Book 6, Chapter 64: Void 1
The Sovereign trying to break its way into Su Chen’s island was a seahorse.
The Void Seahorse was a rare breed of Sea Beast. Even though they were Sea Beasts, they were only born in the water; they spent most of their adult years in the sky, and their elderly years on land. In other words, they had three different habitats. But because of the Deep Sea Sorrow, this Void Seahorse had broken its typical living habits to live in the sea.
The Void Seahorse possessed an innate ability to perceive the void.
As a Sovereign, it was likely that the Void Seahorse had managed to pinpoint the only stable location within the entire realm, which was why it had suddenly appeared and tried to force its way into the island of safety.
Actually, the Void Seahorse was strong enough to search for other ways to return to reality even if the void around it collapsed. It was one of the few creatures that could survive within a collapsed void.
However, that required a significant amount of experience traveling between voids and living in that kind of environment.
Even though this Void Seahorse was strong enough, its experience was lacking. As such, despite its natural affinity for spatial voids, it could only attempt to seek harbor on Su Chen’s island. It was not capable of leaving on its own.
It forced its way headfirst into the island.
After entering the island, it actually even knew to turn around and fix the crack behind it before slumping onto the ground with a sigh of relief.
It seemed quite apparent that what had just happened had given it quite a bad surprise.
Then, it seemed to sense something and lifted its head, only to find Su Chen gazing right back at it.
The Void Seahorse immediately began to bristle.
However, it then noticed the Titan-Class puppets and Catastrophe Bugs that Su Chen had unleashed and began to tremble in fear.
Su Chen chuckled coldly. There was nothing he could do to a large group of Sovereigns, but he wasn’t afraid of a single lone Sovereign.
A moment later, however, Su Chen himself was also taken aback.
Because the Void Seahorse glanced at the wall behind it and pantomimed a slashing motion.
Even though it couldn’t speak, the threat it was making was crystal clear.
I might not be able to defeat you, but the consequences for fighting...... hehe.
“Dammit! I can’t believe I’m being threatened by a beast,” Su Chen cursed.
Even though Su Chen despised this feeling, he could not deny that there was nothing he could do.
The island was only so big. If the two of them were to truly begin to fight, the fluctuations alone would likely be enough to destroy the stability even if the Void Seahorse itself was incapable of doing anything.
Making peace was the best option under the circumstances.
“Fine. You stay there, and I’ll stay here.” Su Chen drew a line with his hand, dividing up the island.
The Void Seahorse wasn’t an idiot and nodded its head before lying down. Apparently, it seemed completely unafraid of an ambush from Su Chen.
At this point in time, the sky above the island had cracked completely.
The water within this area was all being sucked up into the sky out through the holes, headed for an unknown direction. As the void continued to fragment, all of the living creatures still present died.
Two hours later, the entire void had been completely emptied out. Only the island remained completely unperturbed.
A single patch of solid land floated through the void, and a stream circled around the island repeatedly and without end - the only motion in an otherwise deathly still empty void.
Su Chen and the Void Seahorse sat on the island, staring at each other.
After some time, Su Chen suddenly chuckled. “Well, we’re going to be here for a while. Are you prepared?”
The Void Seahorse snorted. Su Chen had no idea what it was trying to convey.
“Fine, it seems like my only company is this guy who doesn’t even know how to speak,” Su Chen muttered to himself.
“Hey, brat, what do you mean? Have you forgotten about me?” Diomedes suddenly spoke.
Su Chen said, “He’s at least alive, which is more than can be said about you. You’re nothing more than a ghost with lips.”
Diomedes was infuriated. “Shut your mouth! The Astrals are not ghosts!”
“There’s not really a big difference.”
Diomedes chuckled. “Kid, I have been imprisoned for twenty thousand years. There’s no reason for me to be dissatisfied with our current condition. After all, the only difference is that I’ve been imprisoned in a different place. But as for you, who don’t have control of the situation......”
Whoosh!
Su Chen pulled out a huge pile of resources from his Origin Ring, completely shutting Diomedes up. Diomedes stammered, “You...... you...... Why would you bring so many rations with you?”
“I got trapped like this before, so I made sure to be prepared this time,” Su Chen replied.
He had been trapped in the Ten Thousand Poisons Mountain before and had only managed to survive based on the food and water in his Origin Ring.
After that, Su Chen became even more paranoid about falling into this kind of a situation in the future. Because he had more than enough money, it was more than enough for him to bring a number of Origin Rings with him.
Surprisingly, this had actually happened again. Based on what Diomedes had seen, it was entirely possible that Su Chen would be able to survive for seven or eight years without issue.
This kid...... I really don’t understand him. How could he even be prepared for something like this? Diomedes was amazed.
“It seems like you are prepared to remain here for a while. If that’s the case, you’d better hope that your woman is able to find a way to save you. However, saving someone from a pure void is not easy. They need to be strong enough, as well as possess a modicum of understanding concerning spatial principles,” Diomedes chuckled.
“That’s why I’m not pinning all my hopes on them.” Su Chen put away the rations and stood up. He walked towards the boundary of the island and began to inspect it.
“This is...... the Arcanist’s Eye?” Diomedes eyesight was indeed sharp, and he was immediately able to figure out what Su Chen was doing.
A moment later, however, he shook his head. “I don’t know how you got your hands on one of those, but spatial Method Power is not something that the Arcanist’s Eye can give you.”
Su Chen replied, “Then what if I already have some comprehension of spatial Method Power?”
“What?” Diomedes was stunned. “That’s not possible. You aren’t strong enough......”
He hadn’t even finished speaking when Su Chen stuck his hand outside of the safe haven of the island.
A shocking scene unfolded.
This boundary should have been solid. If Su Chen wanted to stretch his hand past the border, he would need to destroy part of the barrier. However, Su Chen’s hand actually went right past the boundary, as if it didn’t exist at all.
Su Chen’s hand was extended in the void. Due to the strange flow of the void, it quickly withered and turned to ash.
Su Chen retrieved his hand and tapped it. With a crack, his entire right hand and wrist fell off onto the ground.
This was due to the frightening destructive power of the void. Any living organism would dissipate under the tearing force of the void, leaving behind only the inanimate components, like rocks.
In the outside void, many of the large rocks and other objects were floating aimlessly - the only objects in the outside void. They may have been seawater, Sea Beasts, or other lifeforms originally, but after the void had collapsed, all that remained were rocks.
Even though Su Chen had lost his hand, he didn’t mind.
Once his strength had reached this point, any lost limbs could be regenerated.
However, a faint trace of spatial fluctuations could be seen lingering on Su Chen’s wrist, making it impossible for his hand to regenerate.
That was exactly what Su Chen was looking for.
He gazed intently at his own wrist.
Method Power was not observed, but perceived.
But even though the microscopic eye couldn’t physically see Method Power, it could capture the effects that Method Power had on the surrounding objects. This would help him understand the existence of Method Power.
He sat there in deep thought, carefully analyzing his hand.
When Diomedes saw Su Chen’s actions, he began to understand as well.
“Using your own body to perceive Method Power, and even directly interacting with the void...... You do have some comprehension of spatial Method Power. But...... how is that possible?”
Diomedes couldn’t imagine how Su Chen had managed to comprehend Method Power at such a young age and with such a weak cultivation base.
This was something that not even peak-tier cultivators could achieve!
Su Chen had no time to take Diomedes’ shock into account. All he did was calmly observe and sense the traces of spatial power still fluctuating on his hand.
This was pure spatial power, strong enough to wipe out any living creature, but it did not exist under normal conditions. Su Chen was able to obtain it by merely sacrificing his hand, but as it undulated from Su Chen’s wrist, aggravating the wound, it was also consuming itself.
Very quickly, the strand of spatial power disappeared, and Su Chen’s perception came to an end.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been a fortuitous encounter. Whether or not a person could derive inspiration from this strand of spatial power depended on them, and if it was lost, it was lost forever.
However, because of Su Chen’s unique situation, he was surrounded by such strands of spatial power.
A thin barrier separated his island from the dangerous outside world, but it also gave Su Chen the opportunity to more deeply explore the void realm around him.
Once the spatial power disappeared, Su Chen’s hand began to grow back.
Very quickly, a perfect hand took shape.
Su Chen reached his hand out yet again, sensing the the spatial power obliterate the vitality in his hand, embracing the torturous pain as the spatial power tore through his hand.
After pulling it back, he could sense the spatial power persistently wearing down his arm.
He repeated this process again and again, constantly attempting to sense the spatial power around him.
His hand was destroyed and reborn again and again.
Once it had been consumed to a certain point, Su Chen would eat to restore the vitality he had lost, then continue in this way.
There was no sun or moon on the island, so it was impossible to tell how much time had passed. There was nothing to be done but to sit tight on the island and wait. Most people might have gone crazy due to the long period of isolation, and while Su Chen was mired in his research, Diomedes was incredibly bored, so he began to try and teach the Void Seahorse to speak.
The Deep Sea Sorrow was no longer suppressing the Void Seahorse’s intelligence. Under Diomedes’ instruction, the Void Seahorse’s intelligence began to gradually reemerge, and it began to speak.
Time flew by.
No one knew how much time had passed, but it almost felt like a full lifetime had passed.
Su Chen was still mired in his research.
His comprehension of space was becoming more and more thorough.
His hand was already capable of surviving for a certain amount of time even when extended in the void.
And when the destructive void rippled across his hand, it would merely change color slightly and sway as if being blown by a gentle wind. However, it would not be destroyed.
At this point, Su Chen could even stick his entire arm out of the protective barrier.