191: Chapter 191 Master Leads the Refinement! The True Strength of a Ninth-Tier Card Maker

"It's my turn."

As Li Qingyue's voice fell, the silver spatial rift fully expanded.

On the other side of the rift was not a room in the ordinary sense.

Countless spatial layers of various sizes were nested within each other, resembling a massive maze pieced together from transparent crystal.

Within each spatial layer floated an independent card-making array.

Some were responsible for purifying materials.

Some were responsible for stabilizing laws.

Some had a time flow so fast that while a single breath passed in the outside world, several days had already passed inside.

Others were completely solidified, freezing even the most active Tier-9 energy mid-air.

This was merely the entrance to the highest Card Creation Room of the Truth Sanctuary.

Yet the mere fluctuation of the laws leaking out caused the dozen or so high-tier researchers present to hold their breath.

Qi Yuan's expression was even graver.

"The Nine-Layered Spacetime Card Creation Room."

"The last time it was opened was when Lord Qingyue crafted the Tier-9 Rainbow Card [Years in the Palm]."

Researcher Yun Zhi couldn't help asking:

"What does nine-layered mean?"

"The Card Creation Room is divided into nine mutually non-interfering spatial layers."

Qi Yuan stared deep into the rift.

"Different materials complete processing under different time flow rates, and finally converge at the same time node."

"Ordinary Card Creators need to process materials sequentially when making Tier-9 cards."

"She doesn't need to."

"She can make all nine steps happen simultaneously."

Researcher Yun Zhi felt her scalp tingle upon hearing this.

Processing nine kinds of Tier-9 materials simultaneously while ensuring all materials achieved synchronization at the very last moment—

This was no longer simply multitasking.

If any spatial layer deviated by even a ten-thousandth of a breath, the conflict of laws between the Tier-9 materials would be enough to blow the entire Truth Sanctuary to pieces.

Li Qingyue ignored everyone's shock.

She raised her hand, grabbed Su Bai's wrist, and stepped into the spatial rift in a single stride.

"Keep close to me."

"The spatial coordinates here change every single moment."

"If you take a single wrong step, you might spend decades trapped in the time interlayer."

Su Bai paused in his steps.

"Decades later, will Master come to fish me out?"

Li Qingyue glanced back at him.

"Yes."

"However, after coming out, you'll first have to make up decades' worth of homework."

Su Bai immediately followed closely.

Qin Ye originally wanted to go in as well, but was blocked outside by a silver barrier.

"You stay behind."

Li Qingyue's voice came from within the rift.

"After the Tier-9 card creation begins, the internal laws will constantly reorganize. You have just obtained the Golden Spirit and are not suited to continue enduring the impact."

Qin Ye frowned.

She did not like waiting.

But thinking that staying inside might not help and would instead distract Su Bai, she ultimately stopped her steps.

"Then I'll guard the door."

"Whoever dares to disturb you two, I'll beat them up."

Qi Yuan glanced at her.

"This old man must go in as well."

"You don't count."

"……"

Qi Yuan suddenly felt a bit worried whether he would take a punch from [World] first when he took charge of the outer anchoring.

Fortunately, Li Qingyue quickly opened another spatial passageway for him.

Qi Yuan straightened his robes and entered the Card Creation Room along with Researcher Yun Zhi and all the materials.

The spatial rift slowly closed.

The Tier-9 card creation officially began.

——

First spatial layer.

Su Bai stood in the center of a silver array disc over a thousand meters in diameter.

There was no ceiling overhead.

There was only a River of Time traversing the entire world.

Countless scenes flashed through the river.

The Insect Arrow took form for the first time.

Wei Xiaoyu underwent testing.

Qin Ye gained the recognition of [World].

During the National Competition, [World] punched through the Titan Furnace with both fists.

These were not illusions.

Rather, they were the complete history experienced by the primitive Tier-2 Stand Insect Arrow card from its birth to the present.

Li Qingyue stood beneath the River of Time, her silver long hair fluttering without any wind.

She raised her hand.

The [Tier-2 Stand Insect Arrow Card] in Su Bai's storage space flew out on its own, hovering above her palm.

"A Tier-9 Insect Arrow cannot be completed through ordinary enhancement,"

Li Qingyue said.

"The Tier-2 card body cannot withstand the Laws of Truth."

"If we directly replace the materials, what we'll end up with is merely a replica."

Su Bai understood her meaning.

A replica could possess a similar structure, but it would no longer be that original Insect Arrow.

It had not undergone the first awakening.

It had never established a connection with [World].

Nor had it witnessed the Stand System gain recognition from the world's laws.

These experiences could not be detected by ordinary materials, yet they had long since become a part of the conceptual card.

"So we must preserve its history?"

"That's right."

Li Qingyue closed her five fingers.

The River of Time crashed down, completely enveloping the Tier-2 Insect Arrow.

The card did not shatter.

However, the materials constituting the card body rapidly returned to their initial state amidst the Law of Time.

Ink peeled away from the lines.

The card paper decomposed into fibers.

The mental materials turned into powder.

In the end, all physical structures completely vanished.

Only thousands of dark red conceptual lines remained, still hovering in place.

They had lost their material carrier, but they had not lost their own existence.

Because Li Qingyue had fixed the time of this card at the moment "before it was destroyed."

Clearly, it had been completely dismantled.

Yet from a temporal perspective, it was still a complete Tier-2 Insect Arrow.

This was Su Bai's first time truly witnessing the methods of a Tier-9 Spacetime Card Creator.

This was not a duplication.

Not a transfer.

Rather, it was extracting a card's history from its raw materials and then giving that history an even more powerful new body.

[Original card body detected decomposing.]

[Card history continuity: 100%.]

[Conceptual structure preservation degree: 100%.]

[Elevation conditions established.]

Seeing the test results, Li Qingyue's expression did not change in the slightest.

"Begin replacing the carrier."

She lightly flicked her finger.

All nine spatial layers lit up simultaneously.

On the second layer, Tier-9 spacetime crystals were melted by silver flames.

On the third layer, soul mithril was stretched under absolute stillness into filaments even finer than Mental Power.

On the fourth layer, karmic dragon bone powder was reorganized against the trajectory of karma, stripping away all abyss residues within it.

On the fifth layer, a blank Rainbow Card made of Void Divine Wood was thrown into a spatial storm; its card body constantly shattered, only to recover completeness in the very next instant.

In the remaining spaces, Tier-9 law ink, soul isolation materials, and three stabilizing media were also being processed simultaneously.

Nine kinds of materials.

Nine ways of processing.

Nine completely different time flow rates.

Standing in the first spatial layer, Li Qingyue manipulated all the arrays simultaneously.

Her Mental Power did not have the slightest bit of confusion.

Every single law was breathtakingly precise.

Su Bai finally understood why Tier-9 cards had to be primarily refined by Li Qingyue.

Concepts could break through tiers.

But steadily sending concepts to Tier-9 still required technology and power standing at the pinnacle of the world.

Half an hour later, all nine spatial layers shook simultaneously.

All the processed materials passed through the spatial barriers and converged around the conceptual lines left behind by the Tier-2 Insect Arrow.

A new card body began to take form.

Just at this moment, Qi Yuan's voice came from the sixth spatial layer.

"The outer anchoring structure is ready!"

Floating in front of him were those six familiar lines.

They were precisely the structure ultimately compressed from the "Hypothesis of Bidirectional Mana Anchoring Based on Stellar-Scale Energy Collapse."

In the past, they were only responsible for the 0.01 seconds after the Stand manifested.

Now, however, they had to undertake another important task.

Anchoring the conceptual lines originally belonging to the Tier-2 card onto the Tier-9 materials.

Qi Yuan's expression was excited.

Having studied those six lines for many days, he had long since completed over a dozen optimization plans.

Now that it was finally his turn to participate in the manufacturing of a Tier-9 Rainbow Card, he pulled out all his achievements without the slightest hesitation.

"Lord Qingyue, this old man has added thirty-seven phase nodes to the original structure."

"It can increase the reality anchoring efficiency by four hundred percent!"

"In addition, there are twelve energy return channels, nine groups of soul adaptation circuits, and one backup law structure."

"As long as they are all engraved in, the outer anchoring can reach at least the upper-tier Tier-9 standard!"

The more Qi Yuan spoke, the more excited he became.

A massive amount of golden circuits had already unfolded behind him.

Li Qingyue only glanced at it once.

"Delete them."

Qi Yuan's movements froze.

"Delete which ones?"

"Delete everything extra."

"But these structures can significantly improve energy efficiency."

"The Insect Arrow doesn't lack energy."

"The soul adaptation circuits can increase the awakening success rate."

"Su Bai's Laws of Truth will handle the adaptation."

"What about the backup law structure?"

"It will interfere with Stand generation."

Qi Yuan opened his mouth.

The optimization achievements he had prepared for a full seven days didn't even have a single one come in handy.

"Then what am I responsible for?"

Li Qingyue's tone was calm.

"The six lines."

"Only six?"

"Only six."

"Can't we add one more node?"

"No."

The excitement on Qi Yuan's face gradually turned into depression.

As the dignified chief of Tier-9 Materials Science, after finally participating in a Rainbow Card that could change the history of card creation, he ultimately ended up being responsible only for those six auxiliary lines.

But looking at those conceptual structures in the center of the card that he completely failed to understand, he could find no reason to refute her.

"Six it is then."

Qi Yuan gritted his teeth.

"This old man will definitely carve them to unprecedented and unsurpassed heights!"

He put away all redundant designs and concentrated his Mental Power on the six lines.

There were no dazzling law phenomena.

No massive energy explosions.

Six tiny golden threads pierced out from the sixth spatial layer, accurately landing between the original conceptual lines and the Tier-9 card body.

Hum!

Two structures with a difference of seven tiers produced a connection for the first time.

[Outer anchoring complete.]

[Card history continuity remains stable.]

[Original concepts entering the Tier-9 carrier.]

The dark red lines of the Tier-2 Insect Arrow lit up one after another.

Tier 3.

Tier 4.

Tier 5.

The card's aura continuously climbed.

When it reached Tier 6, the originally stable conceptual lines suddenly stopped expanding.

Li Qingyue immediately looked at Su Bai.

"It's your turn."

Tier-9 materials could bear the power.

Qi Yuan could complete the anchoring.

She could also ensure that the entire elevation process wouldn't spin out of control.

Yet none of them could answer a question for Su Bai.

What exactly is a Stand?

Su Bai walked up in front of the card.

That wispy red-golden arrow light brought out from the philosophers stone slowly emerged in his palm.

The Tier-9 card body immediately resonated.

Countless unformed Stand phantoms flashed around the card.

Some were humanoid.

Some were animals.

Some were weapons.

There were even law fluctuations completely invisible to the naked eye.

These were merely possibilities.

Without definition, there was no true Stand.

Su Bai extended his finger, using Mental Power as ink, and made the first stroke on the Tier-9 card body.

[A Stand is the form of the soul upon reaching reality.]

Boom!

All the phantoms solidified for an instant simultaneously.

In the center of the card, an invisible door appeared between mentality and reality.

The second stroke fell.

[The Stand and the main body share existence.]

The previously floating soul circuits rapidly retracted, completely connecting with the mental anchor reserved by the user.

When the Stand suffers damage, the main body bears the feedback.

When the main body dies, the Stand cannot exist independently.

Both parties are not master and summoned creature.

Rather, they are two forms of the same life.

The third stroke slowly fell.

[Stand abilities stem from the user's true self.]

The red-golden arrow embryo suddenly vibrated.

The five core laws bestowed by the philosophers stone surged out simultaneously, pouring into the Tier-9 card body along the three definitions carved by Su Bai.

Mental reading started running.

Soul anchoring completed its closed loop.

Conceptual adaptation connected to reality.

Law conversion activated accordingly.

The dynamic growth circuit ran through the entire card.

The card's aura climbed once more!

Tier 7!

Tier 8!

The moment the Rainbow Card was about to step into Tier 9, a sudden anomaly occurred.

Hum!

A dark golden fist was the first to reach out from the card.

Closely followed by a silver-white humanoid phantom.

A thin line twisting space.

A ball of black mist reversing karma.

A pair of palms capable of repairing life.

A huge eyeball covered in pupils, seemingly able to see the future.

Countless Stands that had not been awakened by anyone yet surged out from inside the card simultaneously!

[Warning!]

[Massive law templates detected generating simultaneously!]

[Conflict occurred between the Law of Strength and spatial laws!]

[Paradox occurred between the Law of Time and the Law of Prophecy!]

[The Law of Healing is reversing damage feedback!]

[Karmic structure out of control!]

[Dynamic soul recognition circuit on the verge of collapse!]

Rumble!

The entire Nine-Layered Spacetime Card Creation Room shook violently.

A strength-type Stand punched through the spatial barrier of the first layer.

A spatial-type Stand forcibly folded the second and seventh layers together.

The prophecy ability attempted to read the future after the Insect Arrow was completed, but conflicted with the unfinished state of the card.

Tens of thousands of futures unfolded simultaneously.

In some futures, the Insect Arrow successfully ascended to Tier 9.

In some futures, the Card Creation Room completely exploded.

In still other futures, some unknown entity was born through the Insect Arrow, swallowing the entire River of Time the moment it opened its eyes.

Qi Yuan's expression changed drastically.

"Cut off the anchoring!"

"If you don't cut it off now, all the laws will backfire on the card body simultaneously!"

Su Bai did not move.

He looked at Li Qingyue.

This card had already ascended to Tier 8.

If they cut it off now, they could at least preserve most of the materials and law arrow embryos.

But the Tier-9 elevation would completely fail.

Li Qingyue made a decision in a mere fraction of a second.

"Who said anything about cutting it off?"

She stepped forward.

The aura belonging to the Spacetime Supreme erupted with a bang!

Her silver long hair whipped up amidst the torrent of laws.

The nine layers of space on the verge of collapse simultaneously reflected Li Qingyue's figure.

She raised her right hand.

Her five fingers slowly closed.

"Time."

"Stop."

There was no angry roar.

Nor were there any redundant movements.

The entire Nine-Layered Spacetime Card Creation Room instantly plunged into absolute stillness.

The strength-type Stand in the middle of throwing a punch stopped mid-air.

The spatial rift about to close solidified in place.

The karmic black mist ceased to spread.

Even the panic on Qi Yuan's face was fixed at that very instant.

For Qin Ye to pause a region, she needed to rely on [World] and a massive amount of Mental Power.

Yet Li Qingyue simultaneously stopped nine spaces, tens of thousands of laws, and all futures that could potentially spiral out of control!

Su Bai was still able to move.

Because Li Qingyue alone released his time.

"Su Bai."

Her voice came simultaneously from all nine spatial layers.

"All the laws have been separated by me."

Su Bai looked up.

The Stand phantoms that had originally intertwined were sealed into different spatial layers respectively.

Strength went into the first layer.

The Law of Time went into the second layer.

Spatial laws went into the third layer.

Karma, healing, prophecy, and other abilities were also all forcibly isolated.

They were still in conflict.

Yet they could no longer affect one another.

With her own strength, Li Qingyue dismantled the exploding torrent of laws into tens of thousands of stationary samples.

"I can stop them for you."

"But I don't know which laws should be kept and which laws should be discarded."

"That is a problem for the Stand System."

"Only you can answer it."

Su Bai looked at the Insect Arrow lingering at the peak of Tier 8.

Every single Stand phantom represented a capability that could potentially be born.

A Tier-9 Insect Arrow could not accommodate all laws in advance.

What it truly needed to bear was never the result.

Rather, it was the rules allowing different souls to obtain different results.

Su Bai reached out his hand.

His Mental Power transformed once more into a carving knife.

"Master."

"Hmm."

"How long can you stop it?"

Li Qingyue's silver eyes gazed at the tens of thousands of laws, her tone calm.

"As long as you need."

"I will stop it for that long."

Su Bai smiled.

"That is enough."

He walked toward the first sealed Stand phantom.

Next, from among these tens of thousands of conflicting possibilities, he had to find the final rule truly missing from the Tier-9 Insect Arrow.

Meanwhile, outside the entire Card Creation Room—

Qin Ye suddenly raised her head.

She could sense that Li Qingyue's Law of Time had already covered the Truth Sanctuary.

All nine spatial layers had plunged into stillness.

Only Su Bai's mental fluctuations were still slowly advancing within that frozen world.

One stroke.

And another stroke.

The first Tier-9 Stand Rainbow Card was only one final step away from truly being born.