Sorcerer's Handbook-Chapter 586: The Blank Concept

While the Copy was overpowering the Trial Taker, the original was also enduring the brutal trials of the virtual realm.

“How much longer are they going to chase us?!”

In the Time Continent, a sports car leaped over a cliff. Suddenly, its four wheels turned 90 degrees sideways and spread out, transforming into propellers that provided upward lift, allowing the car to glide smoothly across a distance of several tens of meters and land safely on the ground.

The Level 11 special effect of the “Variable Wheel” allowed the wheels to transform into propellers for aerial movement!

However, the cliff couldn’t help the sorcerers shake off their pursuers. Hundreds of armed troop types descended from the cliff, and the sky was filled with flying troops, almost blocking the reverse-flowing Rain Curtain. The unrelenting despair surged like a flood!

Even from a great distance, hundreds of curses could still reach the car through mediums like sound and sight. The Refracting Wall rippled faintly, and the exhaust pipe suddenly spewed out purple Toxic Mist!

The Level 16 “Refracting Wall” combined with the Level 16 “Toxic Mist Surge” created the special effect ‘Misfortune Transfer.’ Any Miracle effect that wasn’t direct damage could be completely blocked by the Refracting Wall, and then the curse would be transformed into Toxic Mist and expelled through the exhaust pipe!

However, against an army of thousands, the effect of the Toxic Mist Surge was hardly more powerful than a fart…

“There’s a Golden Flow river 500 meters ahead!” Sivirin had been keeping her eyes on the navigation system displayed on the windshield, and she spoke up to alert the others. The navigation system was divided into a large map and a small map. The large map remained unchanged, but the small map continuously scanned the surrounding environment, providing real-time previews and route suggestions. So when the golden hue of the Golden Flow appeared on the dynamic navigation, it was extremely noticeable.

“It’s coming!” Annan had been observing the situation behind them. When she saw the four wings of the Dark Hollow’s Sixth-level Troop Type, the “Shadow Evil Comet Dragon,” spewing out black flames like an engine, she tightly gripped the Bewitcher’s shoulders, her nails almost digging into the snow-white skin. “Three seconds left, 3, 2, 1!”

“Got it!”

As soon as Freya spoke, the Shadow Evil Comet Dragon crashed down like a comet. In an instant, the ground within a hundred meters shook violently, and the shockwave it unleashed crushed all the rocks and trees. The earth was smashed into a deep crater, and the landscape was altered!

The Dark Hollow’s troop types didn’t arm virtual realm creatures into humanoid forms; instead, they evolved these creatures into even more terrifying forms. Their Sixth-level Troop Type, the “Comet,” combined with the Shadow Evil Drake, which had somehow stowed away into the Time Continent, formed a nearly strategic-level individual combat force-the Shadow Evil Comet Dragon!

Among Sixth-level Troop Types, the Comet reigns supreme!

The Shadow Evil Drake, even in its juvenile stage, possesses the combat prowess of a sanctuary sorcerer! By maturity, it dares to patrol the Ruby Mountain as a noble of the Virtual Realm! The Shadow Evil Comet Dragon’s charge was so devastating that even a sanctuary sorcerer would have their sanctuary shattered, and the Sports car’s max-level Refracting Wall could hardly withstand it!

Yet, amidst the billowing dust, a Sports car bounced and leaped over the cracked earth, continuing its pursuit of the white bull.

Not only were the sorcerers inside unharmed, but the Sports car’s Refracting Wall was still functioning perfectly!

This was the Level 16 special effect of the “Variable Wheel”: Phase Drift. When Freya initiated a drift, the Sports car’s space would be completely severed from the outside world for 0.1 seconds, rendering it entirely immune to external influences. Though Phase Drift had its limitations, it was perfectly suited for dodging instantaneous impact damage like the Shadow Evil Comet Dragon’s “Cute Star Skyward Crash.”

At first, Freya struggled to time it right, but after three days and nights of relentless pursuit, she had become incredibly adept at using the drift technique, avoiding countless deadly crises.

Yes, three days and nights. Their adventure began at least three days ago, but due to length constraints, we’ll only briefly summarize what they did: while resisting the Spider Tower alliance at the Blood Tomb, they infiltrated the Blood Tomb’s main city and stole the forming “Blank Concept.”

“Unformed Blank Concept: If you can master the complete Blank Concept, you’ll get to experience what it’s like to be a creator deity…”

At first, Freya didn’t fully grasp the significance of this, but after excited explanations from Sivirin and Annan, she realized they had seized something even greater than a deity-a flawed yet extraordinary creation.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

The Blank Concept was a new concept waiting to be defined. Once defined, it would become an axiom of the world.

“For example, you could define that if a Bewitcher blinks three times, anyone would fall hopelessly in love with them,” Sivirin explained. “Then this concept would become a rule even the Divine Sovereign must abide by-though sorcerers could use Miracles to circumvent it.”

Hearing how powerful the Blank Concept was, Freya naturally got excited along with the others. But they soon realized several critical issues.

First, this Blank Concept was unformed, and they had no idea how to complete it.

Second, the recent outbreak of the heroic soul legion wars across the Time Continent seemed to be a struggle over the Blank Concept. However, something as significant as the Blank Concept was clearly not a treasure that heroic soul commanders could covet. The true entities eyeing the Blank Concept were the Divine Sovereigns behind the heroic souls of the Six Nations!

In the end, although they managed to escape the main city of Blood Tomb, the Spider Tower alliance was waiting right outside the city gates!

Thus began a chase that swept across the entire Time Continent, involving at least thousands of two-wings sorcerers who were caught in the crossfire and crushed into dust by the passing heroic soul legion.

While Blood Tomb and Star Shrine were still barely holding onto their main cities, Spider Tower had already allied with Oasis, Dark Hollow, and Garden to form a four-nation coalition. The orders of Danzel, the supreme commander of Spider Tower, were enough to dictate the fate of the Time Continent!

National borders? The static domain? None of that mattered. They would not retreat until they reclaimed the Blank Concept!

Even if Freya and her companions fled into the static domain to commit suicide, the virtual realm creatures within the Spider Tower alliance could still operate there. They would devour the three of them long before everything turned into a monochrome painting.

Faced with the overwhelming force of thousands, Freya and her companions quickly lost their nerve and considered discarding the Blank Concept in exchange for a slim chance of survival. But just then, the navigation system suddenly popped up a piece of Intelligence:

“Driving Log: The supreme commander of Spider Tower, the ‘Empress,’ is known for her vindictiveness, narrow-mindedness, and vengeful nature. Do not entertain the illusion of compromise with her. Appeasement will only invite more thorough retaliation.”

Coincidentally, the latest update in the diary copies included a chapter on Ashe’s confrontation with the Empress commander. Naturally, Freya trusted this Intelligence and abandoned all illusions, striving to find a glimmer of hope in their desperate escape!

But the heroic soul legion was relentless this time. Even when the Bewitcher and her companions fled into Virtual Realm Buildings, dozens of heroic soul commanders fearlessly stormed inside to continue the pursuit. Fate Questioning, Miracle Wonderland, Windmill House… Though the Time Continent was vast, there was no place for them to hide.

Generally, fleeing from virtual realm creatures was like drinking poison to quench thirst, as sorcerers consumed soul energy while moving in the virtual realm. Once their energy was depleted, they would have no choice but to stop and return to reality.

During the time it took to establish a stable connection with their physical bodies, the heroic soul legion would tear them to shreds.

But just as the Spider Tower alliance was closing in, Freya decided to exhaust all the resources they had gathered over the past few days to upgrade the “Refracting Wall” to its maximum level of 30. To their surprise, this unlocked a near-divine special effect-damage conversion!

“Refracting Wall-Level 30 Special Effect: 5% of the damage absorbed by the wall is converted into soul energy for the passengers.”

The relentless bombardment from the Spider Tower alliance inadvertently provided them with a continuous supply of soul energy, allowing them to persist in the virtual realm for three days and three nights without being forced offline due to energy depletion!

Even Freya could see that this special effect was utterly outrageous, practically granting sorcerers infinite stamina. However, considering the materials they had stored-plundered from several heroic soul legion transport teams-were nearly depleted just to reach Level 30, she found the effect somewhat justified.

As for the other sports car accessories, unless the Bewitcher could dismantle a faction’s main city for materials, the Time Continent simply didn’t have enough resources to upgrade them to Level 30…

Annan asked, “How far are we from Star Main City?”

Sivirin pulled up the large map. “At least six more hours of driving.”

They weren’t running blindly. The reason Freya and the others had held on for three days and nights without giving up was because they were certain that Star Main City was their ultimate destination.

Star Main City hadn’t fallen yet. If it could engage in a fight with the Spider Tower alliance, that would be the best possible outcome.

But even if Star Main City only delayed the enemy, they could charge into the city, pick a lucky commander at random, and kill them. That would allow them to collect the soul summoning spirits of all six factions!

Over the past few weeks, Freya and the others, relying on the sports car’s exceptional performance, had seized opportunities to infiltrate the battlefields of the Six Nations. They had killed dozens of commanders, unlocking the soul summoning spirits of five factions and, naturally, the ‘Five-tone Anchor,’ which provided immunity to external influences.

However, the ‘Five-tone Anchor’ only offered 80% anchoring, leaving a 20% chance of being hit. In the face of the heroic soul legion’s near-total Spellcasting bombardment, that 20% chance was enough to reduce them to ashes.

So, if they could unlock the ‘Six-tone Anchor,’ which provided 100% anchoring, they could ignore the heroic soul legion’s threats and leisurely return to reality right under their noses!

And yet…

Sivirin looked up at the colossal white foot that pierced the heavens and the earth, a bitter smile on her face. “We’re about to reach the end of time.”

Of course, time has no end, but the white bull’s domain does have boundaries.

No one knew exactly how fast the white bull moved, but under normal circumstances, sorcerers couldn’t outrun it. It wasn’t that there weren’t talented sorcerers, but the white bull’s speed existed in a peculiar dynamic equilibrium. If there were many sorcerers moving quickly, the white bull would speed up, and vice versa.

It was as if the white bull wasn’t moving on its own but was a massive vehicle powered by everyone’s collective effort. When sorcerers exerted kinetic energy, they could help it accelerate.

The reason Freya and the others had caught up to the white bull’s front foot wasn’t just because of the sports car’s speed or their three days and nights of running. It was also because so many other sorcerers had died.

They even suspected that various Kingdoms in the real world might have issued announcements like “Time Continent Red Alert,” warning two-wings sorcerers to avoid entering the Virtual Realm these days to prevent being crushed by the wheels of history.

After all, a single drop of rain in the Time Continent could feel like a flood crashing down on a sorcerer’s head!

The reduction in the number of sorcerers also slowed the white bull’s progress, so although the heroic soul legion hadn’t caught up to them yet, they had already caught up to the white bull.

Moving forward would mean plunging straight into the static domain.

Staying at the edge would mean being overtaken by the heroic soul legion.

“Is there really no way out?”

Annan, surprisingly, relaxed and touched her dull amethyst earring. “I never thought I’d die in the Virtual Realm.”

“I won’t die,” Sivirin said. “My soul flows in my blood, and I will be reborn from it… though the next time I wake up, it might be decades in the future.”

“We won’t die.”

Freya’s eyes were bright, her voice still full of energy. “This will never be our end.”

But Annan and Sivirin were exhausted. Three days and nights of pursuit could be summarized in a single sentence, but it contained hundreds of life-and-death crises, dozens of attempts, and the repeated shattering of hope.

Facing an army of thousands, not everyone dares to fight alone.

Even those with unwavering determination couldn’t help but entertain the thought, “I’m tired, let it all end.” So when they saw the Bewitcher maintaining such high spirits, they couldn’t help but wonder-where did her confidence come from?

“Because Ashe is an incredibly amazing person.”

Freya turned to look at them. “He left the floating boat, he left this car, and he shared his life with me through his journal… He will definitely become a truly extraordinary person in the future.”

“If he’s so amazing, why is it me who has such a close connection with him?” She spoke with absolute certainty. “There’s only one possibility-“

“I will become someone even more amazing than him in the future!”

“My life will not be wasted here.”

Both of them blinked, stunned by the Bewitcher’s inexplicably confident train of thought. Weren’t Bewitchers supposed to be clever and skilled in the Mental Sect? Why did this one seem so… off? Was it just her, or had Ashe somehow corrupted her?

Sivirin calmly said, “If he really cared about you, why didn’t he take you with him?”

That one sentence from the little bat stung both of them.

“Ouch…”

Seeing the Bewitcher so downcast, Sivirin felt a little guilty and tried to comfort her, “Come on, it’s not like every time you give your heart away it gets trampled on. You’re still so young-there will definitely be a next time, and the time after that, and plenty more chances!”

“Is this how you comfort people in Blood Moon?” Annan chimed in. “But even though we’ve benefited a lot from Ashe’s gift, there are so many ways to repay him, Freya. You don’t have to pour your entire heart into him, do you?”

“Hmph, Ashe is the best!” the Bewitcher retorted, glaring at the two of them. “When we meet him again, don’t you dare fall for him!”

Sivirin just shrugged it off, but Annan instinctively looked away, touching her new earring-she wasn’t sure if Ashe had written about the little moments they’d shared in his diary…

Just then, Annan spotted a building with a garden in the distance and asked, “What’s that?”

Sivirin checked the navigation map and paused, “It’s marked as a question mark building-no label.”

A question mark building was a Virtual Realm Building that the heroic soul legion had encountered before but couldn’t identify from its exterior. They had tried hiding in Virtual Realm Buildings before. While knowledge creatures couldn’t enter, the heroic soul commanders, who shared the same biological template as sorcerers, could still pursue them inside.

This building was the last one before the end of time. Beyond it, they would surpass the white bull and crash into the static domain. But hiding in a Virtual Realm Building and facing a few dozen heroic soul commanders was still easier than confronting the heroic soul legion’s vast army.

Without hesitation, Freya drove the Sports car straight into the garden and quickly got out to enter the small house.

The heroic soul legion immediately swarmed around the garden, but when a commander tried to enter, they were blocked by an invisible barrier.

Soon, the ‘Empress’ Danzel arrived at the garden on her Eight-eyed Weaver Spider. She dismounted, dismissing her armed troop type, and her appearance became indistinguishable from an ordinary sorcerer. However, when she reached out to push open the garden gate, her fingers met an invisible air barrier, rippling as if touching water.

Danzel’s expression turned grim. She turned to the commanders from other factions and shook her head, saying:

“There’s no way. It’s the Dramatic Poet.”