Chapter 292 The interior of Queen Chris's palace is not like...
The interior of the palace was not as magnificent as one might imagine. The gray-white walls had tiny cracks, the plaster was peeling at the edges in places that were not easily noticeable, the plaster carvings at the corners were mottled, and the floor, which should have been shiny, had a hazy appearance.
The throne on the high platform in the center had a red velvet surface that had become somewhat grayish-white and worn. The magic gems that were inlaid on it had long been replaced with ordinary gems. Even these gems, which were so common and cheap in the magical world, were full of a gloomy color. The gold leaf on the throne had been completely peeled off, leaving only the grayish-yellow color of the wood itself.
Spiderweb-like cracks filled the marble steps leading up to the platform.
On one side of the throne, on a smaller throne specially set up for the queen, a woman of about forty years old, dressed in a dress that was no longer gorgeous and wearing a somewhat dim gemstone crown, looked at them with anxious eyes.
“Nande…” The woman took a few steps forward, her hands trembling.
Shadow's raised foot was about to land, but after a long while, it finally slammed heavily onto the floor with a dull thud: "...Chris...Chris..."
He hesitated, then carefully took a few steps forward.
Finally, with his hands slightly outstretched, he welcomed Queen Chris as she leaped down from the high platform.
"South Germany!"
Ying reached out her trembling hands and paused for a moment at Chris's waist before tightly embracing her slender waist.
His knuckles turned white, his head lowered and buried in the neck and shoulder of the person in front of him, inhaling Chris's scent. After a long while, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, I'm back..."
Chris sniffed, reluctantly straightened up from Ying's embrace, and looked Ying over carefully with eager eyes before smiling and saying, "It's good that you're back."
Looking at the fine wrinkles at the corners of Chris's eyes, her fingertips trembled as she touched the streaks of white hair mixed in with her black hair. Her eyes welled up with tears, and after a long while, she finally said, "You've lost weight..."
Chris looked up at him, as if she couldn't get enough of looking at him, until she heard Ying's words and said with a slight sob, "You look better when you're thinner."
Ying's heart was already filled with regret.
In the past nine cycles, he had accomplished nothing and felt indebted to his people. He passed by his home several times without entering. Even when cracks appeared in the capital, he only asked Lin Xiao and Ailiya to help, while he himself stayed far away, not even daring to glance at the place.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Chris had no memories of the past and couldn't know why Shadow was apologizing, but she still looked at him gently, her fingertips running through Shadow's messy long hair, and chuckled softly: "It's okay, you've done very well."
“Alright, introduce your friends to me.” Chris took his hand and patted it gently twice.
Hearing Chris's gentle reassurances, Shadow's mood improved.
He pulled Chris to Sang Zhitao's side, lowered his voice slightly, and said softly, "Lin Xiao and Ailiya are from the other two continents. One of them can detect where the rift appears, and the other can protect us."
As he spoke, he looked at Sang Zhitao, his tone becoming more solemn: "This is the savior, Lady Sang Zhitao. She is the one who resolved the crisis on those two continents."
Chris looked at Sang Zhitao in surprise, somewhat unable to believe that the girl in front of her, who was only twenty years old, could resolve such a crisis.
It should be noted that although the Soul Spirit Continent has always been isolated from the other two continents, since they sent people out of the continent, although the news is not timely, they can still receive bits and pieces of news from the outside from time to time. Especially after they also developed a special disease similar to that in the outside world, they sought out more information about it.
However, since Ying left, the monsters on the Soul Spirit Continent seem to have undergone some kind of evolution, so much so that she had to gather the last remaining people in the country together to build a fortress that could not be entered or left, thus completely cutting off all sources of information from the outside world.
"That's wonderful..." she couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
"I remember the crisis here is a time loop?" Sang Zhitao recalled the original book's records.
Chris nodded: "Yes."
She sighed before continuing, "There aren't many gaps appearing here, but everyone who comes into contact with one will experience a time loop, during which time..."
She glanced back at Ying: "You've come at an inopportune time. Twenty-eight days ago, a major cycle had already occurred in the capital city."
"The Great Cycle?" Sang Zhitao looked at her with a puzzled expression.
Chris nodded and explained, "If an individual's cycle is a small cycle based on 24 hours, then the capital city's cycle is a large cycle based on seven days."
"Seven days? But if you share the same memories, then what day it is doesn't matter, right?" Aria asked, looking puzzled.
“That’s not how it is.” Chris frowned slightly and hesitated for a moment before saying, “It’s hard for me to explain in words, but you can see for yourselves tomorrow. Tomorrow is the start of the next big cycle.”
"Let's not talk about that now." Sang Zhitao raised her hand to interrupt Ailiya's attempt to continue asking questions, and conjured a shape in the air for her. "Have you ever seen anything similar to this? Even if it's incomplete?"
Chris stared intently at the six-pointed crystal gem in the void. After hesitating for a long time, she said hesitantly, "I remember seeing it in the Ministry of Magic's treasury, but I'm not sure. That was many years ago."
"Can I go take a look?" Sang Zhitao's eyes lit up as she quickly asked.
"Is it important?" Chris asked hesitantly.
The shadow beside her gently put its arm around her shoulder: "It's very important; it's the key to resolving all crises."
Upon hearing this, Chris no longer hesitated and said directly to Sang Zhitao, "I'll take you there."
The group didn't even have time to rest before turning around and following Chris toward the Ministry of Magic's vault.
The Ministry of Magic's treasury is not far from the palace, about a four or five-minute walk in front of it.
"Your Highness, I heard that His Majesty Nande has returned?" As soon as I entered the simple house, an old man walked towards me, his face showing some excitement.
Chris smiled and pushed Ying forward a little: "Teacher, look who this is."
Embarrassed, Ying remained motionless as the old man scrutinized her from head to toe.
The old man leaned closer to him, glanced at him a few times, and couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder: "You rascal, you're finally back!"
"Teacher, I'm sorry..." Ying lowered her head, looking at the once tall figure who was now an old man who was even shorter than her, and her eyes couldn't help but turn slightly red.
"Alright, it's good that you're back." The old man patted his arm as if he were happy, and the corners of his eyes were faintly moist as he turned his face to the side.
"Teacher, we came here to take a look inside the treasure vault." Chris couldn't help but wipe her eyes.
The old man glanced at Sang Zhitao a few times before frowning and asking, "Is there any reason why you absolutely have to go?"
Ying glanced at Sang Zhitao: "Yes, we need to find something that can solve the time loop problem on the Soul Spirit Continent."
A glint of light flashed in the old man's eyes: "Really?!"
Ying nodded affirmatively.
"What kind of thing?!" the old man continued to ask.
Sang Zhitao immediately showed Chris the scene she had just shown her again.
The old man examined the image carefully for a long time before smiling and saying, "There's no need to go to the treasury; this thing is in the palace."
Before Ying could react, Chris asked in return, "Why have I never seen anything like this in the palace?"
The old man smiled and said, "A long time ago, I discovered that it had the ability to prevent cracks from appearing, so I placed it in the palace to prevent the cracks from affecting the royal family."
"Where is it now?" Sang Zhitao asked, frowning.
The old man looked at Chris: "Do you remember the gem I asked you to place on the throne when it was being repaired? I sealed it inside."
Sang Zhitao couldn't help but look up at the old man. She knew that the aura of the world fragments was not something that ordinary people could hide. Even Hailai, who had been upgraded with her help, couldn't do it. Yet the old man in front of her had done it. This made Sang Zhitao curious and want to investigate the old man's strength.
She tentatively tapped a few times in the air, but withdrew her hand after a moment.
The Heavenly Dao Shattering Ground here is even more powerful than the other two continents. Not only can she not get any clues from the Heavenly Dao, but she can't even detect the true strength of the person opposite her.
You have to understand that she is now a world consciousness. Although her strength is weakened in another world, she is still the strongest in the world. However, she is unable to detect the true strength of the person in front of her, which makes her even more curious about the old man.
Before she could investigate further, Ying urged everyone to head towards the palace.
Upon arriving at the palace, before Sang Zhitao could speak, Ying walked up to the high platform and plucked a palm-sized gem from the throne.
He handed the gemstone to Sang Zhitao.
Unexpectedly, the gemstone melted instantly upon contact with Sang Zhitao, as if ice had met fire.
Soon, fragments of the world appeared in Sang Zhitao's hand.
With that, all the world fragments were finally collected.
Without hesitation, Sang Zhitao swallowed the fragments directly.
She felt her soul float up into the sky, the capital city shrinking before her eyes until finally the entire Soul Continent, now black and overrun by countless monsters.
Her soul continued to soar, and the Sky Continent and the Magic Continent also appeared before her eyes. Finally, the three continents condensed into three palm-sized shapes.
The Heavenly Daos of the three continents also appeared before her: two Heavenly Daos still bearing scars and one Heavenly Dao shattered into pieces, each ruling its own territory, intertwined yet resisting each other.
Sang Zhitao lightly tapped the Soul Continent with her fingertip.
This time, the Heavenly Dao no longer needed Sang Zhitao to organize it bit by bit; it slowly floated towards the sky on its own, consciously forming a complete shape and fine lines.
Seeing this, Sang Zhitao couldn't help but let out a soft sigh: "Thank goodness..."
Looking at the complete and intact Heavenly Dao of the three continents, she couldn't help but smile, and she couldn't help but start thinking about returning to Earth.
At that moment, the Heavenly Dao of the three continents began to shake uncontrollably. Just as Sang Zhitao was wondering about this, black light appeared on the Heavenly Dao of the three continents.
Light shone through the cracks, tearing the painstakingly pieced-together fragments of the Heavenly Dao back into countless pieces, while the threads that held the fragments together once again shattered into countless fragments.
This time, however, the Heavenly Dao of the three continents no longer went their separate ways; instead, they were mixed together, forming colorful threads and small fragmented mountains.
Sang Zhitao stared helplessly at the fragments in front of her, unable to understand why they had suddenly broken again.
Just then, a voice reached her ears...
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