194: Chapter 194 All templates failed! Su Bai has no corresponding substitute.

[Reading the target's true self.]

Golden text hovered in the boundless darkness.

No one could see what was happening inside this darkness.

In the real world, Su Bai still maintained the posture of holding the arrow.

The 9th-tier Stand Arrow had pierced into his chest, yet left no wounds.

The arrowhead seemed to pierce through his physical body, directly entering his deepest soul.

His clothes did not flutter.

His hair did not sway.

Even his breath remained paused before the arrow pierced him.

Only that pair of eyes completely lost focus.

"Su Bai!"

Li Qingyue stepped forward immediately.

Her Mental Power followed the spacetime mark into Su Bai's body, attempting to confirm her disciple's soul state.

But in the next instant, her mental projection abruptly stopped.

Ahead was not Su Bai's mental sea.

But a boundless darkness.

No past.

No present.

Nor future.

She couldn't even find the coordinates of Su Bai's soul's existence.

"What's going on?"

The Empress's voice came over.

"Lord Qingyue, can you contact Minister Su?"

"No."

Li Qingyue's reply was extremely concise.

She had never encountered such a situation.

The 9th-tier Stand Arrow had clearly completed the adaptation, and Su Bai's physical body and soul showed no signs of collapse, yet his mental fluctuations seemed to have suddenly vanished from the world.

No.

Not vanished.

But hidden by something of a higher level.

The [World] behind Qin Ye suddenly opened its eyes.

Those dark golden pupils locked onto Su Bai, and the massive Mental Power suddenly pressed forward.

This was the perception between Stands.

Since only a Stand could truly touch a Stand, perhaps [World] could enter Su Bai's mental world.

However, the moment its Mental Power approached Su Bai, it was blocked by an invisible barrier.

No rebound.

No attack.

It simply wasn't allowed to get close.

[World]'s fists slowly clenched.

Qin Ye frowned slightly.

"It can't get in."

A trace of solemnity flashed through Li Qingyue's eyes.

"It's not that it can't get in."

"It's that Su Bai's mental world temporarily refuses any external power."

"Including [World]?"

"Including me."

Inside the Card Creation Room, everyone held their breath.

The Mental Power of a 9th-tier Supreme was actually unable to enter the mental world of a 3rd-tier Card Creator.

This could no longer be explained by the difference in tiers.

Li Qingyue quickly raised her hand.

"Everyone step back."

"Activate the soul isolation array."

"Shut down external law input, and no one is allowed to attempt to forcibly awaken Su Bai."

The Empress did not hesitate and immediately gave the order.

Dozens of sealing arrays rose simultaneously, isolating the location where Su Bai was.

At this moment, Su Bai was slowly moving forward in that darkness.

He couldn't see his own body.

Yet he knew he still existed.

Because he could still think.

"Is this my mental world?"

No one answered.

Deep within the darkness, a point of dark golden light suddenly lit up.

The light rapidly spread, condensing into a familiar figure.

[World].

Draped in dark golden armor with its arms hanging down, it stood in the darkness, looking down at Su Bai.

On that face, which was extremely similar to Qin Ye's Stand yet distinctly different, was undisguised arrogance.

"We meet again."

Su Bai looked at it.

[World] did not respond, merely raising one hand.

Boom!

A punch blasted out.

The darkness before Su Bai's eyes was instantly torn apart.

A violent mental shock rushed toward him, as if the entire starry sky was pressing down upon him.

Su Bai didn't dodge.

Because he knew this wasn't Qin Ye attacking him.

But the 9th-tier Stand Arrow trying to read his outermost mental structure using the Stand template he was most familiar with.

[Template detected: World.]

[Beginning soul adaptation.]

[Adaptation failed.]

[Reason for failure: This template has an independent host binding.]

[Reason for failure: The target has obtained external feedback of this ability.]

[Reason for failure: The target's soul is not the original holder of this template.]

The dark golden [World] shattered with a bang.

Countless fragments rearranged themselves in the darkness.

The next moment, a pink magic array descended from the sky.

Su Bai in the form of a Magical Girl walked out of the light, holding a familiar magic wand in his hand.

[Template detected: Magical Girl.]

[Beginning soul adaptation.]

Su Bai quietly looked at that figure.

Magical Girl was the first concept he created.

Yet it was still not his exclusive soul form.

That card carried his concept, but it did not carry his entire self.

[Adaptation failed.]

[Reason for failure: This template belongs to an external conceptual system.]

[Reason for failure: The target is the creator of this system, not a user of this system.]

[Reason for failure: Concept creation rights and ability usage rights cannot overlap.]

The pink light slowly dissipated.

Following that, a huge muscular Stand emerged from the darkness.

Its punching speed was even faster than Qin Ye's [World], and dark golden ripples that paused time were even entwined around its fist.

[Template detected: Power-type Stand.]

[Beginning soul adaptation.]

[Adaptation failed.]

Then came the speed-type.

Space-type.

Long-distance operation-type.

Automatic tracking-type.

Healing-type.

Causality-type.

Prevision-type.

Growth-type.

One Stand template after another appeared before Su Bai.

Some Stands could shatter mountains with a single punch.

Some Stands could lock onto enemies across thousands of miles.

Some Stands could peer into the future and alter causality.

And some Stands were initially weak, yet possessed near-infinite possibilities for growth.

Yet every time, the Stand Arrow would give the same result.

[Adaptation failed.]

[Adaptation failed.]

[Adaptation failed.]

Su Bai stood in the darkness, his expression gradually turning bizarre.

"Are you not very good at this?"

The 9th-tier Stand Arrow did not respond.

It simply continued to read Su Bai's soul.

Those Stand templates appeared again, shattering time and time again.

It wasn't that these Stands weren't strong enough.

But that they could each only represent a single possibility.

Su Bai could use [World]'s Time Stop.

He could also turn into a Magical Girl and cast Explosion Magic.

He also possessed the embryonic form of the Godhead of Fairness and Order, as well as various abilities returned by the system.

Yet even if all these things were stacked together, they still couldn't represent Su Bai's true soul.

He was not strength.

Not speed.

Not time.

Nor any single independent concept.

"I see."

Su Bai finally understood.

It wasn't that the 9th-tier Stand Arrow couldn't awaken a Stand for him.

But that it had searched through all existing templates, only to find that not a single template was sufficient to carry his entirety.

[Target's soul structure detected to be overly complex.]

[Target detected to possess multiple conceptual authorities.]

[Target detected to possess a tendency for concept creation.]

[Existing Stand templates are insufficient to complete adaptation.]

[Force select the closest template?]

Su Bai looked at the choices appearing before him.

[World.]

[Magical Girl.]

[Time-type.]

[Causality-type.]

As long as he chose one of them, the 9th-tier Stand Arrow would immediately complete the awakening.

He could even directly possess a 9th-tier [World], or acquire a time Stand capable of completely merging with his own mentality.

But Su Bai did not choose.

"If I choose an existing template."

"Then it won't be my Stand."

[Abandon existing templates?]

"Abandon."

Su Bai did not hesitate.

[Confirmation to abandon.]

All Stand templates vanished simultaneously.

The darkness fell into true silence.

No power.

No laws.

No forms that could be borrowed.

Su Bai stood there alone.

The red-gold light of the Stand Arrow gradually dimmed, as if it had also fallen into a predicament where it could no longer continue operating.

But a moment later, a faint speck of golden light lit up behind Su Bai.

That was not [World].

Nor was it a Magical Girl.

But a blurry humanoid outline.

It draped a robe that was close to pure white, upon which there were no fixed patterns, only countless golden circuits continuously generating, collapsing, and recombining.

It had no face.

No weapon.

No clear limb proportions.

Even its existing form was constantly changing.

Just a moment ago it was a humanoid shape.

The next second, its shoulders turned into a starry sky.

Then it recovered.

Su Bai turned around and looked at it.

That white-robed humanoid figure also slowly lowered its head.

The moment the two gazed at each other, a vague concept suddenly appeared in Su Bai's heart.

Not a voice.

Nor words.

But an extremely hazy response.

It had no abilities.

Because it hadn't been defined yet.

It had no name.

Because it wasn't finished yet.

It was simply the shape condensed in reality for the very first time by the part of Su Bai's soul that "refused to accept predetermined answers."

[Brand new Stand embryonic form detected.]

[Exclusive Stand being generated.]

[Stand type: Conceptual.]

[Stand tier: 9th-tier.]

[Current completion degree: twenty percent.]

[Current ability: Concept Mapping.]

[Ability description: Can perform low-intensity reality projection of concepts created by the host and recognized by the world.]

[Currently mappable concepts: Magical Girl, Stand.]

[Formal name: Undefined.]

Su Bai stared at that line of [Undefined], the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

"It doesn't even have a name?"

The white-robed figure did not answer.

It simply raised its right hand.

A pink magic array surfaced in its palm, then rapidly transformed into dark golden mental ripples.

The two concepts of Magical Girl and Stand briefly intersected in its hand.

A pink magic wand condensed out.

At the top of the magic wand, however, a miniature dark golden clock hovered.

Su Bai watched this scene, his eyes gradually lighting up.

"Concept Mapping."

"Not directly copying abilities."

"But briefly splicing different concepts together?"

[Current concept mapping intensity: three percent.]

[Current duration: 0.7 seconds.]

[Current consumption: extremely high.]

The pink magic wand and the dark golden clock collapsed simultaneously.

The white-robed figure also became even more blurry.

Su Bai's Mental Power felt as if a large chunk had been hollowed out.

Yet his gaze grew increasingly excited.

This Stand was completely different from [World].

[World] was the ultimate materialization of Qin Ye's soul.

While his exclusive Stand was more like an unfinished conceptual furnace.

It was not responsible for direct combat.

It was responsible for connecting the systems created by Su Bai to each other, generating brand-new possibilities.

"Master."

Su Bai raised his head.

"I think I succeeded."

In the real world.

Li Qingyue abruptly opened her eyes.

The darkness was rapidly receding inside the Card Creation Room.

The stopped time began to run again.

The frozen laws resumed flowing.

The testing screens in front of Qi Yuan lit up simultaneously.

[Target mental fluctuations recovered.]

[Soul state stable.]

[Stand Arrow adaptation process ended.]

[No soul collapse detected.]

Li Qingyue appeared in front of Su Bai immediately.

She did not ask about the Stand's ability, instead directly reaching out to press on Su Bai's chest as silver spacetime laws instantly pierced through his body.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

After confirming that Su Bai's physical body and soul had no cracks whatsoever, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Succeeded?"

Qi Yuan asked hastily.

Su Bai did not answer.

He raised his hand and pointed behind him.

A white-robed figure flashed past and vanished.

The speed was too fast; Researcher Yun Zhi only saw a blur of white light.

Qi Yuan captured that instant.

"A 9th-tier Stand?"

"Kind of."

Su Bai said.

"But it hasn't fully formed yet."

Qi Yuan immediately pulled up the test data.

All six attributes were displayed as:

[Unknown.]

Only the tier column clearly wrote:

[9th-tier.]

"How is this possible?"

Qi Yuan stared fixedly at the screen.

"A 9th-tier Stand without any definite attributes?"

"Because it's not a fixed template."

Su Bai explained calmly.

"It will continue to grow along with my concepts."

"Right now it's just an embryonic form."

Li Qingyue looked at the gradually disappearing white-robed phantom behind Su Bai, her eyes complex.

She already understood.

Su Bai's Stand was not any single character.

Nor was it some single ability.

But an extension of the concepts Su Bai created.

Magical Girl and Stand were merely the two powers it could currently map.

If Su Bai created a third, fourth, or even more world-class concepts in the future, this Stand would continuously acquire new structures.

Ultimately, it might become a special existence capable of accommodating countless concepts.

"What is it called?"

Qin Ye asked.

Su Bai was silent for a moment.

"It doesn't have a name yet."

"Why not pick one now?"

"Because it's not finished yet."

Su Bai looked down at the 9th-tier Stand Arrow in his palm.

"When it possesses a form truly belonging to itself, I will name it."

The system prompt sounded once more.

[Exclusive Stand awakening complete.]

[Stand formal name: Pending.]

[Current completion degree: twenty percent.]

[Concept Mapping ability unlocked.]

[Detected that the host possesses two world-class conceptual systems.]

[Concept growth conditions met.]

[World-class concept prize pool opened.]

[New concept mission being generated...]

Su Bai raised an eyebrow.

"Coming again?"

Before he had time to check the mission contents, a burst of urgent alarm sounds came from outside the Card Creation Room.

Red light filtered through the space door, reflecting on everyone's faces.

Li Qingyue quickly turned her head.

"What happened?"

A Sanctuary researcher rushed in frantically.

"Supreme!"

"The Song family sent an urgent cry for help!"

"A large-scale contract backlash occurred in their core beast-taming secret realm!"

"Over a hundred high-tier pet beasts simultaneously lost their ability to evolve, and dozens of beast tamers suffered mental collapses!"

"The head of the Song family requests Mr. Su Bai to go immediately!"

The system interface before Su Bai finally finished loading.

[Third concept mission generated.]

[Target profession: Beast Tamer.]

[Existing professional pain points: slow pet beast growth, fixed evolution routes, severe contract backlash.]

[Major flaws detected in the beast tamer system.]

[Please ask the host to create a brand-new growth-type life concept.]

Su Bai looked at that researcher.

"The Song family?"

"Yes."

"Aren't they of the Spirit-Taming Faction?"

"Precisely because they are of the Spirit-Taming Faction, problems arose."

The researcher swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"That pet beast is already dying."

"The eldest miss of the Song family is unwilling to devour its soul, but if she doesn't devour it, the contract backlash will directly destroy her mental sea."

Su Bai looked down at the system interface.

[World-class concept mission: Create a brand-new growth-type life.]

[Mission reward: Qualification to draw the third set of concept blueprints.]

He suddenly thought of that unfinished white-robed Stand inside the 9th-tier Stand Arrow.

Concept Mapping.

If he created a new world-class concept, his Stand would grow further.

And right now, the third concept mission had actively delivered itself before him.

Su Bai put away the 9th-tier Stand Arrow and turned to look at Li Qingyue.

"Master."

"Let's go to the Song family."

Li Qingyue did not ask for the reason.

"Alright."

Qin Ye stretched her wrists, and the dark golden eyes of [World] behind her opened once more.

"Who are we beating this time?"

Su Bai glanced at her.

"No need to fight for now."

"Then what are we going for?"

"To save a pet beast."

Qin Ye frowned slightly.

"Do pet beasts even need a Card Creator to save them?"

Su Bai walked up to the spatial rift and turned back to look at everyone behind him.

"If traditional methods can't save it."

"Then we'll change to another method."

He raised his hand and tore open space.

On the other end of the rift, the scene of the Song family's secret realm came into everyone's view.

Blood-red contract patterns all over the sky were collapsing.

A giant beast pitch-black all over with its life aura constantly decaying lay in the center of the altar.

Its owner knelt beside it, hugging its neck tightly with both hands, crying with a hoarse voice.

And deep within Su Bai's consciousness.

That newly awakened, unnamed white-robed Stand raised its hand for the very first time.

Across the spatial rift, it gently touched the soul of that dying giant beast.

Beep.

The system prompt sounded accordingly.

[Brand-new professional system gap detected.]

[Modifiable life sample detected.]

[Third concept mission officially initiated.]

Su Bai looked at the giant beast on the altar, a trace of excitement gradually emerging in the depths of his eyes.

"I see."

"What needs to be done this time is to let pet beasts also possess the qualification to evolve."