Tamamo-no-Mae stood in the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum like an immortal sage, her ten jade-like fingers trembling slightly as she performed calculations, murmuring incantations under her breath.
At first, Roy found Tamamo-no-Mae's expressions amusing, but he soon grew bored. He pulled Yu Ji aside to sit on some steps, wrapping his arm around her slender waist as she leaned against his chest. Like modern students in love, they whispered sweet nothings to each other, occasionally pointing at Tamamo-no-Mae and sharing private jokes that made Yu Ji giggle like silver bells.
Completely absorbed in deciphering the mystical locks of the First Emperor's tomb, Tamamo-no-Mae had no attention to spare and remained unaware that Roy was amusing Yu Ji by mimicking her expressions and movements.
Whether it was Eastern sorcery or Western magecraft, many rituals were fundamentally mathematical. Watching Tamamo-no-Mae's meticulous calculations, Roy suspected her mental processing speed could surpass future supercomputers—apparently foxes had strong computational abilities.
The complexity of the mystical locks in Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum became evident. Though Tamamo-no-Mae now only had eight tails and greatly diminished power, her knowledge remained intact. As the ancient nine-tailed fox and Sun Goddess, even she showed fluctuating expressions and broke into a sweat on her flawless forehead while calculating this massive ritual array. It showed just how much effort the First Emperor had invested in constructing his tomb.
A formation that took forty years and the resources of an entire nation to complete was certainly no simple matter.
Just as Roy was growing drowsy and considering whether to follow Yu Ji's suggestion of brute force destruction after all, Tamamo-no-Mae, who had been pacing around, suddenly let out an excited cry.
Roy's mind cleared instantly. He gently shook awake the sleeping Yu Ji in his arms and smiled at Tamamo-no-Mae. "...Little Tamamo, did you solve it?"
Turning around to claim her victory, Tamamo-no-Mae's face darkened when she saw Roy and Yu Ji nearly asleep in the mausoleum. But being naturally cheerful, she quickly regained her composure and declared proudly, "...Such a trivial matter was easily handled once I took charge!"
Her eight fluffy tails swayed back and forth, her delighted expression practically shouting 'Praise me!' at Roy.
"You're amazing, Little Tamamo. I'm thoroughly impressed. When I first saw this mausoleum, I was completely baffled with no solution in sight. Yet you solved it so effortlessly."
Compliments came easily to Roy. He simply lowered his stance to please the fox first.
The tails behind Tamamo-no-Mae swayed even more vigorously, prompting Roy to sigh in admiration—foxes truly were canines at heart, hardly different from little dogs.
"Let's go. We'll explore the First Emperor's Mausoleum tonight."
Roy lifted his head to gaze at the sky. The air of the late Qin dynasty was fresh and pleasant, completely unpolluted, and the atmosphere around Mount Li was particularly crisp. Lush shrubs surrounded them, occasionally rustling with the sounds of nocturnal creatures treading on fallen leaves. By dawn, the chorus of birds would fill the air. The fact that the First Emperor had chosen this location for his tomb was proof enough that Mount Li possessed exceptional feng shui.
The night sky stretched like an ornate tapestry, studded with stars—a river of constellations spanning the distant cosmos, carrying with them the longing of billions of light-years.
Roy had a premonition that once the issues within the First Emperor's Mausoleum were resolved, he would complete his mission, bringing an end to the problems of human order and fulfilling the wish he had made aboard the "Ark."
"Are we all ready?"
At this, Tamamo-no-Mae's expression grew increasingly solemn. Even she had no idea what lay within the depths of the mausoleum.
Roy glanced at Yu Ji beside him. He had nothing to prepare—during this era of the late Qin dynasty, Roy had never displayed overwhelming power. Apart from revealing a fraction of his strength when facing Daji, he had otherwise behaved like an ordinary man. His mind, energy, and spirit had long been at their peak.
Yu Ji shook her head lightly. "...This concubine also needs no preparation."
In the years she had followed Roy, Yu Ji had not participated in any major battles. As a spirit and a True Ancestor, as long as she had sufficient energy, she would be fine.
Hearing Yu Ji declare herself ready, Roy nodded at Tamamo-no-Mae.
Without further ado, Tamamo-no-Mae lowered her beautiful eyes and began murmuring incantations once more. She had not been joking when she called herself a curse master—her proficiency in Eastern curses was extraordinary.
A flash of radiant light later, Roy suddenly felt a shift in space, a disorienting sensation that suggested spatial distortion. Tamamo-no-Mae's curse was already on par with high-level magecraft.
The sensation came and went in an instant. In the blink of an eye, Roy felt the world change around him, even giving him the illusion that he was aboard the "Ark" again, journeying to another world.
A weight lifted from Roy's body, as if something that had long oppressed him had vanished completely, granting him liberation.
He knew that what had disappeared was the concept of the Counter Force in this world. As an outsider, Roy had been under the Counter Force's scrutiny the moment he arrived in this world. However, the Counter Force lacked self-awareness—its observation of Roy was merely to determine whether he would bring disaster to humanity and the planet.
"As expected, this place cuts off the Counter Force."
Roy murmured under his breath as his feet touched solid ground. Any magus who came here would be overjoyed—without the Counter Force's interference, their lifelong dream of opening a path to the Root could be achieved here with relative ease.
However, Roy was not a mage who sought the root of all things. Yet this world constructed by the First Emperor still brought him a sense of ease, for within this bounded field, he could finally ignore the Counter Force and indulge freely without restraint.
This should be the underground of the First Emperor's mausoleum. Roy raised his head to gaze at the sky. Above him was not the expected earth but an endless expanse of stars. The heavens were adorned with countless constellations, the twenty-eight lunar mansions scattered across the firmament, each star moving along its own ordained path.
.....
Looking around, he saw mountains and rivers, lush green grass brimming with vibrant life. Streams meandered through the verdant woods and meadows, but the rivers did not flow with water—they carried mercury!
This world was both real and illusory, formed from the First Emperor's mental landscape. Roy gazed into the distance, where the faint outline of a city seemed to flicker at the horizon. He knew it was Xianyang—within the First Emperor's mental world lay all the realms he had once ruled.
This is a Reality Marble, yet it is something far more advanced than a typical one. Ordinary Reality Marbles are eroded by the Counter Force, requiring the caster to expend magical energy to resist it. When the caster's magical energy is insufficient, the bounded field collapses.
However, this world—crafted by the First Emperor—somehow avoids the risk of destruction. Legend has it that the earliest organization of magi, the Wandering Sea, was a mobile alternate dimension. The Mausoleum of the First Emperor shares similarities with the Wandering Sea, as this tomb constantly shifts its location, making it nearly impossible to pinpoint its exact position. It was only through Tamamo-no-Mae's calculations that the entrance could be found.
Yet, even the Wandering Sea cannot completely isolate the Counter Force. The First Emperor's mausoleum, however, has achieved this feat entirely.
Roy was very familiar with the space he now found himself in, for he had once visited a similar place in the past—the Imaginary Number Space, where Aleister had hidden.
And the First Emperor had constructed his Reality Marble within the Imaginary Number Space.