"But the fact is the fact. As the author of this novel, aren't you killing the beings in this world and destroying the world here?" Dream Jia continued to question.
In fact, Dream Jia was very puzzled about her own actions. Because she didn't understand why she could communicate across space with the author of this novel. Was she unsure whether the content of her conversation with the author was all part of the author's arranged plot? Or could it be that this author was not the traditional sense of an author, but rather someone like Guardian Uryll, a powerful creator transcending the world? Could it be that the world she was in was the world the author was creating? Thinking of this, Dream Jia couldn't help but feel a chill down her spine, and a sense of dread arose towards the author who could only hear his voice but had no place to look for.
"Ah! I'm also powerless! I—, no! Shh—! I can't provide too much information to you! That would be too terrible!" The author continued with a fearful tone, forcibly swallowing back more words that were about to come out.
The author's strange way of speaking and unusual emotions naturally caught Dao Lao's attention, so he also spoke up to ask the author, "Are you—, alright?"
Upon being questioned by Dao Lao, the author seemed to suddenly come to his senses. Thus, he quickly emphasized, "Me? I'm fine! I didn't know that my idea of writing this novel would cause so much trouble! But I have no choice, I can only continue writing like this! I absolutely cannot arbitrarily change the plot, I cannot influence the development of the story! I'm sorry, please forgive me!"
Then, the author suddenly muttered to himself excitedly, "Cannot influence the development of the story! Yes! Absolutely cannot influence the development of the story! Absolutely cannot—"
Haoyun and the others felt the author's words were very strange. It seemed like he wanted to evade responsibility through some pretentious words, yet also had some unspeakable difficulties. Therefore, out of curiosity about the author's somewhat split personality state, Haoyun thought of delving deeper into understanding the author's concerns. However, Haoyun's subsequent questions were met with no response from the author. It seemed that the author had already left.
Haoyun soon realized that behind these nonsensical remarks of the author, there seemed to be an even greater conspiracy. Therefore, Haoyun naturally didn't want to let the author off easily this time, but hoped to extract more valuable information from him. However, before Haoyun could call out to the author again, their train of thought was interrupted by the sudden illumination of the Judgment Hall.
Instinctively shielding his eyes with his hand, Haoyun quickly recovered his vision in the sudden transition from darkness to brightness. Then, with his strength restored, Haoyun saw that with the re-illumination of the Judgment Hall, the imprisonment cast upon them in the forbidden magic prison had also changed. The incredibly sturdy divine energy keratin layers, like mud, began to slowly wriggle. Soon, they all transformed into flowing golden divine energy. The golden divine energy flowing continuously to both sides quickly split from the middle, then scattered into the walls around the Judgment Hall during the disintegration process.
After all the divine energy disappeared, the imprisonment cast upon Haoyun and the others in the forbidden magic prison immediately vanished, allowing them to regain their freedom. As soon as the isolation of the forbidden magic prison disappeared, Haoyun and the others heard a series of rapid footsteps coming from outside the Judgment Hall. Shortly thereafter, Judge Yan took the lead and hurried into the Judgment Hall, with Master Gu following closely behind a servant dressed in a pure white robe. The servant's face was mostly covered by the large hood of the robe, and the entire face was hidden in the black shadow formed by the hood, making this servant look very mysterious.
Before Judge Yan could reach Haoyun and the others, he eagerly exclaimed with an anxious tone, "Friends! Something bad has happened! Elina has really launched a sneak attack on the World of Divine Spirits!"
Although Haoyun and the others had long been mentally prepared for Elina's attack on the World of Divine Spirits, upon hearing the news that her sneak attack had succeeded, their hearts sank. Because Judge Yan's anxious look led them to think immediately that Elina had not really changed her target of attack; she eventually chose to act against the City of Spirits! Therefore, the three of them simultaneously exclaimed in shock, "What?! She broke through? Where is she now?!"
"The Realm of Balance." Without waiting for Judge Yan's reply, the mysterious servant who followed Master Gu replied first.
From the voice of the servant speaking, Haoyun naturally thought this person was a female priest. However, when this servant raised her head while speaking, Haoyun realized that his judgment might be wrong.
Why say it might be wrong? First, due to the extremely loose robe worn by this servant, Haoyun couldn't distinguish whether this person was male or female from their figure. This made Haoyun judge the servant to be female immediately upon hearing the voice. However, after seeing the face hidden under the large hood, Haoyun began to have doubts. This was because Haoyun actually didn't see the servant's face under the large hood; instead, he saw a galaxy of sparkling stars shimmering on the face completely shrouded in black shadows. Through this galaxy, Haoyun seemed to understand the operational trajectory of the entire World of Divine Spirits, seeing the lively and vigorous vitality of this world.
The mysterious servant didn't care that Haoyun and the others stared at her with astonishment mixed with longing, but continued with a voice full of wisdom and majesty, "Elina has entered the Realm of Balance. That is a forbidden area dedicated to the use of the Ring of Balance. The Ring of Balance is currently confronting Elina there. If we don't hurry to assist, even if the Ring of Balance can eventually defeat Elina, it will probably require a huge price. Gentlemen should understand that once the Ring of Balance is damaged, it means that the stability of the entire World of Divine Spirits will be greatly affected. Many domains in the Upper and Lower Realms may fall into chaos as a result, and the lives of many saints and creatures may be threatened."
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"The Realm of Balance? Elina actually managed to get there?" Haoyun naturally understood the reason the judge was so anxious, so he said with great surprise.
"Yes! We thought Elina was just talking big and didn't actually have the ability to sneak into the Spirit Realm, or she wasn't ready to launch an attack on it. Who would have thought that Elina had secretly entered the Balance Realm using the teleportation gate opened for the final stage of purification tasks, evading everyone's notice!" Judge Yan hastily explained the situation with an anxious tone.
"But how did Elina manage to enter the Balance Realm? Since it's a forbidden area exclusively for the Balance Circle's use, shouldn't it be heavily guarded at all times?" Hao Yun asked in confusion.
In fact, as Hao Yun posed this question, he already had the answer in his mind. The reason Elina was able to infiltrate the Balance Realm and directly attack the Balance Circle must be due to the assistance she received from Guardian Uryll behind the scenes. Hao Yun finally realized this, understanding why Elina had abandoned her plan to attack the City of Spirits. It was because she had figured out a way to breach the Balance Realm through Uryll's blessing!
Hao Yun couldn't help but think again about the alleged affection between Heinrich and Elina, questioning if Elina truly had feelings for Heinrich. Perhaps Elina did have some fondness for Heinrich, but it wasn't likely enough to interfere with her plans. From the information now available, Elina didn't give up the attack on the City of Spirits to protect Heinrich's daughter; rather, Uryll's blessing provided her with a better opportunity to directly confront the Balance Circle.
The tale Uryll had told Heinrich, that Elina had given up her attack on the City of Spirits out of care for his feelings, was perhaps just to soothe Heinrich and leave him with a somewhat pleasant emotional memory. Poor Heinrich! It seemed he could only accompany Uryll happily in the fabrications forever!
As these thoughts raced through Hao Yun's mind, the mysterious attendant spoke again, "In theory, no substance can pass through the taboo barrier into the Balance Realm without the Balance Circle's approval. However, there are always exceptions. Since only the Balance Circle has the ability to complete the task of replacing a purified world with a newly acquired one, it must personally participate in the final transplantation phase of the purification task. During the process of pulling the newly acquired world from the Dark Link plane into the Spirit Realm and guiding it along the established path of purification, the Balance Circle must open a passage on the taboo barrier isolating the Balance Realm, allowing the force she releases to support the smooth completion of this purification task."
"In doing so, it is equivalent to the Balance Circle actively opening a channel on the taboo barrier, accessible to outsiders. However, because the Balance Circle will simultaneously release powerful forces along this channel sufficient to shake everything, theoretically, no one can withstand this powerful backlash and forcefully invade the Balance Realm. Any intruders daring to try would instantly be reduced to nothingness by the powerful forces released by the Balance Circle."
After the attendant explained, Hao Yun and his companions understood that Elina took advantage of the opportunity when the Balance Circle manipulated the replacement of two Earth worlds, using the powerful force that drew Earth NX into the Spirit Realm to locate the Balance Circle's position and sneak into the Balance Realm. The Balance Circle likely never dreamt that her act of seizing worlds from the Dark Link plane would one day become a means of inviting enemies into the Balance Realm.
"Humph! This is self-inflicted misery! In this way, Elina's exploit of this loophole to infiltrate the Balance Realm also serves as a punishment and a warning to the Balance Circle for her hidden evil deeds! I believe after this incident, even if the Balance Circle can survive, she will not dare to easily use such methods to secretly eliminate worlds in the Dark Link plane!" Hao Yun cursed inwardly.
"If that's the case, why did you come here to tell us all this? Shouldn't you hurry to assist?" Dream Jia asked with a rhetorical tone, unable to suppress a slightly schadenfreude expression on her face.
"Uh, well... about that..." Judge Yan and Master Gu scratched their heads in embarrassment upon hearing Dream Jia's question. They didn't know how to answer, so they turned to the mysterious attendant with awkward expressions, silently asking her to respond to this tricky question.
"They can't enter the Balance Realm now because Elina has blocked that channel with a Dark Energy Storm. Anyone who dares to forcibly enter the Balance Realm under the attack of the Dark Energy Storm will be instantly killed," the attendant replied.
"And what about you? If they can't go in, why don't you go and support the Balance Circle yourself?" Dream Jia asked again. From the respectful attitude of Judge Yan and Master Gu towards this attendant, it was clear she was no ordinary priest.
"As for me, my duty prevents me and other boundary guardians from returning to the Balance Realm to provide support. Besides us boundary guardians, currently, only three powerful beings completely unrelated to the Spirit Realm have the ability to break through the blockade of the Dark Energy Storm and enter the Balance Realm," the attendant continued. At the same time, the deep starry galaxy in her face visibly accelerated its rotation.
"Boundary guardians? I've never heard of you before. May I ask, which department of priests do you belong to?" Dao Lao asked with a frown, pondering.
"Boundary guardians do not belong to any department of the Spirit Realm. We exist in the boundary areas of every Shadow Spirit Realm in the Spirit Realm. Our duty is to ensure that the energies in each Shadow Spirit Realm remain in a relatively balanced state, thereby ensuring the stable operation of each Shadow Spirit Realm," the boundary guardian replied.
Upon hearing this boundary guardian's explanation, Hao Yun and his companions couldn't help but widen their eyes in surprise. Based on the description of the boundary guardian's job responsibilities, they all unconsciously thought of the previous introduction of the Balance Circle by the Mother of Decay. Why were the boundary guardians' tasks so similar to those of the Balance Circle? Could it be that they were all attendants of the Balance Circle? Or could it be—