Chapter 626: Above the Dimension

Chen Ling suddenly realized he had been stuck in a fallacy all along. He had instinctively assumed that the Hongchen Base was the indispensable core of the Hongchen Domain, much like the Aurora Base was to the Aurora Domain. But at this moment, Chen Ling realized he was wrong.

For Su Zhiwei, Monarch Hongchen, the most important thing was not the Hongchen Base, but the "Hongchen Domain" itself. That's why she hid the entire domain in a higher-dimensional world, concealed within an unassuming small flower.

If that were the case, Su Zhiwei couldn't hide within the Hongchen Domain. On the contrary, she needed to be in a lower dimension than the Hongchen Domain, something "larger" than the domain itself. Her location could only be... the Gray World.

It was Monarch Hongchen protecting the Hongchen Domain, not the Hongchen Domain concealing Monarch Hongchen.

At this moment, most of the clues connected in his mind. So the Hongchen Base itself wasn't in Liuzhen; perhaps Liuzhen was just a passage connecting the lower and higher dimensions? Then the mountain forest where Li Qingshan found him was, strictly speaking, actually the exit of Fusheng Hui's exclusive "staff" passage.

So what about the path he and the other members of the Twilight Society took to enter? Was it a back entrance?

And why did Monarch Hongchen choose Liuzhen? Perhaps because of the "Hongchen" painting Yao Qing had given him back then? No, perhaps the entire Liuzhen was constructed based on the "Hongchen" painting?

As Chen Ling was still reeling from this realization, Yang Muxuan moved again.

Yang Muxuan stood among the white flowers, lightly tapping his foot on the ground. A corner of a vast scroll extended from the distance to their feet, enveloped their bodies, then rapidly contracted, eventually shrinking into a gray leaf that came to rest on the small flower that held the Hongchen Domain.

A gentle breeze swept through the white flower bushes; their figures were no longer visible. Only a single, inconspicuous small flower swayed silently in the wind.

Meanwhile.

Three figures swept out one after another from Hongchen Main City and arrived near Liuzhen.

"What is this place? It looks so remote," Jian Changsheng asked, gazing at the quiet town with its white walls and gray tiles.

Meihua and Heart 9 exchanged a glance, silently agreeing not to answer. They could barely find their way back to the opera house, so how could they know an unnamed town outside Hongchen Main City?

"There are hundreds of towns like this around Hongchen Main City. Their names aren't important." Meihua pointed towards a distant mountain forest. "They went that way."

"Let's move quickly, don't lose them."

The three set off again, rapidly approaching the mountain forest. Because Yang Muxuan was with Chen Ling, they didn't dare follow too closely, only trailing from a distance. Fortunately, Meihua's pigeon had placed a mark on Chen Ling, so as long as they weren't too far away, Meihua could locate Chen Ling's position.

The three landed successively in the dense mountain forest. Heart 9's gaze swept the surroundings, and just as he was about to speak, Meihua's brow suddenly furrowed.

"Strange..."

"What's wrong?"

"The mark disappeared here."

Meihua's eyes scanned the surroundings. Following the last known location of the mark in her mind, she came to a tree, but found nothing unusual and saw no trace of Chen Ling or the other person.

"The mark disappeared?" Jian Changsheng's mouth agape, he boldly guessed, "Did that spotted dog kill Heart 6 here? I was wondering why he didn't go to the Hongchen Base but instead brought someone to this desolate wilderness... This place is just too perfect for murder and dumping bodies!"

"...Even if someone dies, the mark should remain, allowing us to find their body."

"True, that guy isn't that easy to kill... If he really was killed, then the Hongchen Domain wouldn't be far from its end either."

"Then where could they have gone?"

Heart 9 squatted down, pondering for a moment before the pile of fallen leaves on the ground. "The footprints vanished into thin air here... Could they have been teleported away by some means?"

"Very likely. Only teleportation could instantly move them beyond the mark's effective range."

"But now that the mark is gone, how are we supposed to find the Hongchen Base?"

As the three were frowning in thought, a white pigeon with blood-red markings fluttered down from a tree. It shimmered gently in Meihua's hand, returning to its form as a letter.

On the front of the letter was Meihua's earlier message: "Need support?" Beneath it was Chen Ling's answer, written in blood:

—All under control.

"All under control, what?" Jian Changsheng tsked. "The mark's gone now, even if he gets inside the Hongchen Base, we won't be able to pinpoint his location! If he gets captured, we can't rescue him. Isn't this just a suicide mission? I never thought Heart 6 would have a day where he completely screwed up."

Meihua pondered for a moment, then suddenly, as if discovering something, she flipped the letter over...

A second line of blood-red characters appeared before them:

—If anything goes wrong, find Liu Qingyan.

Chen Ling opened his eyes again; his feet were already on solid ground.

He had now emerged from the comic frame. Beneath his feet stretched vast, smooth marble tiles, reflecting the paintings hung on the walls, stretching into the distance.

At the top of this long corridor was a semi-open arched dome. Through glass-like panels, one could see the lead-gray sky outside.

Inside the corridor was a vibrant, colorful world; outside the dome was a dangerous, monotonous gray world.

In a sense, this place was even more magnificent and spectacular than the Louvre before the Great Calamity.

"This is..." Chen Ling gazed around, stunned.

"We usually call this place the 'Fusheng Hall' or the 'Structure Institute'..." Yang Muxuan paused for a moment, then slowly began, "But when facing the other eight domains, it has another name..."

"...The Hongchen Base."

"How did you do it?" Chen Ling pointed to the semi-transparent dome. "Is this the Gray World, or something else?"

"Of course it's the Gray World. We're just currently within the Chief's Domain."

"...The Chief's Domain?"

"The Nine Monarchs' domains can support an entire domain. Our Chief, though only an eighth-tier, finds it no difficult task to establish their own domain within the Gray World."

Yang Muxuan didn't elaborate further to Chen Ling and headed straight for the end of the corridor. Although Chen Ling was no longer confined by the comic frame, there was no other path to take besides following, so he could only reluctantly follow.

"Why aren't you keeping me in the comic frame anymore?"

"Here, you have nowhere to run," Yang Muxuan said with a faint air of confidence.

"Alright... So where are we going now?"

"To see the Second Hall."