Chapter 1852
by 林方方Chapter 1852 Light Cone
According to Lin Qiye’s initial assumption, this maze shouldn’t have a path leading to the “future.” Everything was just fragments of time spreading outward from the point when the Gate of Truth was destroyed a hundred years ago… In other words, the starting point of this maze corresponds to the “present.”
But after hearing Lina’s description of this maze, Lin Qiye began to have doubts… Since this was an inverted pyramid, its top layer should occupy the largest area. Lin Qiye had been constantly seeking paths downward, with very limited exploration of the top layer.
Who could guarantee that in the top layer of this inverted pyramid, in places he hadn’t explored, there wasn’t a path leading to the “future”?
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Qiye still picked up Lina and walked toward the direction where he remembered the number “3” was located.
As he stepped onto an ice surface, the number “3” appeared beneath his feet. Lin Qiye looked back and could see all the numbers he had personally carved, because the time here was later than all the past ones.
But around the number “3,” there were no other sword marks left, because after Lin Qiye arrived here, he immediately turned back to explore in the direction of the “past.”
Lin Qiye began to explore continuously in the original manner, moving forward, left, and right, carving marks on the corresponding ice surfaces according to the sword mark numbers visible to him.
“-1.25”, “2.5”, “4”, “2.75”…
As the sword marks continued to spread around, Lin Qiye moved further and further away from the opposite direction of the “past.”
But looking across the entire ice field, less than half of the ice surfaces had sword marks carved on them… In other words, near the entrance of the maze, there was still a large area Lin Qiye hadn’t explored.
He continued moving around the river where they had entered the maze, but most of the numbers he carved still began with “-“. Time passed, and before he knew it, the largest number he had found had already become “37.”
When Lin Qiye stepped onto the last unmarked ice surface, he looked back and took in all the numbers at once.
He gently carved a number on the ice surface beneath his feet: “38.”
This was the farthest “future” Lin Qiye could find… but after he finished all this, nothing unusual happened.
The cold wind swept across the desolate ice field, and Lin Qiye stood motionless among the dense numbers.
“Sigh…” After who knows how long, he let out a long sigh.
It seemed his idea was wrong… There was nothing at the end of the “future.”
To break this deadlock, perhaps he needed to approach it from a different angle.
Just as Lin Qiye was frowning in thought, Lina’s eyelashes trembled slightly beside him, and after a moment, she slowly opened her eyes.
“You’re awake?” Lin Qiye’s voice sounded.
Lina held her forehead and struggled to sit up from the ice surface, her face somewhat pale.
“Where are we?”
“Near the entrance of the maze. Time is most fragmented here, so even Vishnu can’t find us.”
“Oh…”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine… just a bit of mental exhaustion. I need some time to recover.” Lina rubbed the corner of her eye.
Seeing this, Lin Qiye asked curiously, “How were you able to summon King Arthur?”
“He allowed me to summon him… and this Sword in the Stone originally possessed some time abilities that could connect the past him with me, allowing me to utilize a portion of his power. The only drawback is that my body can’t sustain it.”
“No wonder…” Lin Qiye nodded.
Lina’s peripheral vision caught the surroundings, noticing the sword marks all over the ground, and confusion appeared in her eyes: “What are you doing?”
“Looking for the end of the ‘future’…”
Lin Qiye explained his idea, and after thinking for a moment, she shook her head:
“This method alone won’t work… Time fragments don’t just exist on a plane; they’re three-dimensional. For example, beyond a few meters above our heads is another time. Trying to find the end of the ‘future’ through this exhaustive method would require too much time and energy.”
Lin Qiye was stunned and looked up at the void above, frowning slightly: “I see… If that’s the case, the workload is indeed too great.”
But then, as if remembering something, he looked at Lina, “Your Sword in the Stone can sense the flow of time, right? Can you find the direction of the ‘future’?”
Lina thought for a moment, “I’ll try.”
She gripped the hilt of the Sword in the Stone with her slender fingers, closed her eyes to sense for a moment, and then somewhat uncertainly pointed toward the space above Lin Qiye.
“It seems… right above you. I’m not sure how high it is.”
Right above?
Lin Qiye looked up at the sky, where chaotic light and shadows also covered the space above, making one dizzy just by looking at it.
“Let’s go up and see.” The wings on Lin Qiye’s back spread open, and with a powerful flap, his figure immediately soared upward. Lina, holding the Sword in the Stone, followed closely behind!
Five meters, ten meters, one hundred meters, two hundred meters…
As they continued to ascend, Lin Qiye passed through countless time fragments, experiencing brief moments of dizziness that made it difficult to discern direction, but he still endured the discomfort and flew straight upward!
Just as he passed through a time fragment, a mysterious faint light flashed, and both figures simultaneously vanished without a trace!
…
Lin Qiye felt his vision blur, and the world around him transformed into black and white.
At this moment, even gravity disappeared, and a feeling of weightlessness surrounded his heart. He flapped his wings and looked back, seeing countless drifting time fragments silently flickering in this black and white world.
From a distance, these time fragments gathered together looked like a light cone. The apex of the cone was a broken doorway, from which countless time fragments were released, spreading outward. The further from the doorway, the more fragmented and dense the time became.
If viewed from an inverted perspective, it wasn’t much different from the inverted pyramid Lina had described.
“So this is the full view of the time maze…” Lin Qiye murmured, looking at the light cone before him.
As he had thought, the entire time maze was created by the breaking of the Gate of Truth a hundred years ago, spanning a century of history. They had been continuously passing through these time fragments earlier.
Lin Qiye flapped his wings, carrying Lina from the edge of the light cone, constantly approaching the Gate of Truth at the apex. If they wanted, they could even directly enter any time fragment from here.
“What… exactly is this place?” Lina stared at the scene in bewilderment, her eyes full of confusion.