"So now the Stargate Council and Sky City originally thought Pei'er would die imdiately after the Black Tide erupted in the Borderland?"
"Yes." Kist smiled. "But they probably didn't expect that the person who should have been the first sacrifice would, through your influence, survive by a twist of fate. I suppose destiny played a joke on them."
Kist even knew the inside story of how Pei'er survived due to his influence?
Did he also know about his origins and information about the Prismatic World?
He probed, "How do you know Pei'er didn't die?"
Kist almost imdiately guessed what Saul was worried about, and he bowed again.
"Please don't worry. I cannot spy on your actions. The reason I discovered the Wind Sprite didn't die was entirely because..." He waved the half black page in his hand. "I can sense that the connection between the Wind Sprite and you hasn't been severed."
"You rewrote the Wind Sprite's death sentence. I think this probably relates to your special identity. After all, you're a miraculous existence who made the diary directly break free from my control."
"Is it because before I ca to this world, I was once a life form of Fate Lines?" Saul pondered silently. Now, information about his past seed to have lifted its veiling mist.
But the complexity and mystery within didn't reduce his inner doubts one bit.
"Kist, do you... know about my past?"
The other shook his head. "I'd love to know too, but my intuition tells not to think about such distant matters before heading to the stars."
"Intuition... is this your ability, or an ability granted by the diary?"
However, Kist didn't seem to want to discuss this topic, turning his head and stiffly changing the subject.
"The Wind Sprite isn't dead, so now it's the Stargate Council's turn to have a headache."
Kist still had secrets.
But as long as he didn't sche regarding helping with fourth-rank advancent, Saul had no intention of probing into secrets others were unwilling to reveal.
He naturally continued, "Pei'er was used, simultaneously connected to both Black Tide and the stargate. Originally this connection would quickly dissipate due to Pei'er's death. But now, she hasn't died. Even though she's no longer in a normal wizard's state, because she's still alive, the connection between Black Tide and the stargate hasn't been severed!"
Hearing Saul's speculation, Kist smiled and licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with excitent.
"Yes, the good show is about to begin."
But Saul felt no excitent at all. He thought of what Camus had said when trying to stop him.
"Does a more dangerous monster exist behind the stargate? Will this world be destroyed because of it?"
"The world definitely won't be destroyed, but with the stargate opened, what happens to the people in this world is uncertain."
Saul felt sowhat uneasy.
The current wizard world already struggled against the Black Tide, let alone adding starlight pollution.
He ca to the platform edge again, seeing Byron's group carrying the motionless Brando and Corey toward the wizard tower.
Those two had obviously encountered so problem.
When Saul went to find Kist earlier, he had noticed their abnormality. Seeing they weren't in mortal danger, just held by so spell, he hadn't rushed over.
He continued speaking to Kist, "We need to sever this connection. Besides killing Pei'er, do you have other thods?"
Killing Pei'er was no longer an option to consider.
Even if Saul were willing to sacrifice her to cut the connection, he couldn't find her now.
She was currently in the Prismatic World, working hard on self-repair, not even her fragnts could be gathered.
Kist wasn't worried at all. "You needn't be so concerned. The wizards of this wizard world aren't that incompetent. Just leave this matter to the Stargate Council and Tribunal!"
Saul understood. "Heh, this is what you ant by them having no ti or energy to trouble for three years?"
Kist smiled cunningly. "Yes, as long as they're kept busy, naturally they won't have ti to ddle in other affairs. I'm quite skilled at causing trouble for others."
Then he bid farewell to Saul. "My dear master, I must go. After all, helping you advance to fourth-rank isn't a task that can be completed with just words. It seems I won't be able to rest properly for the next few years."
Before leaving, he rembered sothing else.
"Oh, right. This is for you." Kist drew two slender golden "straws" from his palm.
With a wave of his hand, the "straws" unfolded into two golden pages, quickly turning into fine glittering powder and disappearing.
Simultaneously, Saul sensed two more golden pages in his diary.
"I hadn't given you these two golden pages before because I didn't want you to be too deeply influenced by the diary. But now that you've completely mastered the diary and don't need to worry about becoming its nourishnt, I can safely give you the remaining pages."
Looking at his empty palm, Kist was briefly dazed, but soon showed a smile again.
"From now on, if you want to weave new pages of fate, you'll have to rely on yourself."
Kist raised both arms high, stretching.
"Doing one thing for over a hundred years is really tiring." Saying this, he slowly walked to the platform edge, leaped, and jumped down.
Accompanied by a few lonely string notes, Kist's figure bounded a few tis and disappeared across the plains.
...
anwhile, council personnel who had already sent test objects codenad "Anchor Points" to the other side of the stargate were nervously waiting for the anchor points to transmit back information from the other world.
But the wizards responsible for observing the stargate's condition grew increasingly tense.
Finally, one of them shot up, bypassing various people and objects on the observation platform, heading directly to the inverted pyramid building above to find the Stargate Council's Chairman.
After passing through multiple checkpoints, this wizard almost ran all the way to Chairman Alick.
"Chairman, an accident occurred in the experint. Currently the stargate hasn't closed as planned."
Alick sat on a long bench, and because the room's gravity direction had been rotated ninety degrees, he constantly faced the sky.
urich stood beside the Chairman. Hearing this, he turned back, his telescope-like eye rapidly adjusting focus.
"The Chairman has already noticed." urich was rapidly flipping through scrolls in his hands, while several quill pens floated beside him, writing quickly without control.
"The current problem is that the coordinates the council used to locate the stargate established a connection with the Wind Sprite. The Wind Sprite is now missing but hasn't died, so the connection wasn't severed, leaving the stargate temporarily with a crack. Perhaps this crack will close automatically in an hour, but accidents might occur, and it might not close again."
urich apologetically said to Alick, "I'm very sorry, Chairman. I didn't expect Wind Sprite Pei'er could survive under dual pollution."
Alick waved his hand. "If experints developed according to our predetermined designs, they wouldn't be called experints."
Alick didn't rise, his voice remaining calm. "No one can guarantee what results an experint will yield. However, the stargate not completely closing isn't entirely bad news."
Everyone quietly waited for Alick's instructions.
"We can begin second-phase testing." Alick said, his voice faintly carrying thunder. "Activate the anchor points, feedback information."
While others were still shocked, first assistant urich already wore a smile.
"Yes, Chairman." He began rapidly recording again. "The stargate not completely closing is good news. No more worrying about signal clarity."
Then Alick spoke again.
"If the stargate never closes, and the returned signals show danger levels below grade three..."
Everyone looked up, so anxious, so anticipating.
"...then send people for gap observation."
The ssenger wizard felt his legs go weak, tremblingly asking: "Chairman, don't we need to convene the mber council? Proceeding directly to gap observation—isn't the pace too fast?"
urich was an absolute supporter of the Stargate Chairman. Seeing soone object, his eyes imdiately focused on the other's face.
But Alick wasn't angry, calmly explaining: "Only when conducting crossing experints do we need to convene the mber council. This was decided before stargate experints began. As for pace... we need to prepare as thoroughly as possible. You never know which will arrive first tomorrow—tomorrow or the Black Tide."
(End of Chapter)
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