The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　—What consequences would occur if it couldn't be delivered?

　Because the organizers of the tea party were in such a high position, the so-called "invitation" inevitably had a somewhat coercive element.

　Even though the twelve gods did not personally deliver the invitations to Alvitt and the others, the same thing still happened.

　As a "messenger," Dark had no choice but to do his best.

　and.

　There are other things he needs to consider.

　The "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple" that the survey team is currently investigating is of a level far superior to any "miracle" that has ever appeared.

　Even when he was still in the Free City, Dak had already foreseen this. Now, after gaining a deeper understanding, he is even more certain of his guess.

　And "wealth should not be flaunted".

　The fact that Aylvit and the others were in some kind of "miracle" should have been discovered by the Twelve Gods when they found that their invitation could not be delivered.

　It is precisely because we are currently in a special period of "the revival of the gods" that "miracles" are constantly being unearthed all over the continent, which is why it has not attracted much attention.

　But if Dark and his companions activate the teleportation function on the "Invitation" inside the "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple"...

　Let's not even talk about whether we can successfully teleport from inside the "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple" to the "Heavenly Court".

　If teleportation were possible, wouldn't that be tantamount to completely exposing the existence of the "Snow Goddess Temple" to the Twelve Celestials?

　anyway.

　This is something that must be noted.

　……

　But this means that Dark will not only have to deliver the invitations to Alvette and the others, but also have to leave the temple with them and activate the "teleportation" outside the temple.

　The already limited time became even more strained.

　"Three hours left: to go in or not to go in?"

　Looking at the "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple," Dark quickly pondered. Standing here and waiting meant there was a 90% chance of failing the mission. Even to deal with the Twelve Celestials, he would have to "do his best." But if he entered now, not only would he be unable to find Alvit and the others, but he himself might miss the time limit and be unable to… or be forced to activate the teleportation within the temple.

　These are not the things he wanted to see first.

　Even though all that awaited him was a bad ending, he had to make a choice. "I have no choice but to go in!"

　Therefore, he looked up and said, "Prepare a guide; I want to enter the temple."

　Aquinita nodded slightly, then summoned a maid and whispered instructions.

　That was her deputy, whom Dak had seen before.

　But just when Dark thought Aquinita was going to send her deputy as a guide, she took out a palm-sized dial and said, "There is 'Disordered Time Flow' inside the temple. Although its dangers are currently unknown, it's best to avoid it if possible."

　As she spoke, she handed the watch face to Dach.

　Dak took a closer look and found that it appeared to be just an ordinary watch face.

　Aquinita explained, "This is a clock face made with antifreeze materials. Once it gets close to the 'disordered flow of time,' the hands on the face will jitter randomly."

　After saying that, she walked towards the interior of the temple: "Since time is of the essence, let's hurry. We've already breached this part of the temple in the mortal realm. Apart from the unanalyzable 'disordered time flow,' there's basically no danger. Let's get to the entrance of the 'Divine Kingdom' first."

　"Walking," Aquinita said. "Only walking."

　There are many restrictions in the "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple".

　These restrictions are all imposed by the power of rules.

　Most of the restrictions on the temples located in the present world have been broken. However, fundamental restrictions such as the inability to use transportation and the inability to fly remain unbroken.

　Once inside the temple, one can only walk.

　Dak followed Aquinita into the "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple".

　The front hall of the "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple" bears very obvious traces of the passage of time, with damage and incompleteness visible everywhere.

　If you look closely, you can also see deep claw marks on the walls and the floor.

　As we walked, Aquinita explained, "When we first arrived at the temple, this front hall was occupied by a snow serpent, a giant beast resembling a snow fox with three tails and only one eye. Its cry was extremely loud. If we weren't inside the temple, it could easily trigger an avalanche. That single eye could intimidate the mind, rendering people immobile. But fortunately, there were many of us, and it only had one eye."

　"Entering the second room from the first room in the front hall, you will hear hallucinatory sounds that will confuse your mind. You need to bow to the statues in the hall three times to remove them."

　"However, you only need to pray three times, and then you don't need to pray anymore."

　Aquinita walked to the statue in the second room and turned to look at Dark.

　Dak's gaze then fell upon the statue in the hall, a white statue with flowing white robes and an ethereal air, but it was headless.

　The headlessness seemed eerie, but perhaps it was simply the ravages of time. Dark frowned slightly. Although he didn't hear any "phantom sounds," he still bowed three times in standard etiquette.

　This is, after all, their territory, so a gift is always expected.

Chapter 1664 Darkdemon and the Rebellion of the Magical Spirits (4k)

　After the three bows, everything proceeded as usual.

　Despite his doubts, Dark continued to follow Aquinita.

　From the second room of the temple onwards, there is no longer just one path ahead.

　However, most of the restrictions on the temple located in the present world have been broken, and all routes have been investigated.

　Aquinita knew the route through the temple like the back of her hand, so she naturally chose the shortest route.

　Moreover, her pace of movement was quite deliberate, seemingly positioned precisely between "walking" and "running".

　Dark didn't know the basis for her judgment. But since Aquinita hadn't specifically warned him, he simply followed along at that pace.

　Upon entering the fifth room, Aquinita suddenly stopped, pointed her watch to the side, and said, "There's a 'Disordered Time Stream' about two to three meters away from us."

　Dark turned his head slightly to look in that direction, but saw that there wasn't even a ripple in the air, and he couldn't see anything at all.

　He squinted slightly, then suddenly opened his eyes, which glowed gold as he activated the "Eye of Truth".

　Even so, no "trace" could be seen in that air. But the hands of his watch were already trembling rapidly. Aquinita paused slightly, then said, "Don't approach 'Disordered Time Flow' out of curiosity. It exists essentially in a near-fluid form, but it's not a true fluid. In fact, it doesn't have a form, it's not even a substance, but rather a state. 'Disordered Time Flow' was named by His Excellency the Duke, but it was redefined after Miss Kate arrived. At that location, time is chaotic and disordered, thus presenting a special state—that is, 'Disordered Time Flow.' Humans who come into contact with 'Disordered Time Flow' will experience a separation of body and mind due to the difference in the internal and external flow rates of time."

　"Didn't you say there was no harm?" Dark asked.

　Aquinita said, "That's because as long as you remove yourself from it, all the gaps caused by the difference in the flow of time will be corrected instantly."

　Dark: "Then..."

　Aquinita quickly said, "Although it will be corrected, the actual rupture has already occurred, and the facts that have already occurred will not disappear. Therefore, the past and future cannot be completely unchanged; it's just that with our current abilities, we cannot see exactly how these changes will occur."

　Dark nodded, indicating that he had no intention of trying it out. Aquinita outwardly agreed, but inwardly she didn't believe him at all.

　Therefore, it is clear that she became more attentive and vigilant about Dak's behavior after that, and even offered more "explanations".

　Dark smiled and continued listening.

　"Disordered time flow" is not fixed.

　It was first named "fluid" because it can "flow" like a fluid.

　However, its flow rate is not fast.

　After discovering that the hands of the "clock" would change speed and jitter due to the appearance of "disordered time flow", the investigation team never fell into "disordered time flow" again.

　Although Aquinita spoke lightly, the "disorderly flow of time" is actually quite terrifying.

　Its existence is completely elusive; it can only be discovered once you step inside.

　However, if the entire team is accidentally pulled into the "disorderly flow of time," it's not as simple as just "discovering" it.

　Because of the lack of a reference point, the perceived time remains relatively constant. It's even possible to experience a situation where "a glance feels like an eternity."

　The perceived time was only one second, but in the outside world, tens of thousands of years had passed. Even if one were to return from the "disordered flow of time," the passage of time in the outside world would already be a fact, essentially meaning one had traveled to the future tens of thousands of years in the future.

　Of course, this is just a relatively exaggerated statement, and in fact, it is highly unlikely that such a thing would happen.

　Because someone will inevitably appear from the outside, even if the speed within the "disordered time flow" increases ten thousand times, once someone pulls you out in time, the perceived time will be at most one ten-thousandth of a second, and you won't feel much at all.

　The investigation team had been keeping an eye on the situation from the beginning to prevent everyone from falling into the same trap at the same time.

　Therefore, I have never encountered the "most terrifying" scenario.

　Furthermore, the birth of "disordered time flow" is not entirely random.

　It will be affected by the intruder's behavior, resulting in large-scale creation and movement towards the intruder.

　Actions that could lead to the large-scale emergence of "disordered time flows" include, but are not limited to, acts that violate temple rules.

　There are numerous rules within this "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple".

　Some of these rules are explicit restrictions, meaning they are completely impossible to enforce.

　The most intuitive example is "flight".

　The other part of the rules has no explicit restrictions and can only be discovered through in-depth analysis.

　These rules can be broken, but there will be penalties.

　For example, "running".

　Movement exceeding a certain speed is considered "running".

　Running is not allowed inside the temple.

　Therefore, once you "run," you will be "punished."

　The "punishment of running" is the "torture of time," which leads to the mass creation of "disordered time flow."

　Based on this, the investigation team speculated that "disordered time flow" was likely an incomplete state that ultimately emerged after a punishment mechanism was damaged somewhere.

　Because rules that are damaged for various reasons and end up only having incomplete mechanisms are not uncommon in this temple.

　For example, the sixth room that Dark entered later.

　A puzzle must be solved in this room to unlock the door to the next room.

　However, in practice, simply writing the correct answer will not open the door.

　0

　The final "solution" is a transitional term used in the problem-solving process.

　This kind of situation is far more difficult than solving the problem completely.

　If the puzzles in this room hadn't had no limit on the number of attempts—or if they had, but the corresponding mechanism was broken—the investigation team would have had almost no chance of solving them.

　Therefore, what ultimately helped them successfully solve the puzzle was the "exhaustive search method".

　However, with the information from the sixth room as a reference, the investigation team was more prepared during their subsequent exploration, thus avoiding many potential crises.

　This "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple" is indeed enormous.

　It took almost an hour to "walk" just this part of the world.

　During this time, Dark heard a great deal about the investigation from Aquinita. He couldn't help but marvel at how the investigation team had managed to get here so smoothly.

　In comparison, his exploration experience in that "Temple of Life" was completely simple.

　Without the "Valkyrie" and the "Beast Sage," even this exploration of the present world would be impossible.

　But from any perspective, this exploration of the present world is merely an "appetizer" for this "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple".

　"This last room could be considered half a main hall. There were remnants of a spatial entrance inside, which we stabilized using a barrier, thus creating a passage to the 'Divine Kingdom.'"

　Having finally arrived at the entrance to the "Divine Kingdom," Aquinita completed her handover with the investigators stationed there and then pointed to a certain spot, saying...

　"The one guarding this main hall is an 'Ice Hole', which has the strength of a demigod."

　Dak turned his head and looked, but all he saw was a pile of ice.

　Those ice blocks remained frozen and did not melt, piling up in one place like a small mountain, making one imagine how enormous they must have been when they were intact.

　The numerous arc-shaped wounds on the ice suggest that it was shot down by some kind of weapon.

　Dak could probably guess who did it.

　Aquinita didn't elaborate, but addressed the entrance to the "Divine Kingdom" directly: "The 'Divine Kingdom' area we're about to enter has no walking restrictions. However, flying is still prohibited. The 'Disordered Time Streams' within it converge into rivers and persist in certain areas for extended periods. Be extremely vigilant and absolutely do not fall into them."

　After speaking, she selected two maids from among the stationed maids to accompany her, and prepared to enter the "Divine Kingdom" directly.

　It has already taken an hour to get here from outside the temple, and it will take another hour to return.

　There is only one and a half hours left.