novelraw Chapter 535: The Battlefield of the Eighth Ring
Chapter 535: The Battlefield of the Eighth Ring
Chapter 535: The Battlefield of the Eighth Ring
After their initial amazement, Jie Ming and Viola almost simultaneously regained their composure.
The two exchanged a glance without unnecessary words and immediately focused all their attention on the nearby light screen, working together to monitor two situations at once.
One was Clark’s condition.
The gray-white figure within the sphere of spiritual light had its eyes slightly closed, as if sinking into a profound meditation.
Vast amounts of spiritual power extended from his body like invisible tentacles, tightly intertwining with the soul of the entire plane.
The other was the operation of the array.
Data from over a hundred key nodes scrolled rapidly across the light screen. The energy flow through every line had to be maintained within a stable range. If any abnormality appeared, they must immediately force the connection between Clark and the plane to disconnect and “pull” their mentor out of that state.
This was their most important task at the moment.
Jie Ming stared at Clark on the light screen, his brows slightly furrowed.
His mentor’s condition… was strange.
It was not unstable. On the contrary, it was too stable.
Logically, the first time establishing a connection with such a massive plane soul, there should have been a difficult adaptation process.
He would need to constantly adjust the frequency of his spiritual power output, repeatedly probe the state of the plane soul, and carefully avoid having his own consciousness overwhelmed by the vast spirituality.
But Clark had done none of that.
He simply floated there quietly, as if he had been inherently one with this plane from the beginning.
Those details that should have required repeated grinding and adjustment seemed to not exist for him at all.
Moreover…
Jie Ming noticed that Clark’s expression was not one of intoxication from “controlling great power,” nor the focus of “full exertion.” It was more like he was savoring something.
Like a researcher encountering a brand-new theory for the first time, carefully chewing over its profound mysteries.
“What is Mentor doing?” Viola had also noticed the anomaly and muttered softly.
Jie Ming shook his head without speaking.
In the next moment, Clark on the light screen moved.
It was an extremely subtle action: his eyelids trembled lightly, and his right index finger lifted slightly.
But on the surface of the plane, in the shared vision Jie Ming and Viola received through Clark, a sudden change occurred!
The torrent of death energy frozen in mid-air and the antimatter explosion tide locked in stasis began moving toward the same direction at the same instant.
Toward the highest point of the plane, where the four “suns” were located.
At the highest reaches of the plane’s sky.
This area was already close to the edge of the plane barrier.
Because the elements in this plane were extremely sparse, the so-called “plane barrier” was almost nonexistent.
It was merely a slightly distorted transparent membrane, barely separating the thin air inside from the endless chaotic void outside.
Through that thin membrane, one could vaguely see the twisted and eerie colors of the chaotic void beyond, along with the never-ending elemental turbulence.
Four figures floated just below this membrane.
They were millions of kilometers apart from one another.
For mortals, this was an astronomical distance.
But for eighth-ring wizards, this distance could not be any closer.
The two eighth-ring wizards from the Noren Workshop, Noren and the recently advanced Anton Buchanan, watched the opposing side warily.
On the other side, the eighth-ring wizard of the Chaos Secret Cult, known as the “Cult Leader,” stood shoulder to shoulder with the eighth-ring wizard of the Tower of Annihilation.
The four figures floated quietly in the void, surrounded by unimaginably surging energy.
That energy was so vast that even the slight leakage of elemental power made them appear from afar like four true suns—blazing, dazzling, and impossible to look at directly.
Occasionally, an attack would be launched from one side.
The form of these attacks had already transcended the scope of conventional witchcraft.
Sometimes it was a fluctuation that twisted laws, sometimes a ripple that tampered with cause and effect, and sometimes it was simply a sphere of pure nothingness capable of annihilating everything.
The other side would correspondingly defend, evade, or counterattack.
However, both sides’ exchanges were unexpectedly restrained.
After all, at this level, the aftershocks of every clash were enough to instantly shatter an ordinary plane.
They had to carefully control the scope of their power release to avoid truly destroying this battlefield.
Not only because this plane was the battlefield planned by the Star Ring Federation, but also because there were still millions of their own wizards below.
From the current situation, the Noren Workshop side was faintly at a disadvantage.
After all, Anton Buchanan had only recently advanced to the eighth ring.
Although his talent was unquestionable, anyone who could reach the eighth ring was a genius of unparalleled aptitude.
In terms of accumulated knowledge, depth of laws, and understanding of eighth-ring level combat, he still had a clear gap compared to the two veteran eighth-ring wizards from the Chaos Secret Cult and the Tower of Annihilation.
It was only thanks to Noren constantly providing support and sharing the pressure that they barely maintained balance.
But this balance was ultimately fragile.
At a certain moment, all four figures’ movements paused slightly at the same time.
They had sensed it.
The changes happening below.
The frozen torrent of death energy.
The locked antimatter explosion tide.
And… the rising, overwhelmingly vast plane spirituality.
“Someone is awakening the entire plane,” the Cult Leader’s voice transmitted through spiritual power into the mind of the Tower of Annihilation’s eighth-ring wizard “Annihilation,” carrying a trace of solemnity. “And it has already succeeded.”
Annihilation did not speak, but his figure had already begun to descend slightly.
He intended to go down personally to deal with this change.
However, two figures simultaneously blocked his path.
It was Noren and Anton Buchanan.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Noren’s voice was calm yet carried unquestionable resolve.
Annihilation narrowed his eyes, and the aura around him suddenly turned dangerous.
At that moment, Anton Buchanan moved.
His figure blurred slightly.
Then, a young child stepped out from the body of the young adult Anton Buchanan.
Immediately after, a teenager, a middle-aged man, and an elderly man…
Four figures appeared in the void simultaneously.
The child had clear eyes and an innocent smile.
The teenager was full of vigor and sharp edge.
The middle-aged man was steady as a mountain, his gaze profound.
The elderly man had white hair and a calm bearing.
More importantly, the aura of each of these four figures was identical to Anton Buchanan’s original body!
Judging from their active spirituality and spiritual fluctuations, there was no doubt—they were not clones.
Each one was the original body!
This was the ultimate technique Anton Buchanan had mastered upon advancing to the eighth ring.
He pulled projections of himself from different time dimensions into reality simultaneously, allowing his past, present, and future selves to fight together at the same moment!
It could be said that the effect of this technique was quite astonishing.
However, Annihilation had no mood to admire it. His figure blurred as he attempted to break through.
Anton’s five figures acted without hesitation at the same time!
Vast elemental power erupted like a tsunami. Relying on absolute strength, they not only firmly blocked Annihilation who was trying to descend but even forced the Cult Leader back several steps!
In the blink of an eye, both sides had exchanged countless blows.
Thanks to Anton Buchanan’s sudden burst, the two eighth-ring wizards from the Noren Workshop temporarily gained the upper hand with six against two!
But unfortunately, because he had not yet fully mastered this technique, Anton Buchanan’s state only lasted a few short seconds.
Anton Buchanan’s face turned visibly pale at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The four figures began to flicker and blur, ultimately shattering and dissipating like illusions, leaving only the original young adult body. His aura had weakened by more than half.
He had paid a heavy price to forcibly hold back the enemy.
But it had been enough.
Because in those few seconds of delay, the changes below had already been completed.
Clark’s connection with the plane soul had become completely stable.
The rising plane spirituality marked that this plane had been fully taken under control.
The expressions of the Cult Leader and Annihilation both turned ugly at the same time.
If it had been an ordinary living plane, even a super-large one, they as eighth-ring wizards would not have taken it seriously.
The gap between the eighth ring and the sixth ring was a difference in quality.
But the problem was that they could sense the one controlling this living plane was a sixth-ring wizard.
Moreover, not an ordinary sixth-ring wizard.
It was Clark, the one marked with the word “Dangerous” in both of their intelligence reports.
If an ordinary sixth-ring wizard manipulating a living plane was like a child swinging a giant hammer—although the hammer was heavy, the child could not exert its true power.
Then Clark manipulating a living plane was like a martial arts expert swinging the same giant hammer.
He could fully and thoroughly, even beyond normal limits, unleash the entire power of this plane!
Just like right now!
The two torrents of death energy and the antimatter explosion mass were being controlled as they hurtled toward the Cult Leader and Annihilation.
The Cult Leader snorted coldly and reached out with a grasping motion in the void.
His spiritual power attempted to forcibly reclaim control over the death energy torrent.
After all, it had originally been collected by the Chaos Secret Cult. In theory, he should be able to regain mastery over it.
Annihilation also acted at the same time, attempting to re-detonate the antimatter explosion mass.
However…
The moment those two masses of energy came into contact with the two men’s spiritual power, they suddenly deformed!
The death energy was compressed, reshaped, and redefined.
The antimatter explosion mass was contained, converted, and restructured.
In the blink of an eye, they were no longer in their original bizarre and dangerous forms. Instead, they had become two ordinary, giant energy orbs composed purely of elemental energy.
Each one was the size of a mountain range and contained power capable of destroying heaven and earth.
Then, they smashed straight toward the Cult Leader and Annihilation!
Even eighth-ring wizards had to treat such a direct frontal bombardment seriously.
The two were forced to divert a large amount of their attention to neutralize the two incoming energy orbs.
Undoubtedly, Noren and Anton Buchanan would never waste this opportunity!
The two figures surged forward at the same time. Taking advantage of the enemy’s momentary distraction, they launched a storm-like barrage of attacks!
The Cult Leader was entangled by Anton Buchanan and could not break free for the moment.
Annihilation was suppressed by Noren and gradually fell into a disadvantage.
The tide of battle had reversed in a short time.