524: Barrier, affordable method (5k)

"It's hard for me to explain it clearly to you right now." Looking at the shocked expressions of Ziyun and the others, Lin Yang simply said:

"After I thrust my spear just now, a mysterious sensation came from the direction I pointed. That is likely the direction of the Ten Thousand Universes."

"To be honest with you, the spear technique I just used was something I learned from a senior Heroic Soul Warrior in the ruins within the Unknown Space over in the Ten Thousand Universes. Perhaps some kind of connection has formed in the darkness."

"Huh?" Hearing Lin Yang's words, Ziyun and the others were greatly astonished: "In the ruins, a Heroic Soul Warrior??"

"Your Excellency Lin Yang, do you mean that you have seen beings like Heroic Souls?"

"Yes." Lin Yang nodded: "That spear technique is very profound. It was only when I broke through to the Ling Tong Realm that I first felt that profundity."

"Although I have used this spear technique many times outside before, I think perhaps because we are currently in the same Unknown Space, when I use this spear technique now, it has formed some strange connection with those Heroic Souls."

The latter part was his guess.

After all, when he used this spear technique in the Ten Thousand Realms Universe before, he didn't have this kind of strange sensation.

But after using it against the Stone Statue just now, an indescribable sensation immediately arose in his heart.

He guessed that it was mostly because they were in the same Unknown Space, and the profundity of this spear technique had formed some subtle connection with those Heroic Soul Warriors in the ruins, which gave him that sensation.

Ziyun and the others looked at each other. Although they felt this was too mysterious, since Lin Yang insisted, they naturally said nothing more and let Kong Shan Yu continue to take everyone and teleport in the direction Lin Yang pointed.

In the interval between teleports, Tea Banquet suddenly said: "Your Excellency Lin Yang, if your intuition is correct and that is indeed the direction back to the Ten Thousand Universes, then should we have Ziyun and the others' true bodies come over immediately?"

Currently, everyone present except for Lin Yang is a power projection.

If Lin Yang's intuition is correct, once they return directly to the Ten Thousand Universes from there...

Tea Banquet was a bit worried that across such a vast distance, without Lin Yang's guidance, whether their true bodies would still be able to sense the location of their projections, and thereby successfully reach the Ten Thousand Universes with their true bodies.

Therefore, Tea Banquet felt that the safer method now was to have Ziyun and the others' true bodies come over immediately and use their true bodies to return with Lin Yang.

Hearing this, Lin Yang hesitated for a moment, then said to Ziyun and the others: "Then I will have to trouble everyone to have your true bodies come over as well."

He had a premonition that his intuition would definitely not be wrong; that was absolutely the direction back to the Ten Thousand Universes.

"Okay!" Ziyun and the others nodded immediately.

Kong Shan Yu then said:

"My true body can arrive faster, but if the power projection maintains this teleportation speed, it might be difficult to catch up. The speed here needs to slow down a bit."

"Slow down?" Tea Banquet immediately frowned: "If we slow down even a little, that Stone Statue will catch up!"

Kong Shan Yu looked at Lin Yang: "Your Excellency Lin Yang, if you can currently maintain that subtle sensation, perhaps my projection can take everyone back first and we can meet halfway. Would that work?"

"We can try. You take us and teleport towards the outside a few times, and I'll see if I can still maintain that sensation." Lin Yang nodded and said.

"No problem!" Kong Shan Yu immediately took everyone and changed the direction of their teleportation.

After teleporting several times in a row, Kong Shan Yu paused briefly again and asked Lin Yang: "How is it, Your Excellency Lin Yang? After teleporting in the opposite direction a few times, can you still maintain that subtle sensation?"

Lin Yang showed a smile: "I'm quite lucky; I can still feel that connection!"

The others were all overjoyed: "That's truly the best news. Now Old Kong's true body is bringing us here at a faster speed. If the projection takes us to teleport and meet the true body, we will be able to meet successfully in a few days!"

Lin Yang took a deep breath and nodded slightly.

They were not yet deep into the Unknown Space.

Therefore, it wouldn't take too much time for the true bodies and projections to travel toward each other and meet.

However.

Two days later, Lin Yang had to call a halt to Kong Shan Yu's teleportation, saying with a somewhat grim expression:

"After two days of continuous teleportation, my sensation of that subtle connection has started to become weaker and weaker. We cannot continue to teleport outwards!"

"Huh?" Kong Shan Yu and the others were shocked, then said:

"Then, my projection will take you back towards the depths now, and my true body can speed up a bit more. However, this way, the time to meet will be a few days later than previously estimated, but I think it shouldn't be a big problem..."

"Okay, that's all we can do for now!" Lin Yang nodded helplessly.

Swish.

Kong Shan Yu's projection took everyone and changed direction to teleport again. After teleporting rapidly a few times, he asked Lin Yang again:

"Your Excellency Lin Yang, has the connection for that subtle sensation returned now?"

Lin Yang nodded: "It has indeed deepened a bit. It seems we really cannot continue to teleport outwards; we can only travel towards the depths."

"That's good. As long as the connection is re-established, it's fine." Kong Shan Yu and the others also breathed a sigh of relief.

Subsequently, Tea Banquet said: "Since the connection has been re-established, let us and the projections of Ziyun and the others return on our own first. Taking us along for teleportation will put a greater burden on Old Kong. To avoid excessive power consumption, let Old Kong's projection take you, Your Excellency Lin Yang, and teleport alone. Anyway, the true bodies will be able to meet soon."

"That works too!" Lin Yang replied.

He then turned his head and looked in a certain direction.

Since that mysterious sensation emerged, he seemed to be able to vaguely sense the position of the Stone Statue as well.

The Stone Statue had been chasing them all along.

Logically speaking, the Stone Statue was faster and shouldn't be easily shaken off by them.

But perhaps the Stone Statue was also restricted by some power rules here, causing it to always have a delay of about half a minute every time it caught up.

It was precisely because of this delay of about thirty seconds that Kong Shan Yu was able to maintain the lead and not be directly caught by the Stone Statue.

As for why they didn't go out to meet first and then re-establish the connection by performing the spear technique a few more times after losing the connection, it was because Lin Yang didn't dare to gamble that it would definitely succeed next time.

After all, some mysterious things might succeed the first time, but fail after doing them several more times.

Furthermore, the slightest delay would result in being hunted down by the Stone Statue.

Being able to successfully tear open a gap from the space suppressed by the Stone Statue and teleport away previously was also because the Stone Statue seemed to lack intelligence and was only attacking based on instinct.

Although it suppressed the space before, there were flaws.

But this Stone Statue was also smart; it could quickly learn from every failure.

Therefore, Lin Yang did not dare to gamble on whether he could successfully leave again if he was caught up and the space was suppressed by the Stone Statue next time.

Even if he could eventually break the blockade and leave, it would certainly cost a significant price.

Therefore, there was no need to take risks and gamble on luck now.

Maintaining the status quo was the appropriate course of action.

Three days later.

Kong Shan Yu suddenly stopped teleporting again, saying with a somewhat grim expression:

"Your Excellency Lin Yang, our true bodies have encountered a bit of trouble. Some formless and imageless lifeforms have entangled us. Those damned things are too difficult to deal with; it's very hard to shake them off even with teleportation, and they are almost impossible to kill!"

Lin Yang immediately asked: "Are they Transparent lifeforms?"

"Yes, these things are too difficult to deal with. In the past, we were also entangled by these things during our many joint explorations, which ultimately led to failure." Kong Shan Yu nodded.

"Even the power of your current Old Ancestor true bodies cannot easily kill those things?" Lin Yang was a bit surprised.

He knew the difficulty of those Transparent lifeforms, but he didn't expect them to be difficult to this extent.

"We can kill them, but it's not easy to kill them. Moreover, there are too many of them. If we delay even a little, we will be entangled by a dense swarm of them. If things go wrong, our true bodies might even fall here." Kong Shan Yu sighed.

"This..." Lin Yang's eyes flashed, and he suddenly said: "How about this, have your projection take me to meet up with your true bodies. That Stone Statue can suppress those Transparent lifeforms!"

"Huh?" Kong Shan Yu was stunned, "The Stone Statue can suppress those Transparent lifeforms?"

"Yes!" Lin Yang quickly told Kong Shan Yu about his previous experience and the situation.

"Looking at it this way, being chased by that Stone Statue is not entirely a bad thing; it can also help us reduce the dangers of exploring the Unknown Space to some extent."

Kong Shan Yu couldn't help but smile, but then he added with some worry, "If we go to rendezvous with your true body, we'll have to teleport towards the outer perimeter again. What if you lose the connection?"

"It's fine. Over the past few days, your true bodies have already penetrated deep into this place. Your current location is effectively where we were a few days ago, so I can still barely sense the connection from there," Lin Yang said, shaking his head.

Kong Shan Yu's true body had been teleporting with Ziyun and the others, and its speed was naturally faster than the projection. After several days, they were already within the range where he could maintain that subtle connection without it breaking.

"Alright then, let's head back to rendezvous with your true bodies and use the power of the Stone Statue to get rid of those Transparent lifeforms!"

Kong Shan Yu didn't say anything more and immediately took Lin Yang and teleported towards the location of his true body.

Several days later, the two parties successfully met.

Although the true bodies of Kong Shan Yu and the others were entangled by the Transparent lifeforms, their strength was, after all, at the solid Old Ancestor level. By cooperating with each other, they were able to find an opportunity for Kong Shan Yu's true body to teleport after a brief struggle each time they were entangled.

Although the efficiency wasn't as high as before, they had still covered quite a bit of distance towards the projection's location over the past few days. Consequently, the final time they rendezvoused was about two days earlier than estimated.

"Great, we've finally reunited!" Ziyun let out a soft sigh.

He had been the most exhausted over these past few days.

Among the group, his lightning power was the most effective at suppressing the Transparent lifeforms, so he had basically been the one doing all the fighting.

"Thank you for your hard work, Your Excellency Ziyun. The Stone Statue will catch up soon. We just need to leave right before it arrives. The Stone Statue's power has a wide range, and those Transparent lifeforms are very sensitive; they will sense the Stone Statue's presence earlier than we do. When they start scattering, Your Excellency Kong Shan Yu, you can just take us and teleport away," Lin Yang said slowly.

His understanding of the Stone Statue and the Transparent lifeforms, especially the situation between the two, could be said to be far greater than that of Ziyun and the others.

Ziyun and the others nodded repeatedly.

Over the past few days, they had already learned about this situation from Lin Yang through the connection between Kong Shan Yu's true body and his projection, so they didn't ask any more questions now and just quietly observed the Transparent lifeforms.

Once the creatures showed signs of fleeing, Kong Shan Yu would immediately take everyone and teleport.

Ten seconds later, a large number of Transparent lifeforms, just as Lin Yang had said, suddenly scattered and fled without any warning!

Clearly, these things had sensed the arrival of the Stone Statue in advance.

Swish! Kong Shan Yu immediately followed suit and took everyone with him to teleport away!

And this time, once the teleportation started, it didn't stop.

Because of the Stone Statue's presence, those Transparent lifeforms and other inexplicable dangers in the Unknown Space did not appear before them again.

Two months later, Kong Shan Yu successfully brought everyone to the location Lin Yang had previously sensed.

"Phew... Your Excellency Lin Yang, we're here. Do you see a more specific direction?" Kong Shan Yu stopped teleporting and let out a long sigh.

This was the first time he had stopped in two months.

Even with his current strength, after more than two months of continuous, highly focused teleportation in the Unknown Space, he felt some mental fatigue.

"I'm really sorry to have troubled you, Your Excellency Kong Shan Yu," Lin Yang said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

He also possessed spatial powers and knew how exhausting more than two months of continuous teleportation was.

"It's nothing. As long as you can return home safely, Your Excellency Lin Yang, this little bit of hardship is nothing!"

Kong Shan Yu waved his hand, signaling Lin Yang to provide a more precise location again.

Lin Yang didn't delay and immediately pointed towards an even deeper direction: "My premonition points that way. It's very close now, perhaps we'll arrive in a day or two."

"We're finally almost there!" Kong Shan Yu laughed, and before the Stone Statue could catch up, he immediately enveloped everyone in his power and teleported forward.

Two days later, an invisible and colorless barrier blocked Kong Shan Yu's teleportation.

"Hmm? Could this be the barrier that separates the Ten Thousand Universes from our Ten Thousand Realms Universe?"

Kong Shan Yu stopped. Sensing this barrier that seemed to reach from the heavens down to the core of the earth, everyone fell into deep thought.

It was the first time any of them had sensed the existence of this barrier.

Previous explorations had all failed due to encountering various inexplicable dangers.

This time, thanks to the help of the Stone Statue to some extent, they had truly penetrated deep into the Unknown Space for the first time.

And in these depths, there existed an impassable barrier.

Lin Yang also showed a look of surprise.

This was also his first time going deep into the Unknown Space, and he had completely not expected such a barrier to exist in the deepest part.

This barrier gave him a feeling similar to the transparent barrier in the Source Star.

However, this barrier was completely invisible; it couldn't be seen with the naked eye and could only be felt through one's senses.

Then, Lin Yang reached out his hand to test it, wanting to see if he could pass through.

However, he couldn't advance even an inch!

"It's impassable," Lin Yang whispered.

He had passed through the barrier on the Source Star easily.

But for this one in front of him, he knew the moment he touched it that he couldn't pass through.

"Let's try to see if we can blast a gap through it!" Ziyun suddenly suggested.

Afterwards, they all joined forces, pouring their violent power into a single point, striking the barrier in an attempt to break through it.

But the barrier seemed completely unaffected. Ziyun and the others' violent attacks struck the barrier, yet nothing happened.

"This..." Everyone was dumbfounded. Ziyun then said, "Your Excellency Lin Yang, our power cannot cause even the slightest damage to this barrier. This barrier is likely at a level at least surpassing the Old Ancestor level."

Lin Yang nodded, simultaneously condensing a spiritual spear and thrusting it ten thousand times in an instant.

He could already feel that once he passed through this barrier, he would be in the region belonging to the Ten Thousand Universes.

But these ten thousand thrusts, which could even tear through the space suppressed by the Stone Statue, had no effect when thrust against this barrier.

This made Lin Yang's heart sink: "Does one have to reach a level surpassing the Old Ancestor level to successfully pass through this barrier?"

He felt quite frustrated. He had finally found the way back to the Ten Thousand Universes in this place, only to be blocked by this impassable barrier!

"Your Excellency Lin Yang, perhaps we could let the Stone Statue try?" A glimmer of sharpness flashed in Kong Shan Yu's eyes: "You previously said you encountered this Stone Statue in the region of the Ten Thousand Universes, and now it has appeared here, which means it can pass through this barrier. Perhaps we can leverage the power it uses when attacking us to let us pass through this barrier?"

Hearing this, the eyes of Ziyun and the others lit up: "That's right! Since the Stone Statue can pass through, we can just wait here for it to attack!"

Lin Yang pondered for a moment and felt there was a problem: "That's not very appropriate. If the Stone Statue's attack doesn't allow us to pass through, we won't even be able to escape from its attack and will be suppressed by the Stone Statue here."

It wasn't that he was overthinking; they had come this far, and he couldn't afford not to be cautious.

"Then what should we do?" Kong Shan Yu asked again.

"Wait a moment. Keep teleporting us around this barrier area to avoid the Stone Statue's pursuit. Let me think of a way!"

Lin Yang didn't say much else. After giving the instruction, he began to communicate with the system: "System, we've already arrived here. Now that we are opening a passage to the Ten Thousand Universes, can the price be cheaper?"

"Sorry, Host. Opening a passage to the Ten Thousand Universes is not entirely limited by distance. Currently, it still requires 300 billion national treasure value."

"Didn't you say before that it required so much because the distance was too far? Now we only need to pass through this barrier!" Lin Yang pressed.

"Host, to be precise, the 300 billion national treasure value is for passing through this barrier. You can understand it as: passing through this barrier itself costs 300 billion!" the system replied.

"..." Lin Yang was speechless for a moment. After a pause, he couldn't be bothered to argue with the system about anything else and asked directly: "Then is there any other way to let us pass through this barrier?" After saying this, he seemed to feel it wasn't quite right and added: "A method I can afford!"