Night fell, Twin Abyss Palace.

"Speaking of which, is Fangyuan Cicada a code name shared by several Great Skills?"

Facing Igula's question, the Dark Snake Twins shook their heads, "The exclusive name of a Great Skill, even if it's among the same forces with the same ideologies, only specific word suffixes like 'Transcend,' 'Twin,' 'Tribulation' will be shared, not the entire name."

"Aren't you two high-ranking members of the Twin Cult?" Harvey leaned against the coffin and asked, "Why are you free enough to stay here?"

"The Twin Abyss is the most important affair of the cult," the Dark Snake Twins replied flawlessly, "and only we have the capability to monitor outsiders like you."

"Strange." Igula frowned, "The way it's written here, Fangyuan Cicada seems still to exist, and experiments can even be conducted on it..."

"Fangyuan Cicada indeed still exists."

Everyone turned their heads, looking toward the ever-silent, meditating Black Crow.

"I once pursued an Evil Crow who held a Gray Fox relic that could instantly kill anyone below the Holy Domain. Due to the destruction of his cult, his right side became gangrenous, and he was insanely cruel and cunning, slaughtering several towns and enjoying shaving the right halves of living humans clean. Kalan, Tanomu, and I ambushed and killed him." The tone of Black Crow's voice did not fluctuate with anger, and the word "killed" must have encompassed many cruel punishments that might have dispelled his anger, "Tanomu found that the relic of the Evil Crow, which could instantly kill people, was actually a box containing a body part of a Great Skill."

"That limb belonged to Fangyuan Cicada. Anyone tainted by the aura of Fangyuan Cicada would rapidly age and corrode, which was the secret of the Gray Fox relic."

The Dark Snake Twins asked, "How are you so sure it was Fangyuan Cicada?"

"Tanomu said so, she is a Prophet Mage." Black Crow said, "She has always been right."

"Can Great Skills also dissect limbs?" Harvey seemed more interested in this.

"Not anymore, if anyone could do it, the news would surely spread," said the Dark Snake Twins, "But if it was during the Gray Fox Era... Wait, the believers of Fangyuan Cicada would never treat Fangyuan Cicada like this, so does it mean the experimenters here do not believe in Fangyuan Cicada? How did a Fangyuan Cicada without believers survive?"

"Faith is not just devoutness," Igula said, "It seems they intend to evolve Fangyuan Cicada."

The Dark Snake Twins said, "How could a Great Skill even evolve?"

"Didn't I say? They concluded that the way to Eternal Life is to become a Great Skill with Wisdom. But then again, there doesn't seem to be any problem with that."

Everyone was startled, and the Dark Snake Twins furrowed their brows together, "They want Fangyuan Cicada to awaken Wisdom?"

"That's right." Igula nodded, "But this plan seems to have been ultimately scrapped. Firstly, they found that the only resource that could enhance the Wisdom of a Great Skill was the Mage itself, but consuming several of the Holy Domain seemed to have no effect; secondly, the tendencies of Fangyuan Cicada's changes seemed far different from what they anticipated."

What changes?

However, the Swindler did not continue, he sat in a chair, put down the documents in his hands, and said, "You can take these documents back now."

The Dark Snake Twins immediately asked, "Don't need them anymore?"

"We can't analyze anything more." Igula leaned against the table, his voice subdued, "In the end, even if we know the secrets of the trial, so what? We simply have no means to affect the Abyss, knowing too much is just satisfying our curiosity..."

He turned his head and glanced at Tamasi, "Might as well be like that Black Crow, sitting aside and meditating, waiting for the results."

"Busy for several days, and still we end up with nothing." Igula tapped the table lightly with his fingers, spoke softly, "I'm tired. Harvey, let Alice come out, I'll go sleep in the coffin for a while."

Harvey frowned at him—That's really rude, my coffin isn't something you just sleep in whenever you say so.

However, at this moment, the Dark Snake Twins' expression showed struggle, they couldn't help but say:

"Actually, it's not like..."

"If..."

It worked.

The corners of Igula's mouth slowly lifted.

...

Ash and Weiser watched the Legendary 'Time Gear' of the Gray Fox, Mace.

Weren't you already rushing up there a moment ago, how are you still here!?

Yet Mace showed no shame in sending himself to his death, he stared intently at Fangyuan Cicada, murmuring, "Could this be the plan of the Fangyuan Cicada cult? Or is it the change after it consumed us? But how could that be, how could a Great Skill..."

Ash found it strange and couldn't help asking Silver Lamp, "What's wrong with Fangyuan Cicada casting?"

Weiser replied, "Casting is the exclusive right of Technique Spirits."

"And not just any ordinary Technique Spirits."

Scatty's voice came from behind, this Legendary seemed to still hold some fondness for them, "Fangyuan Cicada instantly recovers from injuries by reversing time, returning to a state where it wasn't injured. Those people turned into skeletons because their time was fixed decades into the future, hence they instantly became skeletons."

"Not aging, nor recovering, both are continuous time processes, meaningless to those with life forms immune to the Flowing Gold River's water. Fangyuan Cicada captures its own 'fate' through the river of time and then switches it, which is why it takes effect instantly." She couldn't hide her astonishment and longing in her voice, "Capturing decades of fate through time, this is already the realm of Divine Beings..."

"It might not necessarily be the case," Mace suddenly said, "When it was casting, it consumed a lot of water from the Flowing Gold River. Under normal circumstances, even with the support of a Legendary Mage's Magic Power, it could probably only adjust ten seconds of fate, unless someone could carry a whole Flowing Gold River around."

"It seems to be at the Four-winged Technique Spirit level, but it possesses the power of a Five-winged Divine Being," he said, "Even though Fangyuan Cicada might be an anomaly, it's an unprecedented discovery, if we can make it out alive…"

Just thinking about it, Ash realized this was a revolutionary technological breakthrough.

Even if it only transformed a Great Skill into a Four-winged Technique Spirit, the mere ability to consistently obtain Four-winged Technique Spirits was extraordinary. Not to mention, these Technique Spirits could be custom-made!

Whatever obsession one has, could cultivate the corresponding Great Skill, which in turn would evolve into the respective Technique Spirit!

Take, for example, the Fangyuan Cicada, a time and fate dual-system Technique Spirit, impossible for a Mage to summon on their own, only encountered by chance in the Void Realm. In the Distant Realm, you would first encounter relevant word suffixes, then encounter the rewards for those suffix bubbles, and then draw one out... Every Mage who owns such a rare Technique Spirit has likely experienced thousands of shipwrecks, possibly encountering one rare Technique Spirit in decades.

Compared to luck, this technology to customize rare Technique Spirits could drive every Legendary Mage mad!

But the problem is that this procedure requires the consumption of Mages with obsessions. However, as long as a special environment is constructed to let these Mages voluntarily become Great Skills, then...

Ash paused, suddenly realizing this wasn't anything novel.

At that moment, Silver Lamp impatiently tugged at him, and Ash noticed everyone had moved a good distance ahead. Since many had died, many tributaries of the Flowing Gold River had closed, slowing the flow considerably, and their advance limit had naturally extended quite a bit.

"Mace, you despicable little man! You tricked so many into dying just now, and you dare make a move now!" Up ahead, another battle broke out, a Legendary roared, "We absolutely cannot keep you around, let's feed him to the cicada!"

"You didn't rush forward either; you wanted to see if others would succeed first, didn't you? I'm just doing the same as you," Mace said, "There will be no cooperation now, everyone wants to kill others to slow the flow and make the Fangyuan Cicada stop to consume. Whether you die or I die, they can accept it. Why would they help you?"

Ash looked back and indeed, the Fangyuan Cicada was catching up. Although the Golden Cicada was not fast, they were slow themselves, and with swimming limits, they'd eventually become an all-you-can-eat buffet for the Fangyuan Cicada.

Soon, Mace won, and the Legendary with broken limbs floated downstream; his blood, surprisingly azure, likely used a fantasy system similar to Dragon Blood to strengthen himself. The Fangyuan Cicada got a new snack and stopped to slowly enjoy it.

Ash and Weiser cautiously stayed back, and when they saw Mace turn his head towards them, their hearts skipped a beat, but Mace quickly turned back, continuing to swim forward.

The river churned, splashing waves around.

Suddenly, the first in line, the Legendary Yibar Chein, unexpectedly stagnated.

He did more than stop; as Mace, Scatty, and others passed him, he went backward, washed back by the Flowing Gold River.

Everyone glanced at him, understanding what had happened.

It wasn't about the speed or limits, but willpower.

If willpower were a blade, the sharper it was, the more capable it was of splitting the Flowing Gold River. But blades are subject to wear and rust, and once they rust, they can no longer be used.

Only the sharpest will could reach the other shore through the endless years of washing by the Flowing Gold River; only the toughest will could endure to the end.

Perhaps he was tired, or maybe that was just the extent he could reach—in any case, Yibaqian's will had rusted. He couldn't even maintain his self-awareness and lost his fighting spirit with a single wash from the Flowing Gold River.

He was doomed.

He seemed to realize this, turning his head to look at the people behind him, his eyes filled with a gray intent to die.

"Let's die together!" Yibaqian roared, letting the Flowing Gold River wash over him, completely giving up on protecting himself and attacking the Trialists behind him in a frenzy!

But no one entangled themselves with him; whether blocking or dodging, as long as they passed him, Yibaqian would be swept away.

"You must die, Moyu!"

However, Yibaqian seemed to have a grudge against someone named Moyu, directly grabbing him, biting and locking with his legs, not letting go even when an eye was poked out!

The two were embraced, swept down together. Ash and Weiser naturally swam far to the other side to avoid them, however when Yibaqian saw them, he opened his blood-filled eyes and roared, "How can I be worse than the Holy Domain!"

Even as Ash and Weiser promptly tried to block them, the combined force of Yibaqian, Moyu, and the water was something they couldn't withstand!

Boom!

Ash and Weiser were directly knocked away, and not only that, but as Yibaqian wanted more people to die with him, Moyu hoped to stop by grabbing them; thus, they both reached out trying to capture the weaker Holy Domain members!

Both were grabbed, and Ash immediately pulled out his sword, trying to chop off Yibaqian's hand, but Yibaqian conveniently grabbed his right shoulder from behind and nearly crushed his shoulder blade. It was too difficult to use the sword in this position, and ordinary stabbing probably wouldn't make this crazy Legendary let go!

In desperation, he looked to the side at Silver Lamp, who was grabbed by the leg by Moyu, and forcefully slashed down, precisely cutting Moyu's tendons, causing him to lose strength and let go.

Silver Lamp escaped from danger, she looked at Ash, her lifesaver, and Ash too looked at her fox mask. Ash was still being dragged by Yibaqian, looking as if he were about to be swept into the maw of Fangyuan Cicada.

Ash stretched out his left hand, Weiser grabbed it quickly and drew near, then unleashed the lock chain whip to crush Yibaqian's wrist ulna like crushing an egg!

Finally, Yibaqian let go, and he and Moyu were both swept in front of the Fangyuan Cicada.

Having just finished its last snack, the Fangyuan Cicada paused, then emitted a joyful cry to thank the bounty of the Flowing Gold River.

Ash and Weiser halted their momentum, they didn't speak, didn't rest, didn't exchange glances, but struggled to swim forward in the Flowing Gold River. Only this time, they seemed to swim a bit faster than before.

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