NOVEL NEXT Chapter 333: The Power of Time and Space
Lu Jun's spirit shook, he knew the real action was coming.
"I am ready," he said solemnly. "I will not let you down."
Elder Mina's face was full of exhaustion, but upon hearing this he felt a slight relief and said briskly, "Then we must not delay, I will take you there now."
He then handed the remaining cleanup tasks to the other elders and, without pause, took Lu Jun back to the Elder Council's residence.
This time, the two did not go to the Summoning Institute, but instead entered the neighboring Space Institute — a silver-white, exquisitely simple spire.
In the hall, Lu Jun saw a heroic dark-skinned beauty. Putana was covered in insect blood, yet her face remained calm, her killing aura sharp and commanding respect.
It was obvious that she had also participated in the recent Amazon insect tide assault.
"Father." Putana looked at Elder Mina, then swept her gaze to Lu Jun beside him. Her eyes softened, and she respectfully said, "The space priests are all prepared."
Elder Mina stroked his beard, his gaze moving back and forth between the two of them, and sighed, "You've worked hard, Putana."
Lu Jun sensed Mina's scrutiny, but his expression did not change. He lowered his head and pretended not to notice. During his stay at the Elder Council, he had long heard that Mina intended to pair Putana with him — "Lu Jun."
But he would never accept it. Not only did he feel nothing, but this world was both real and illusory; the karmic ties were too great, and it was unwise to be too deeply entangled.
Mina seemed to also recall that now was not the time for romance, at least not until the demon disaster was resolved.
The elder's face turned serious as he asked Lu Jun one last time, "Have you truly made up your mind?"
Lu Jun was unconcerned and instead urged, "Please begin as soon as possible."
"Very well!" Mina said in a deep voice. "The Empire is proud of you. Regardless of success or failure, you are a hero of the people."
When the three of them stepped into the core of the Space Institute, Lu Jun saw before him a circular hall. The walls on all sides were pure silver, sealed tight without a crack.
In the center stood a stone altar, surrounded by several silver-robed priests. They held in their hands clusters of silver light, veins bulging on their foreheads, sweat pouring down their faces.
Looking closely, Lu Jun realized that what the space priests were holding was not light clusters, but miniature three-dimensional ring-shaped spaces, outlined by simple curves of silver thread, within which flowed a dim and transparent condensed liquid.
"This is…?"
Lu Jun was astonished. Putana, standing beside him, explained, "These are powers of time and space that were sealed away. When the Empire first obtained the Eye of Time and Space, we once forcefully cracked it open, which provoked an intense reaction from the Eye."
"The energy that erupted was fortunately collected by a Forbidden Curse mage of the Space element and used for research."
"But the power of time and space is extremely difficult to preserve. We discovered that no material in the world could contain it, and much was lost in the process. Only by using human effort to create a sealed miniature space could it be contained."
"That is why we say that the Space element is the most compatible with the Eye of Time and Space."
Hearing this, Lu Jun's mouth twitched — he didn't know how to even begin ridiculing it. Such a clumsy method, with the air of primitive, subjective research.
"So, what results have you achieved?"
Lu Jun asked casually.
To his surprise, Elder Mina pondered for a moment, then replied awkwardly, "We have merely conducted various practical-level experiments using the power of time and space — for example, infusing it into materials can grant them certain temporal-spatial properties, such as restoration through reversal, and so on."
"Uh, as for using it on mages — we have tried that too. We found that when time-space energy is infused into other magic elements, it cannot be restored, but no matter what, the Space element can always recover."
"The predecessor who tried it first had his Space element cultivation frozen, unable to progress an inch. It seemed that over time, as the energy dissipated, it slowly returned to normal."
…Lu Jun was speechless. Damn it, no properties changed at all, just crude human experimentation — so why call me here?
Of course, regarding that last part, he was somewhat thoughtful. Wasn't this similar to his situation with his Water, Metal, and Curse elements? The only difference was that all his non-Space magic elements could still recover.
After a month's wear, the years-old shadow that had occupied half of Lu Jun's spiritual world had faded, and on the other half of the hourglass there occasionally flickered a mysterious new luster.
"Hey, hey, hey." Elder Mina seemed to guess his thoughts and hurriedly said, "Don't be impatient. There is something called absorption rate, and through our secret testing, your digestion capacity is among the strongest batch."
"In addition, with your rare combination of Summoning, Space, and Psychic elements in one body, you are the most suitable candidate to come into contact with the Eye of Time and Space. Time is running out; we have no choice but to forcefully initiate the plan."
These words were true — the Incan Empire's ultimate goal was to use the Eye of Time and Space to complete the infinite replication summoning plan.
While there were many candidates suited for a single element, one who could carry the potential for new methods in all three elements existed in only one person.
However, Lu Jun had his doubts. The unsealing date of his ancient royal armor robe was not far off. If more time-space energy were infused, what if it reinforced the seal?
Fortunately, Elder Mina spoke at just the right moment: "Don't worry, our priests are skilled in their methods. We will infuse it solely into your Space element. Even if it truly becomes useless, your other two elements will remain unaffected."
Hearing this, Lu Jun finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the recovering Water, Metal, and Curse elements were not tainted, it would be fine.
Seeing that he had no objections, several priests instructed him to lie down upon the stone altar platform.
With unease in his heart, Lu Jun lay flat. History had proven that this plan was successful. Furthermore, judging by the timing, the Amazons were about to reach the gates, the Incan civilization was in its countdown phase, and it could be basically concluded that his experiment would be stuck at a critical juncture.
Yet, at the final moment, it was still inevitable to feel uneasy.
He closed his eyes, constantly observing the six great star rivers of the dark cosmos. The moment the infused time-space energy overflowed or showed signs of mutation, he would immediately call a halt.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
A priest stood at the side of the stone platform, holding a half-transparent three-dimensional ring aimed at Lu Jun's forehead. The ring represented the infinity of time and space and also symbolized the endless cycle of the Ouroboros.
Although he did not understand the principle, this was a method learned from the Space Institute priests' practice — storing time-space power in this structure allowed it to last the longest.
When the ring-shaped light cluster descended, the dim and aged condensed liquid slowly flowed into Lu Jun's glabella.
In that instant, Lu Jun's consciousness seemed to freeze, just like when he had been swept into that strange time-space by the mighty eruption of the Eye of Time and Space.
However, this time his resistance had improved. After a brief daze, he broke free. His thoughts could move at a slow pace, but emotionally, he became detached — like a high-dimensional observer overlooking himself as astonishing changes occurred in his Space element.
The star river of the Space element surged grandly. The silver galactic magic power, upon touching the dim-colored time-space energy, surged endlessly. The original bright-silver radiance gradually dimmed, transforming toward the dark hue of years gone by.
Hua la la!
Moreover, the previously frozen half of his spiritual world began to stir. The dim shadowy luster covering the Water, Metal, and Curse elements surged toward the Space star river like rivers entering the sea.
At the center, the strange pupil-like texture disintegrated, countless filaments of patterns merging into the surging tide of energy, all flowing together into the silver galactic river.
For additional chapters
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