other side's protection mechanism to approach the sphere and try to crack and link information from external interfaces or weak points. I will do my best to maintain suppression."

The information was concise and clear, indicating Jemin's current task.

Jemin didn't hesitate for a moment.

In this level of competition, it would be foolish to doubt the judgment and arrangements of an eighth-level wizard.

If there is a defense that even the Starforgers cannot break, I have absolutely no ability to resist with my current strength.

Conversely, if Artorias creates an opportunity, you must seize it!

With a swift movement, he transformed into a streak of light and headed straight for the enormous mechanical sphere.

The sphere clearly sensed Jemin's approach.

Its surface energy wires flickered even more violently, and the entire sphere emitted a deep, angry tremor.

However, as Artorias's message states, its "active defense"—methods such as direct obliteration of existence through will attacks, temporal turbulence, and spatial blockade—seems to be firmly suppressed by a more powerful force, rendering it unable to be used.

At this moment, the sphere was behaving more like a central computer that had been stripped of most of its weapon systems, only able to issue alarms in vain and carry out limited internal defense resistance.

As Jemin rapidly approached, the remaining defense mechanisms inside the sphere were fully activated.

A torrent of will, though much weaker than before, was still enormous and complex, mixed with a massive amount of disordered, contradictory, and noisy information flow, like sewage bursting its banks, and rushed wildly toward Jemin's consciousness!

This is the most primitive form of mental pollution and information overload attack, attempting to overwhelm Jemin's sanity, block his thinking, and turn him into an idiot or a person with a disordered mind.

This tactic might be effective against ordinary level four or five creatures, or even some level six beings that are not good at mental defense.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of wizards, this method was far too "crude".

Moreover, Jemin is not only a wizard, but also a cultivator with a Nascent Soul in the Divine Transformation Realm!

His soul essence has been tempered twice, making it far more stable than others of his level.

"A mere trick!" Jemin scoffed.

The primordial spirit is as clear as a mirror, the Five Elements Transformation Rainbow Mirror shines brightly, and spiritual power transforms into an indestructible dam. At the same time, the "Purifying the Mind and Calming the Spirit" method recorded in the "Great Dao Book Pavilion" is activated.

The surging chaotic will and information garbage crashed into his mental defenses. Most of it was deflected and repelled, while the small amount that seeped in was quickly decomposed and isolated by the Five Elements Rainbow Mirror, unable to affect his core thoughts and actions.

Braving this "mudslide" of mental and informational forces, Jemin landed steadily next to the giant mechanical sphere.

A closer look reveals the precision and antiquity of this creation.

What flows within those energy wires is not just energy, but also seems to be compiling extremely complex information codes.

Without time to appreciate it properly, Jemin immediately activated his Omnipotent Eye to its fullest extent.

Deep within his pupils, complex runes and spiritual light intertwined, elevating his vision and perception to their limits.

The enormous metal sphere before him was rapidly deconstructed in his "eyes" into countless flowing data, energy paths, rune structures, interface definitions, information keys...

A massive, highly encrypted stream of data, filled with features of an unknown technological tree, washed over his consciousness.

Jieming focused all his attention on quickly filtering and comparing data, searching for patterns and breakthroughs.

His goal was clear: to find an interactive "interface," a "centralized area" for information storage, or a "logical vulnerability" with relatively weak defenses.

Time flew by amidst the intense work of cracking the code.

The sphere's resistance grew weaker and weaker, but the complexity of its internal data flow was beyond imagination.

Finally, at some point, Jemin's all-seeing eye detected a special "data stream".

This data stream differs from other information responsible for energy transmission, system maintenance, or defense feedback; it is more "complex" and more "orderly," and its flow path points to a core area inside the sphere that is protected by multiple layers of encryption.

After repeated confirmation by Jemin, the data encoding method was determined to be of the types of "archive" and "record".

“Information storage facility…or…access to the core database?” Jemin’s eyes lit up.

While processing a large amount of information, he immediately separated a portion of his consciousness tendrils, carrying his own soul imprint and the deciphering runes, and carefully "probeed" towards the area indicated by the special data stream.

The moment the consciousness tentacles made contact, a data surge far more massive than the previous torrent of information rushed towards them.

But this time it wasn't an attack; it was simply a release of a massive amount of recorded information.

In an instant, Jemin's consciousness was drawn into a bottomless abyss of data composed of memories and time.

(End of this chapter)