Chapter 3217 - 3218: The Wasteland and the Needle Forest

Chapter 3217: Chapter 3218: The Wasteland and the Needle Forest

In the Consciousness Void, countless stars transformed into a flowing light mirror.

Angel looked at the mirror, and his current appearance was clearly reflected in it. However, at the center of his shell representing the Anchor Point, there was a distinctly bright spot of light. It was like a path of light extending from the darkness, emitting countless subtle rays internally, forming a complete body.

This light spot, presumably, was what Laplace referred to as the Spirit Light containing consciousness.

Angel reached out his hand, slowly touching the position of the light spot in the mirror.

His fingers did not touch any physical object but went straight through the moment they touched the mirror surface. Accompanied by ripples, Angel felt a familiar force of attraction.

Not resisting this force of attraction, he allowed his shell to drift into the mirror.

The moment he entered the mirror, Angel felt himself descending, surrounded by various strange scenes—some with stars entwining, some with mottled light and shadow, and some with intertwined celestial paths... Yet, as Angel continued to fall, these scenes became increasingly illusory.

The illusion reached its end, and the sprouts of reality began to unfold.

At this moment, Angel also opened his eyes.

Then, he saw a bright full moon.

But this "full moon" was very close to him, almost as if it were right in front of him.

As Angel gazed at this huge full moon, the center of the moon slowly appeared a towering ancient tree wrapped in seven-colored mist.

Angel blinked, and this ancient tree disappeared back into the moon, as if everything before was just his imagination.

With doubt, Angel continued to stare at this full moon, but the moon began to gradually darken, as if a layer of dark clouds had shrouded the bright jade disc.

When the full moon was completely immersed in darkness, Angel felt once again the sensation of weightlessness and descent.

Moreover, the speed of descent was even faster than before.

Angel could even hear the howling wind around, like the sound of a fierce wind or the howl of some animal.

A few seconds later, Angel finally stood firm. This time, unlike the previous standing in the Consciousness Void, he was truly standing on "Earth."

Behind him was an endless wasteland, stretching before him were undulating black Needle Forest Mountains.

Yet, these Needle Forests looked somewhat strange, like cones growing out of the earth, without any branches or forks.

Where was this place? Angel was puzzled. Wasn’t he supposed to go to Laplace’s body location? Wasn’t he supposed to look at a painting? How did he end up in this dark wasteland?

"Laplace?" Angel tried calling out.

Soon, a familiar voice sounded behind him: "I’m here."

Angel turned to look, not knowing when Laplace had appeared on the wasteland and walked step by step to his side.

Yet, the Laplace before him was slightly different from the one he normally saw.

The face was still the same, only this time Laplace no longer had silver-white long hair but had turned into black hair like splattered ink. —Although her hair was still long and coiled up, it was also used as a seat.

In addition to the hair color change, Laplace’s pupils had also changed. Previously they were heterochromatic, now they had become faint golden eyes.

Golden eyes and black hair gave an inexplicable sense of mystery,

"You..." Angel organized his words: "Did you also mold a shell for yourself?"

Laplace frowned: "Mold? Your choice of words is as whimsical as always."

"No, I merely borrowed an avatar left here."

"Avatar?" Angel questioned Laplace: "Where is this place? Why would there be your avatar here?"

Laplace gave Angel a deep look, did not answer, but raised a strand of hair and placed it in Angel’s hand.

When the strand of hair fell into Angel’s palm, Angel suddenly heard a "thump, thump, thump" sound of rhythmic, giant beating. This sound was like thunderous anger, instantly sweeping across the wasteland, leaving no other sound, just this rhythmic beating tone.

Not only was this beating sound colossal, but it seemed to possess some sort of magic power. Angel only listened for a few seconds, then felt as if his consciousness was about to shatter.

Until Laplace let the strand of hair fall from Angel’s palm, the surrounding colossal beating sound silently disappeared. The sensation of his consciousness being torn was slowly restored.

Angel looked with puzzlement at the inconspicuous strand of hair... Why did he hear such terrifying beating sound just by touching the strand of hair?

What exactly was this sound?

And what did Laplace want to convey with this?

"Did you think of anything?" Laplace suddenly asked.

What did I think of? Angel pondered for a moment, looked at Laplace, and truthfully said: "The sound just now felt very terrifying to me, but it had rhythm and pattern, somewhat like... a heartbeat?"

Laplace gently nodded: "That’s right, it is a heartbeat."

"And then?"

Upon receiving a positive response, Angel frowned, a bolder thought appeared in his mind: "Is it your heartbeat?"

Laplace nodded again.

"A heartbeat like a drumbeat, spread throughout the wasteland..." Angel murmured: "I remember you mentioned before, two thousand years ago, Gel from the Crystal Eye Clan once pursued the legendary Mirror Demon, fell into the Sea of Void Mirror, and was saved by you; and stayed on your body for several days."

Angel mused aloud, then raised his head: "I wouldn’t be like Gel then, on your body right now, would I?"

"This wasteland, this Needle Forest Mountain, is that your body?"

As he spoke, Angel’s brows furrowed tighter, and his voice grew louder, indicating the astonishment in his heart.

Yet, Laplace remained calm throughout, only speaking lightly once Angel finished: "You are correct, you are indeed on my body now. However, there are two mistakes in what you said."

"First, you are different from Gel, he came bodily, while you are still merely a light spot of consciousness."

"Second, the wasteland and this Needle Forest are only part of my body."

In summary, Laplace’s body was larger than Angel had imagined. As for how large, Laplace did not provide a comparison, simply saying: "You will find out in the future."

Upon confirming that he was indeed on Laplace’s body, Angel felt not only astonished but also filled with awe and regret.

The awe was naturally for the vastness of Laplace’s body.

And the regret was... he did not witness Laplace’s true form.

Jon had heard many rumors about Laplace’s true form, some said it was like a giant whale, others said it was like a Void magical creature. In short, it was enormous and indescribable.

Originally, Jon was hoping to see the specific appearance of Laplace’s true form this time, but surprisingly, he skipped over its outline and landed directly on Laplace’s body, which was somewhat disappointing.

Just as Jon’s emotions intertwined crazily, a giant round moon that he saw earlier suddenly flashed in his mind.

"Before I landed here, I saw a giant round moon," Jon murmured softly. "There shouldn’t be a moon in the Sea of Void Mirror, right? Even if it’s a memory projection, it shouldn’t be so real, and...so close."

"This round moon..." Jon hesitated for two seconds, but still voiced his doubt: "Is this your eye?"

Although Jon didn’t know how large Laplace’s true form was, from the height of his fall and the size of the round moon, he guessed...could the round moon be Laplace’s eye?

Laplace nodded lightly: "Yes."

It was indeed the eye!

Being on Laplace’s body had already deeply shocked Jon. Now, hearing that the giant "round moon" was actually Laplace’s eye, he was still surprised but much calmer than before.

Jon felt that his ability to calmly accept this "frightening" fact was greatly related to Laplace blocking his perception.

If he could still perceive the outside world now, the terrifying heartbeat from earlier, the possible energy tide around, and the inherent presence of Laplace’s true form would likely turn him into a fool.

But now, he couldn’t perceive the environment at all, only relying on his eyes, which alleviated a lot of unnecessary trouble and emotion.

He finally understood why Laplace wanted to block his perception, it was all well-intentioned.

Jon was sighing inwardly, but the questions on his lips hadn’t stopped.

"Earlier in the round moon...in your eye, I saw a giant tree with a mist like a rainbow surrounding it, what is that?" Jon asked curiously.

This time, Laplace pondered for a long time before speaking: "This is the manifestation of a certain ability of mine."

Upon hearing Laplace’s response, Jon immediately realized that his question was somewhat presumptuous.

He originally thought Laplace planted a tree in its eye, unexpectedly, it was related to Laplace’s personal ability, definitely a private matter.

Indeed, at this moment he should speak less, especially on the turf of a big shot.

Jon didn’t hold back and quickly apologized for his abruptness.

Laplace shook his head: "No problem, I hesitated just thinking about how to explain, not blaming you. Because the effect of this ability is multifaceted, explaining it is a bit complicated..."

Jon hurriedly said: "No explanation needed, I understand."

"You understand?" Laplace was stunned.

Jon coughed once: "What I mean is, based on my current foundation, it’s impossible for me to understand your ability. No need for explanation, since I wouldn’t understand it anyway."

After a pause, Jon quickly changed the subject: "Right, where is that painting you mentioned? Should we go check out the painting first?"

Laplace nodded: "...Okay."

Next, Laplace led the way while Jon followed.

He led Jon into the pitch-black Needle Forest.

It’s worth mentioning, Jon originally thought this was some kind of coniferous forest, but after Laplace’s explanation, it turned out that the so-called Needle Forest is actually hair.

Moreover, these hairs originally grew lush, and on the "wasteland" Jon saw before, there was also a lot of hair.

But now, there’s much less hair, thus the "wasteland" appeared.

As for why there’s less hair? Jon surely wouldn’t ask this question, but Laplace voluntarily revealed it.

Because these hairs are one of the materials for Temporal Bodies.

Although Laplace currently only has three active Temporal Bodies, actually, there are many discarded Temporal Bodies in the Forest of Memories. Most of these bodies are mixed with hairs from the true form.

Some Temporal Bodies even use hair as the main material.

The more Temporal Bodies there are, the more frequently Laplace removes hair. Over the years, there are countless discarded, temporarily unused, and already ruined Temporal Bodies, which have left a hairless wasteland on the true form.

Upon knowing that hair can become Temporal Body material, a story from Earth’s mythology Jon heard from Gel sprang to mind, the story of the traveler slaying demons.

Apart from this myth, Jon became slightly curious about the hair.

Since hair can be used as material for Temporal Bodies, doesn’t it mean these hairs are extraordinary materials? If they’re extraordinary materials, using them in alchemy might yield impressive results.

At the thought of alchemy materials, Jon very much wanted to activate the Alchemy Eye to study the hair and see exactly what it could be used for.

Unfortunately, he was now merely a light dot of thought and was also blocked from perception, so evidently, he couldn’t use any abilities.

The range of Needle Forest is vast, at least Laplace had been leading Jon for five minutes without seeing the edge.

According to Laplace himself: "This area of hair is enough for me to pluck for three or four thousand years."

A Needle Forest that can be plucked for three or four thousand years must be immense in size.

After a while longer, Laplace stopped and said softly: "We’ve arrived."

Laplace made way, indicating Jon to look ahead.

In the depths of Needle Forest, a small hut appeared, and this hut seemed to be constructed from some kind of crystal...

The form and material of the hut made Jon spontaneously think of Crystal City.

"Could this be a hut built by Tunyta?" Jon asked.

Back then, Tunyta also stayed on Laplace’s true form for a few days, and being from the Crystal Eye Clan, building a crystal hut seemed plausible.

Laplace nodded: "Yes, it’s something Tunyta left behind. Since the area it occupies isn’t large, sometimes a Temporal Body can temporarily reside there, I haven’t cleaned it up."

"The painting I mentioned before, I also placed inside."

Typically, anything retrieved from the Sea of Void Mirror is directly swallowed by Laplace. There’s a vast space within its true body’s stomach, suitable not only for storage but even for constructing a city inside.

However, Laplace considered Jon’s feelings and directly swallowing him didn’t seem right. Hence, transferred the painting from its stomach to the outside.

And the only artificial "structure" outside is the small hut left by Tunyta before, which is why it chooses to place the painting here.