NOVEL NEXT Chapter 34: Absorb! Absorb!
Lynch slowly opened his eyes, carefully sensing the soul power in the Spiritual Sea, which had obviously become more full and solid as if nurtured by a spring. A wave of emotion surged in his heart. Absorbing just one fragment brought such a significant enhancement, far beyond his usual arduous meditation.
He couldn't help but whisper in amazement, "So much improvement at once?"
His gaze once again fell on the endless soul fragments floating in the black vortex, an uncontrollable excitement surged in his heart. If he could absorb and digest all these fragments like a vast sea of stars before him... perhaps, the barrier to the Rule Level, which once seemed distant and unreachable, would indeed no longer be far!
At this moment, the voice of the ancient man timely echoed in his consciousness, with a hint of reminder: "Don't rush into intoxication from the enhancement of power... look at the sky around you."
Lynch was taken aback by the words and instinctively looked up.
This look made his pupils suddenly contract!
He clearly remembered, before entering this core area and beginning to absorb soul fragments, the outside world was still daylight, even though the light was fractured by the distorted space, the overall tone was bright.
However, now, as far as he could see, everything around was deep darkness, only the occasional eerie glow at the broken space edges and the faint dark contour emitted by the black vortex itself, outlined the eerie shape of this area. The night had unknowingly shrouded the surroundings.
"This..." the abrupt leap in time left him slightly stunned.
The man's voice echoed again, unraveling his confusion: "This is why it had to be you, and why your mastery of the Time Law is crucial."
His tone carried a serene understanding of the essence: "These soul fragments, all originate from that Truth Wizard. Absorbing them is not a simple energy absorption; its essence is to let you personally experience each segment of life carried within them from the first perspective. The warm childhood moment you just experienced, in the outside world several hours had already passed."
"Absorbing a fragment is equivalent to truly living through another person's lifetime. To absorb this vast sea of fragments, undergoing a complete or nearly complete life for ordinary wizards would require sacrificing equally long or even longer real-time! They... cannot afford it."
The man's words turned to Lynch, bringing a clear direction: "But you are different. You have understood the Time Law, which is key. You can use the Power of Time to create a 'Time Barrier' around yourself or your core region of absorption and perception, where the flow of time is faster than outside."
"Within it, you may experience decades or a hundred years of spiritual journey, while outside, perhaps only a moment passes. Only in this way can you complete this accumulation, which seems to require endless ages, within limited actual time."
A flash of enlightened light appeared in Lynch's eyes, connecting all the clues at this moment.
So that's how it is!
It's not that the soul fragments themselves possess the Time Attribute, but the 'experience' nature of the absorption process requires consuming a vast amount of 'Perception Time.' The function of the Time Law is to compress this necessary 'Perception Time' so it does not affect the real progression outside.
"I understand now."
He took a deep breath, his gaze once again fell on the black vortex, filled with determination and anticipation. With the Time Law as the key, the soul treasure vault left behind by the Truth Wizard in front of him could truly be unlocked.
Lynch no longer hesitated, with a mental shift, the mysterious Time Domain began to quietly unfold centered around him.
This time, the domain's scope did not expand outward but instead enveloped him and the slowly rotating black soul vortex like an invisible sandglass, reversing its flow. Within the domain, the flow of time began to change dramatically; the outside world's second was stretched and extended to tenfold, hundredfold, or even longer!
He, like a fisherman sitting outside the river of time, transformed his gathered spiritual power into countless fine and resilient spiritual threads, casting them into the ocean of soul fragments. In the accelerated flow of time, these spiritual threads began to pull, capture, and merge those soul fragments bearing the Truth Wizard's past imprints with extreme efficiency.
One by one, large or small, them dimly shimmering soul fragments were continuously attracted and detached from the black vortex, flowing into Lynch's Spiritual Sea.
In an instant, a vast torrent of memories and soul insights began to cleanse and baptize his consciousness at an unprecedented speed.
Countless life's fragments—
The ignorance of childhood, the youthful exuberance, the explorations of youth, the contemplation of middle age, the enlightenment of old age... Joy, sorrow, love, hate, choices, epiphanies... the myriad experiences belonging to that Truth Wizard played out simultaneously, settled, and absorbed in Lynch's soul, like a fast-forward epic film.
Meanwhile, the crisp and rhythmic system notification sounded at an unprecedented frequency at the level of his soul perception, as if accompanying this madness of soul feast:
[Soul Law Experience Points +1589...]
[Soul Law Experience Points +932...]
[Soul Law Experience Points +2147...]
[Soul Law Experience Points +1781...]
[Soul Law Experience Points +3055...]
The notification sounds continued endlessly, and the experience values rapidly rolling and accumulating. The experience bar in his Spiritual Sea that represented the progress of Soul Law was being filled and lit up at an unprecedented speed, emitting increasingly pure and powerful soul radiance.
In the Time Domain, nobody knew how much time had passed when another soul fragment containing crucial insight was completely absorbed and merged at the moment—
[Ding—!]
A particularly long and clear system notification sounded, resembling the clear singing of a broken barrier.
[Soul Law Level has been elevated!]
[Current Level: Level 24 (112/150000)]
A wave of soul power far purer and more majestic than ever surged from the depths of the Sea of Consciousness, instantly sweeping across his body like a warm tide. Lynch could clearly feel that his soul's essence had qualitatively leapt forward, becoming more solid and transparent, elevating the control over his soul power to a whole new level.
However, this was merely the beginning. Gazing at the still endless soul fragments in the vortex, Lynch's eyes sparkled with a steadfast light. He maintained the Time Domain, and the spiritual threads extended once again, continuing to plunge into this mad cultivation race against time and resonate with truth.