These shadows appeared to be real and not mere hallucinations.
Zen shook his head and stared at them. However, they all gathered back together instantly.
Surely, they must have all come, somehow, from the people they resembled, and they were now like
overflowing water, about to spread out at any time.
The strange visions persisted for a few moments more before Zen finally broke out of his stupor.
Fuxi, the Snake Goddess, Eastern Emperor Taiyi and the others all gathered around him, concern
written across their faces.
At Zen's level of cultivation, he couldn't possibly become this disoriented unless he was confronted with
a powerful soul pressure.
But who in Zen's inner world was that powerful?
"Zen, are you all right?" the Snake Goddess asked worriedly.
As the visions faded away, Zen came to his senses. He looked around in a daze. "I saw numerous
shadows just now."
"Shadows? You must be mistaken. They were probably hallucinations," Fuxi replied, furrowing his
brows. Zen must be so fatigued facing so much pressure that he was starting to see things.
"Hallucinations?"
Zen frowned. "They didn't seem to be hallucinations, or afterimages. They seemed real."
"What?"
The Snake Goddess, Fuxi, and Eastern Emperor Taiyi stared at Zen, not comprehending.
However, Zen became more and more convinced he was right. He pointed at the distance. "I saw
twelve Snake Goddesses, ten Fuxis, eleven Pear Hills, and six Eastern Emperor Taiyis. They were
really there."
Fuxi gave Zen a blank look. Finally, he burst out, "Crazy! You've gone crazy!"
"I haven't," Zen said calmly. "There must be something wrong with this place, not me!"
"Alright. Let's say there's an anomaly in this space. But why would there be twelve of me?" the Snake
Goddess asked seriously.
Compared to Fuxi, the Snake Goddess was more inclined to trust Zen.
If Zen said that what he saw was real, then she chose to believe him.
"I don't know." Zen shook his head.
The number of the visions of the people varied. The Snake Goddess had the largest number, and
Eastern Emperor Taiyi had the least. Zen couldn't figure out what the determining factors possibly could
be.
"The Variable Images. Zen, what you saw might have been the Variable Images..." Gerald's voice
suddenly floated over from the jadeite platform.
Zen and the Snake Goddess turned to look at Gerald and approached him at the platform. The Snake
Goddess was the first to ask. "What is the Variable Image?"
"Only people with a deep knowledge of space can see the Variable Images," Gerald continued. "In this
round of chaos, the first person to see the Variable Images was Othniel. After comprehending the truth
of space, he saw the Variable Images several times."
"I remember that he had tried to show it to us," Kendrick, who was beside Gerald, added.
It was only in the early stages of chaos that the six Chaos Ancient Gods had no conflict with each
other, so what Kendrick said must have happened in the earlier stages of the world.
"Yes. He said I had twenty Variable Images," Gerald recalled. "Kendrick had seventeen, and Othniel
himself had the least number, only eight."
"But what exactly are those Variable Images?" The Snake Goddess pressed, more curious than the
others.
"I'm not sure," Gerald said. "Othniel had carefully observed the Variable Images, and he said that they
were all just versions of the same people."
"So I really have twelve versions of myself?" the Snake Goddess said, bewildered.
"That's what Othniel said. His understanding of space had reached an unfathomable level, far beyond
our knowledge," said Gerald. "But from the perspective of life, I don't agree with what he said."
Gerald, who controlled the truth of life, had his own definition for it.
"I remember Othniel saying that, normally, one's Variable Images overlapped with themselves
completely, so that even if he strained the truth of space to the limit, he would never be able to perceive
them. Only when the time sequence in the entire chaos fluctuated and they became out of sync did the
images become perceptible to him," Gerald continued.
"A fluctuation in the time sequence? When does that happen?" Zen asked.
"You must have all experienced it before," said Gerald.
The Snake Goddess's eyes lit up first. "I know! It was with the Shade Stone!"
"Yes." Gerald nodded. "Whenever the Shade Stone appears, there will be subtle fluctuations in the time
sequence of the chaos. It was at this time that Othniel would see the images."
According to legends in the Source World, the Shade Stones had fallen from the hourglass of time. It
was said the Shade Stones could calculate the lifespan of the chaos.
A short time after Zen had arrived at the Source World, he had also had a Shade Stone merged into his
body. However, after inheriting the ancestry-level bloodline, his body, in a way, had been rebuilt. He
found that both the Shade Stone and the Chaotic Source Spirits had disappeared.
"Maybe there was another Shade Stone appearing in the Source World just now, and you have
reached an understanding of space comparable to Othniel's, which is why you are now more sensitive
to the fluctuation of the time sequence of chaos and can see those Variable Images," Gerald mused
aloud.
Such an explanation made sense.
After all, now that Zen had mastered the ancestry-level bloodline, his attainments in space could match
that of the Chaos Ancient Gods. Coincidentally, a Shade Stone just descended, and Zen was able to
see the Variable Images.
But what were these Variable Images? If Othniel hadn't known, it was impossible for Zen to know now.
"Enough about the Variable Images. I'm more concerned about the Ruin Graveyard right now," the
Snake Goddess pronounced.
The Ruin Graveyard was a world floating in the chaos, also vulnerable to an attack by the heads at any
moment now.
"Right! The Ruin Graveyard is also in danger!" Zen clapped his hands, suddenly alert.
According to their previous plan, once the Pear Hill went into his inner world, they would turn it around
to search for the Ruin Graveyard!
With the help of the mother butterfly, Zen could easily sense the positions of the primitive land and the
Ruin Graveyard.
Zen wouldn't have been in a hurry before. He would have had enough time to find it.
But the Ruin Graveyard might get attacked soon. He didn't know if the creatures on the graveyard
could survive that.
A grim air descended over Fuxi and the others.
The Pear Hill had three Chaos Ancient Gods and several Eternal Realm warriors, but even they found
it difficult to deal with those heads.
The Ruin Graveyard probably didn't even have any Eternal Realm warriors. What chance did they have
against the attacks?
"Master Kendrick, please make the Pear Hill turn around. We'll set off right away," said Zen.
Although the Pear Hill was located inside the primitive land, the primitive land could crack open just
enough for it to drive the whole land forward. In addition to the Pear Hill's power, the primitive land
would also help, so its speed shouldn't be slow.
Meanwhile, on the northwest side of the chaos, the Ruin Graveyard, indeed, was currently in grave
danger.
Hundreds and thousands of heads were already launching attacks.
These heads did not have any preferences. They would simply bite off and swallow anything or anyone
they caught.
The divine land was at the center of the Ruin Graveyard now, so it was not damaged yet. But the huge
tombstones around the Ruin Graveyard had already been gnawed into pieces.
The Ruin Graveyard occupants estimated that the tombstones were big enough to keep the heads at
bay.
In the meantime, they racked their minds, trying to think of a way out.
However, after the heads devoured tombstones as big as they were, their size started to double!
Several heads had become inconceivably huge in the next few days. At the rate they were growing, it
wouldn't be long before they could devour the entire Ruin Graveyard!
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda