Chapter 91: Zone
"Th-This..." Liam pointed at the four dead monsters and spoke with unfocused eyes.
"Hey, Alicia, I think there is definitely something unhealthy in the air. Do you think we should stop breathing?"
Alicia opened her mouth to refute his words, but no sound came out as she was too stunned to say anything.
’Is there really something wrong with the air?’ She couldn’t help but wonder because everything that had just happened was simply too absurd.
From Liam and Alicia’s perspective, they had only seen William’s figure disappear.
Around two seconds later, a chilling sword light tore through the raging sandstorm and vanished into the distance.
When they looked toward the source of the sword light, all they saw was William standing before the five-meter-tall monster.
A thin sword cut slowly spread across the monster’s neck, and the next instant, fountains of blood erupted as the heads of all four monsters dropped to the ground.
Everything that happened seemed like a dream to them.
Suddenly, Liam’s expression changed.
"There seems to be something wrong with him," He said as he rushed forward.
Alicia also came back to her senses and saw William clutching his head tightly, nearly falling to the ground.
She immediately followed after Liam and quickly arrived at his side.
"Are you alright?" Liam asked as he supported William and helped him sit down.
William took several deep breaths and replied in a hoarse voice.
"Just... give me a moment..."
He closed his eyes and massaged his head with both hands.
’It shouldn’t be like this. I tested the effects of Time Perception and Time Acceleration together before, but there was never a backlash like this,’ William thought as he tried to figure out what had gone wrong.
’Just relax and don’t put any more pressure on your mind and soul...’
While he was thinking, the voice of the White Pearl’s spirit echoed in his mind.
’You entered a state known as Zone earlier. It’s a state that only people at the Star King Realm and above have a chance to comprehend. You are lucky to still be alive. If it weren’t for your Ancient-Level trait images holding your Sea of Consciousness together, it might have completely collapsed because of what happened earlier.’
’What are you talking about?’ William frowned upon hearing the spirit’s words. ’I was far stronger than a Star King in the original timeline, yet I never heard about this Zone you are talking about. And what do you mean my Sea of Consciousness would have collapsed?’
’You never heard about Zone because it’s a state that only the most talented individuals in the world can master. In the entire Vermilion Realm, I can guarantee that there aren’t more than one hundred people who have mastered it. As for the collapse of your Sea of Consciousness, the state of Zone places an extremely heavy burden on both your soul and your mind, drawing out every bit of your potential. With your cultivation being only at the Star Warrior Realm, it’s already a miracle that your Sea of Consciousness didn’t collapse.’
The spirit paused for a moment before asking.
’Earlier, did you feel as though the entire world had stopped moving, while your mind became unbelievably clear, as if you could accomplish anything?’
William recalled the state he had entered earlier and nodded. He had indeed felt as though the entire world had come to a standstill.
At that time, he had assumed it was simply the combined effect of Time Perception and Time Acceleration.
But now that he thought about it carefully, it was impossible for his thinking speed to reach such a terrifying level with just those two techniques alone. There was no way they could make the entire world appear frozen in his eyes.
’Be extremely careful in the future. If you use that state carelessly before obtaining sufficient strength, you might truly die.’
William’s mouth twitched at the spirit’s warning.
’But I don’t even know how I entered that state.’
’That’s exactly why I am telling you to be careful. If you accidentally enter that state again, I am not sure your trait images will be able to keep your Sea of Consciousness safe.’
William let out a light sigh and slowly opened his eyes.
’Now I have another headache to deal with...’
He sighed inwardly as he truly had no idea how to control this so-called Zone.
"Are you alright?"
Alicia’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he turned to look at her.
"I am fine. I just used up all of my Aether Energy and need a few minutes to recover."
"Oh..." She nodded and looked at the dead bodies of the sand scorpions lying all around them with a complicated expression.
She wanted to ask him how he had managed to do all of this, but remembering that they weren’t close enough to pry into his secrets, she sighed and kept her curiosity to herself.
"Here are the things those monsters dropped."
Liam returned with several items in his hands and placed them in front of William.
Earlier, William had killed nearly forty mutated sand scorpions, including the leader and the other three Peak Star Warrior-level ones.
Although the monsters’ drop rate wasn’t particularly high, William still noticed that Liam had placed five items in front of him.
Two of them were monster cores similar to the one Alicia had obtained earlier.
He paid them little attention and instead picked up a skill book.
"Fireball..." William read the details of the skill and discovered that it was the same Fireball skill used by the mutated sand scorpions.
He thought about it for a moment before deciding not to learn it, as the skill was of little use to him.
Using the Time Star Codex, he could easily create Fire-attribute Aether Energy and form fireballs on his own, so there was no need to waste a skill slot on this ability.
Moreover, the number of skills a person could learn through skill books was limited.
A Star Warrior could learn only three skills from skill books.
To learn more, one had to break through to the Star Commander Realm, which granted another three skill slots.
William had no intention of wasting one of his precious skill slots on Fireball.
He put the skill book away and picked up the fourth item.
It was a bright red-colored potion.
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--) Blood Burn Potion (Rank One): Upon consumption, grants the user a temporary burst of strength for a short period. Once the effect ends, the user enters a weakened state for a certain amount of time.
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’It could be useful in an emergency...’
William nodded after reading the description, and his gaze finally fell upon the last item—the one dropped by the leader of the mutated scorpions.
’An Uncommon-grade Treasure Orb...’
William’s eyes gleamed slightly, and without the slightest hesitation, he crushed the orb.