Chapter 1198: 376. The vastness of the Universe_2

Anyway, as long as he was the final victor, he could hide in the Sub-Dimensional Plane forever and never come out, and the wizards within the Natural World couldn’t do anything to him.

Uh… for safety’s sake, Noland still needed to prepare for all eventualities.

After repeatedly inquiring from Professor Lamp, he found a rather familiar name on the list of the exploration team.

Severas Nabi, the Transcendent Wizard behind the Night Spirit Cult, was the leader of one of the exploration teams.

When Noland had previously encountered Nabi, the latter had just been feasting on the Essence of the Bloodbinder’s Corpse.

The two of them conducted a trade and established a rather special soul contract.

...

In this contract, Noland promised to leave a small portion of the Corpse Essence for Nabi, and as for what compensation Nabi was to pay, Noland had not yet decided.

Now, Noland still had that soul contract book in his pocket.

He just had to take it out and write “Prohibit Nabi’s exploration team from targeting oneself” on it, and the contract would officially be established.

This was equivalent to eliminating a small part of his enemies.

But Noland was not satisfied with just this.

He had a bold idea and needed to find time to talk to Nabi face to face before he could confirm its feasibility.

As he pondered, the Escape Core of the Plane incessantly changed round characters like a chatterbox, sending new messages.

“After you take possession of the Sub-Dimensional Plane, you need to, according to our agreement, set up an Array to collect and transmit the Luminous from the Fire of St. Dillan.”

“I will use this Array to recover my own Power. As long as you ensure the Array’s normal operation, within at most three years, I should be able to accumulate enough power to let you and your companions safely leave the Cage.”

“Oh, right. I remembered something.”

The Escape Core of the Plane paused:

“What about that angel by your side?”

Noland came back to his senses and said:

“He has some matters to attend to and is temporarily away.”

The Escape Core of the Plane said:

“I have no intention of stirring up trouble between Him and you. I’m just very curious. Why do you still need my power to leave the Cage, even with an angel taking care of you?”

“Because His condition isn’t too good either,” Noland mused:

“He must have told you, right? His main body has been sealed inside a container in the Outer Space, temporarily unable to mobilize much power.”

The Escape Core of the Plane said:

“No. You are misunderstanding my point. Angels always have the key to freely enter and leave the Cage. If He wants you to leave the Cage, you would be able to immediately leave and enter Outer Space. This ability is unrelated to whether He’s sealed. As long as He’s still an Angel of the Supreme Star Palace, He can do it.”

Noland frowned:

“What do you mean?”

The Escape Core of the Plane said:

“What I mean is, that ‘angel’ is not a real Angel. He is just calling Himself ‘Angel’.”

Noland took a slight breath:

“You mean, He might be impersonating the name of an Assassin Angel?”

“No, not that,” the Escape Core of the Plane hesitated for once:

“… The ‘angel’ you’ve met is likely a Fallen Angel. He retains most of His extraordinary abilities but has been stripped of His position and power in the Supreme Star Palace. That is the real reason He was sealed in a container.”

Noland’s heartbeat accelerated slightly:

“A Fallen Angel… That’s why… That’s why He has such difficulty moving in and out of the Inner Cosmos.”

The Escape Core of the Plane said:

“Judging from your reaction, I can probably guess what’s going on. You may not be aware, but when the Supreme Star Palace existed, those who angered the Star God over certain matters were exiled to the Inner Cosmos and locked inside redemption containers in the Outer Space. Only after the redemption period expired could the deities or angels in the containers regain freedom and return to the Inner Cosmos.”

Noland asked subconsciously:

“Then do you know that the Supreme Star Palace would end up like this?”

The Escape Core of the Plane said:

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Noland Lee was startled.

“Yes, I am not an all-knowing entity. Just as time and space can separate us, they can also be barriers to my gathering information. In other words, the Barren Universe that I inhabit and the Cage that you dwell in could be considered two different worlds. The unimaginable spatial chasm between the two has been enough to bury the secrets of the fall of the Supreme Star Palace.”

Noland Lee scratched his head and asked,

“How far exactly is it between the Inner Cosmos and the Barren Universe?”

The Escape Core of the Plane said,

“About 37.33 trillion light-years, that’s the gap between the Inner Cosmos and the outer regions of the Barren Universe. If you’re asking about the distance from me to the Inner Cosmos, that would be roughly 67.52 trillion light-years. If you traveled about 70 trillion light-years from my location in the direction away from the Inner Cosmos, you will see a small part of the ‘Fractured Dimension.’ Continue for another 90 trillion light-years, and only then will you be able to glimpse the general appearance of the ‘Fractured Dimension.’

“!!!” Noland Lee was so shocked that he was at a loss for words; he could not find an appropriate way to describe his feelings.

There was a time when he thought Outer Space was vast enough, but compared to the Barren Universe, the Inner and Outer Cosmos seemed as insignificant as a single hair…

“The universe is this big?!”

“Yes, So don’t be obsessed with what you call the Inner Cosmos and Outer Space; they are only meaningful to the life creatures that followed the Supreme Star Palace. For an individual life creature like you, finding a way to combat aging and transcend the barriers of time and space is what you should truly aspire to.”

Noland Lee took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He was beginning to feel that the Supreme Star Palace was not all that impressive.

But as soon as he thought of his own identity and status, Noland Lee reminded himself not to aim too high and to take things one step at a time.

In the time that followed, the Escape Core of the Plane absorbed the energy from the Fourth Underground Level of Island 33 while recounting its experiences in the Barren Universe to Noland Lee.

Was the Barren Universe a desolate cosmic space?

No, not at all.

It wasn’t desolate in the slightest.

The Escape Core of the Plane, after wandering the Barren Universe for so long, discovered at least ten planets that naturally evolved civilizations.

For these civilizations, they all believed that they were the center, the focal point of the universe.

Unless they had the ability to explore the universe across the scale of trillions of light-years, it was virtually impossible for them to encounter so-called “aliens.”

No wonder the Escape Core of the Plane always referred to the Inner Cosmos as a “Cage.”

For an unconstrained existence like it, the concept of confining life creatures within a particular cosmic space indeed paralleled the concept of a cage.

As the conversation progressed, Noland Lee gradually steered the topic towards the Fire of St. Dillan and the Plane Core.

Unfortunately, the Escape Core of the Plane itself hadn’t figured out the origins of the Sacred Fire and the Plane Core.

It was also curious why it needed the illumination of the Sacred Fire to prevent weakening.

As for the specific origins of the Sacred Fire, that was an even more profound mystery, one that no Plane Core understood.

The vast majority of Plane Cores drifted aimlessly, lacking conscious will and acting solely on instinct.

For a communicative entity like the Escape Core of the Plane to exist was an extreme rarity amongst Plane Cores.

Even so, it still had no intentions of taking possession of the Sacred Fire.

It likened the Sacred Fire to addictive tobacco for humans.

Just a puff when the craving strikes was sufficient, there was no need to cling to the Sacred Fire as if it were a bowl of rice.

Noland Lee listened intently, considering the tale to be a myth with a degree of credibility.

“By the way, have you encountered the Extraterrestrial Eternity in the Barren Universe?” Noland Lee asked. noveldrama

The Escape Core of the Plane replied,

“Of course. Those lunatics are incredibly destructive and appear and disappear unpredictably, but catching me is quite unlikely. As long as I stay away from the ‘Fractured Dimension,’ I won’t be surrounded and attacked by them. Over the years, I’ve become weakened as I couldn’t absorb the light of the Sacred Fire, but each time I’ve managed to escape from the clutches of the Extraterrestrial Eternity. Once I absorb the Sacred Fire, I will only become stronger, and those Extraterrestrial Eternity would be even less likely to catch me.”

Noland Lee felt there was something amiss in these words, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it…

As the two conversed, in the night sky of the Inner Cosmos, a strange new star appeared out of nowhere.

Initially, its light was dim, almost blending with the Night Curtain.

By the time Noland Lee ceased the Ceremony, the star had brightened enough for those on the ground to detect its presence with instruments or magic.

The wizard forces who studied the Starry Sky began to stir with excitement over the newly emerged star.