CHAPTER 357: CHAPTER 136: LAND SAILING

The brilliant radiance lifts and spills over, like the divine kingdom on earth, infusing every corner of the cold steel with a sense of sacredness.

Secret Energy: Touch of Revelation.

This Secret Energy belongs to the Secret Revelation School, allowing Belli to bypass the boundary between reality and illusion, directly touching the Alchemy Matrix, interfering with it microscopically, precisely controlling the transformation of metals and the adjustment of the Alchemy Matrix.

Unfortunately, unlike Aimou’s Shared Chord Body that can be used both for research and enhancing combat, Belli’s Secret Energy is largely limited to research applications.

She has also tried using Secret Energy to harm enemies, but with the existence of Rectangular Soul Critical and Ethereum Mutual Exclusion, Belli’s Secret Energy finds it difficult to break through their constraints to directly cause damage to enemies.

This led Belli to completely abandon the idea of becoming an Alchemy Sword Saint, opting instead to earnestly continue with her research.

"So tired..."

Belli gasped for air, her hands drooping by her sides as the scalpel she held dissipated into golden dust with the release of Secret Energy.

For every Alchemist, conducting a ceremony is never an easy task; it requires not only professional knowledge, but also intense concentration, and under those conditions, precise manipulation of the fusion of Alchemy Materials and Ether, ultimately overlapping with Bologue’s body, mind, and spirit.

This made Belli somewhat nostalgic for her teacher; with Teda around, she only needed to be an assistant.

"Alright, check his status data."

Belli called out to the assistant nearby, several electrode patches stuck to Bologue’s chest, cables extending to the devices on both sides, with the numbers steadily fluctuating over time.

The hardest phase is now over; it’s just a matter of waiting for Bologue’s transformation to complete.

What’s more surprising to Belli is that the ceremony is proceeding unexpectedly smoothly.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Belli looked curiously at Bologue lying on the operating table.

Everything related to the Debtor is never that simple, let alone Bologue, who inherited the Power of Dominator; with the uncontrollability of last time’s box, Belli made ample preparations before the ceremony, and it seems those preparations might be unnecessary now.

Bologue had his eyes tightly shut, the pain sweeping through his body, mind, and spirit no longer present; at this moment, his expression was unexpectedly calm, as if he had fallen into slumber.

Is this guy asleep?

Belli scrutinized Bologue, filled with curiosity, but she also understood the importance of the ceremony, so she just stood guard beside the operating table, waiting for Bologue to awaken.

High concentrations of Ether shrouded the surroundings, occasionally forming golden droplets out of thin air, reminiscent of a light drizzle, which landed on Bologue’s body and were promptly absorbed, replenishing the depleted Alchemy Matrix.

Upon closer observation, one could notice that Bologue’s flesh seemed to exhibit slight transparency, as if the light was distorted; his corporeal body replaced by some form of manifest energy.

This is the body Etherealization brought about by the Trial of Salt, where the mortal body gradually ascends, and pure Ether fills the weakness inherent in mortality.

The benefits of the Trial of Sulfur are hard to observe, but from the values on the equipment, Bologue’s mental state was very stable, which was a positive sign.

As for the benefits from the Trial of Mercury, they were very evident now; under the trial’s support, Red Mercury further solidified Bologue’s soul, expanding this foundational stone, and the Alchemy Matrix covering the soul received further growth.

The most direct feedback was the continuously absorbed Ether, with golden raindrops permeating into Bologue’s Alchemy Matrix, smoothing out its gaps.

Trinity returns to stability.

"Perfect!"

Belli silently gave herself a thumbs up, indeed a genius.

What follows is merely waiting; waiting for Bologue to wake up. Taking a few laps around the operating table, Belli suddenly stopped, leaned over, and observed Bologue.

Bologue appeared to be really asleep, unaware of what kind of dream he now had.

Belli squinted her eyes, seemingly plotting some mischief, but just as she was about to act, Bologue moved.

Bologue’s body shook violently, as if he had stepped into emptiness in his sleep; he furrowed his brows, sweat seeping from his forehead, seemingly undergoing some nightmare.

"Values are out of control!"

A tense voice sounded from the side, a cliff-edge change in values occurred, and Bologue’s state instantly spiraled out of control.

"What’s going on?"

Belli was caught off guard by the sudden anomaly; everything was going so smoothly, but Belli wasn’t easily frightened. Although her Tier wasn’t high, she was still the current director.

She waved her hand, the brilliance of the Ether rising along her arm, then the drizzle transformed into a torrential rainstorm.

A large amount of Ether was liquefied, then rushed towards Bologue, as Belli promptly pressed the button next to the operating table, various Alchemy Potions injected into Bologue’s body through pre-embedded needles.

For different patients, different treatment plans are required. Belli didn’t care about Bologue’s life or death, only about the stability of his Alchemy Matrix. Therefore, the side effects of these Alchemy Potions were extremely severe, but the effects were equally apparent. In just a few breaths, Bologue’s condition returned to stability.

Belli looked at the nightmare-engulfed Bologue with melancholy, reaching out to gently stroke his cheek.

"What exactly are you dreaming of?"

Bologue stood before the blazing white storm, which seemed to represent the end of the world, the end of all things. The howling wind pulled at everything, dragging them into the pitch-black eye of the storm, returning them to nothingness.

The light dust that spilled out like smoke also wove into brilliant light bands under its pull, as if filling the night sky with auroras.

Bologue was fascinated by this breathtaking scenery, but he also understood the layers of danger hidden beneath this beautiful scene.

"What exactly are you?"

Bologue gazed at the blazing white storm for a long time, until his pupil was filled with the storm as if it were a mirror, and his blue eyes were completely overshadowed by darkness.

A sense of being pulled surged from his heart, as if his soul was about to be yanked out of his body. Bologue, as if compelled by a ghost or spirit, stepped forward, with overlapping shadows appearing on his body, as if those shadows were the soul detaching from his shell.

Bologue advanced forward, seemingly walking on a desolate icefield. Soon after, he saw many silhouettes, moving towards the storm just like himself.

No... something’s not right...

Can’t keep moving forward, can’t...

Bologue instinctively resisted, but he couldn’t control his body. He was already captured by the storm and could only step forward mechanically, just like those illusory silhouettes, forever lost here.

Damn it!

Bologue cursed in his heart, still remembering Belli’s warning, but just like a crow’s mouth, as soon as she spoke of being lost, he seemed to have encountered such a situation now.

"So... are you the Secret Source?"

Bologue retained a sliver of clarity, looking ferociously at the massive, world-devouring storm.

No one responded.

The sound of glass shattering echoed from within his body. Bologue looked at his palm, and different shadows appeared on his body. If he was right, his soul was about to be dragged out.

The storm devoured the blazing white smoke dust billowing between heaven and earth, and his vision cleared. Countless silhouettes appeared around Bologue. They stood like ice sculptures in place, some roaring, some weeping, some curled into a ball unwilling to face such reality.

As the soul gradually tore away from his body, Bologue clearly observed that from where the shadows detached, his body was constantly crystallizing, slowly covering it until he became one of these dead ones.

Suddenly, a distant thunderclap rang out. Bologue stiffly turned his head, looking behind him. He still remembered those towering black shadows and the crimson eyes numbering hundreds and thousands.

They were supposed to be driven away, collapsing under the blazing white storm, but now Bologue saw with his own eyes how the majestic figures rose up, seemingly gazing at him. Then, a massive ship’s anchor broke through layers of the snowy storm, fiercely smashing down in front of him.

The chains pulled taut, the rusted anchor dragged backward, crushing countless dead figures, scattering the howling wind as if navigating through earthly waters.

No one told Bologue what to do, but instinctively, Bologue raised his crystallized arm and when the anchor dragged past him, he grabbed onto the protrusion, and shortly after, he was pulled along, smashing through the whirling snow dust. Broken corpse fragments hit his face, yet he did not let go until he broke free of the storm’s pull.

Straight ahead, crashing into darkness, returning to the world of the living.

Bologue suddenly sat up, as if awakening from a nightmare, sitting on the operating table and gasping violently.

His chest heaved incessantly, cold sweat covering his forehead, as if he had just gone through a life-and-death battle, the whole person carrying an air of unreality.

After a brief daze, Bologue felt his body, repeatedly confirming he was still alive. Realizing he had escaped from that damned space, he finally relaxed, letting out a long sigh of relief.

"What are you all looking at?"

Bologue noticed the eyes around him. The researchers had stopped their work, looking at Bologue in shock, with some gesturing excitedly.

Were they shocked because he had completed the triple trials in one go? Were these people really so inexperienced?

Just as Bologue was deeply puzzled, a researcher calmed down and pointed beside Bologue. He turned his head to look.

He saw Belli lying on the ground, clutching her head, curling up in pain.

"Bologue... you bastard..."

Angry eyes peeked out from between fingers, a mournful cry of unwillingness rang out.

In the instant Bologue stood up, he delivered a vicious headbutt that knocked Belli over, clean and ruthless in his actions.