"How can you ensure that the people of Lake Bai Dao will still be alive after letting the Yin World devour the Mirror Realm?"
Gitalien countered, the Yin World and the Netherworld were not quite the same; ordinary people entering the Netherworld would gradually die as they lost their Life Force, let alone the Yin World, which was even more powerful than the Netherworld. Little Husky shivered and said,
"It’s not like we’re pulling it directly into the Yin World. How big of an impact could it have? Otherwise, what should we do now?"
"Shouldn’t there be some sort of emergency escape mechanism in the ruins?"
Gitalien speculated. Most Ancient Ruins that set up a Different Space had similar devices, designed to allow escape from the space when normal entry and exit were restricted.
"No, according to its statement, Lake Bai Dao is right at the edge of the Mirror Realm. The Mirror Realm itself is an independent world that was only forcefully merged with the Ancient Ruins due to its fractured state. In reality, the Mirror Realm does not rely on the Ancient Ruins for existence."
Agunas explained, as it naturally came to know this situation while communicating with the master of the Mirror Realm just now. Perhaps the other party would have a way to leave, but if they disagreed on using it, there was nothing to be done.
"So what do we do now?"
Knowing that the Mirror Realm truly exists independently, Gitalien was at a loss. If it relied on the Ancient Ruins to exist, it could take a gamble, letting Agunas destroy the maintenance device while it stood guard over Lake Bai Dao. After the maintenance device collapsed, basically, the entire Different Space would fall directly into the real world or the void near the real world, at which point it could use its own authority to pull Lake Bai Dao back to the real world.
But there was nothing it could do for a world that existed independently without a maintenance device. The power released by a world’s collapse was extremely strong; it was uncertain if it could protect such a large place as Lake Bai Dao.
"Should we let it take action?"
Feng Yuan glanced at the Cang Ming Dragon, which spread its wings in an impatient manner. The master of the Mirror Realm floated nearby, silent. Although the Cang Ming Dragon could sneak back to its lair, it did not want to bring these villains back to its nest.
Feng Yuan said to the Cang Ming Dragon. With a shake of its body, the Cang Ming Dragon opened its wings and let out an unhappy roar, with Black Chains spreading in all directions. Seeing this, the master of the Mirror Realm immediately exhibited displeasure, yelling loudly. However, it seemed that the Cang Ming Dragon didn’t want to waste words with it, and with a lift of its claw, it sealed it into a black sphere of light.
Watching the Mirror Realm’s master struggle incessantly within the sphere of light, Feng Yuan said with some unwillingness,
"If you had a way to get Lake Bai Dao out, we wouldn’t have to do this, right?"
Inside the sphere, the Mirror Realm’s master struggled desperately and seemed to be angry while cursing something. Agunas wagged its tail and said,
"It says it’s not possible. If it forcibly sends the space that was devoured out, the entire Mirror Realm will collapse. It won’t allow this to happen."
"Tch! So intent on guarding this space? I don’t believe it doesn’t have the authority to reestablish the Mirror Realm."
Gitalien spoke disdainfully. Just as it could mend and rebuild in the event of a spatial collapse in the real world, it didn’t believe that the master of the Mirror Realm, with authority higher than its own, would lack the ability to rebuild the Mirror Realm.
"It seems to have the ability, but it doesn’t want to do so."
Agunas said, not understanding. Little Husky’s eyes rolled, looking down at the island covered in Crystal Tendrils below. By now, it had guessed why there were so many islands scattered in the void. Those islands must be the natural scenery of the Mythical Era. Perhaps the buildings of the Mythical Era had long since disappeared, but...
Through those scattered islands, Feng Yuan could guess how vast this world once was. Perhaps at that time, the entire real world was mirrored below, only to end up with such a small fragment remaining. Feng Yuan, through the Dark Ancient Book, even perceived that at the edges of the void, there was a slow dissolution still taking place. Perhaps with the passage of time, this world would eventually vanish completely.
Jumping down from atop Gitalien’s head, Feng Yuan returned to his original form, and the Dark Ancient Book transformed into a The Black Scythe in his hand, different from the Sickle he used before, as it was enveloped in a layer of black mist. The scythe’s long handle was intertwined with black, red, and blue dragon patterns.
Grasping the scythe tightly, black, red, and blue wings of light unfolded behind Feng Yuan. Although at first glance, one might interpret them as wings of light, visually they continuously gave off an impression of profound darkness.
"What is this guy up to now?" Agunas muttered lowly, swishing its tail in dissatisfaction. It simply couldn’t understand what Feng Yuan was doing by invoking this power for such inexplicable actions.
The Cang Ming Dragon, though confused as to why Feng Yuan had approached it, didn’t react much. Feng Yuan’s Scythe lightly tapped the black chains that continued to spread. The confusion in the dragon’s eyes was unmistakable. It couldn’t fathom why one would undertake such a thankless task.
The black chains gradually spread throughout the entire space. The master of the Mirror Realm in the orb struggled even more fiercely, but neither the Cang Ming Dragon nor Gitalien paid any attention to it. Agunas glanced at the master of the Mirror Realm without speaking. Even if it wanted to help the latter, it couldn’t, as the Cang Ming Dragon and Gitalien would definitely not allow it to interfere with the assimilation.
After all, although both were from the Mythical Era, there was hardly any interaction between the master of the Mirror Realm and Agunas. If acting opportunistically was feasible, then it would be fine, but helping out now would clearly mean confronting the Cang Ming Dragon and the others—a step Agunas was not willing to take.
The Crystal Tendrils melted rapidly like ice under the blazing sun, and the black chains, instead of taking the place of the Crystal Tendrils, swung violently towards the distance. In a short while, the black chains, invisible to the eye, became rings encircling the archipelago.
If one were to stand outside the world, they could see countless black chains sprawling across the world’s barriers. These black chains enveloped that world, and an odd palace-like ancient ruin outside the barrier was gradually pulled into the world wrapped by chains.
The space around Lake Bai Dao, wrapped by the chains, was sealed off and gradually detached from the globe-like world, returning to the interior of the adjacent giant world.
Outside Lake Bai Dao, researchers who had rushed over manipulated their equipment, franticly gathering data. However, no matter how hard they tried, they could not find even a trace of Lake Bai Dao. Just then, a black hole suddenly appeared in the sky, and something wrapped in countless black chains slowly descended through the hole.
As the object enveloped by the black chains grew larger and filled the missing space, the researchers gradually made out the item within the chains and couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.
"What is that?! Is it Gitalien’s power?"
"It must be Gitalien’s doing. Thank goodness. I was worried about what we’d do if we really couldn’t find it."
"Who’s the idiot responsible for this! Blatantly ignoring Great Xia’s prohibition!"
"Shh! It’s tricky to discuss this given that both G Organization and the recently emerged Hunter Organization are putting considerable pressure on the Alliance. In such circumstances..."
"Everyone here is in research. Who doesn’t understand the dangers of this place? But with risk comes opportunity, right?"
"But isn’t this too... couldn’t they have evacuated people in advance?"
"Evacuate where? Lake Bai Dao is so vast; which nearby city could possibly accommodate so many people? We’re lucky there wasn’t a significant incident this time."
As the spatial position aligned, the black chains snapped and turned into black dots that scattered and disappeared in the air. Seeing that the communication systems were back online, the weary people on Yongzhen Island heaved a sigh of relief. Although they could continue to hold on, even with rotating breaks, the prolonged high-intensity combat had taken its toll on them, and they were not like the teams guarding the borders.
Those who were not accustomed to intense, long-term combat, aside from Beastmasters of Legendary Level or higher, only a few could rationally manage their power.
"Lake Bai Dao has been returned. Now it’s time for us to leave."
Feng Yuan turned to address the others, and they were back on the Cang Ming Dragon. Gitalien, in the form of a middle-aged man, looked at Feng Yuan and said,
"Just open the door and leave? What about that guy?"
Feng Yuan glanced at the master of the Mirror Realm and after some thought said,
"Let’s take it with us. Leaving it here alone doesn’t seem right."
The master of the Mirror Realm glared at Feng Yuan in anger—it had no desire to leave this place!