Zixin took a deep breath, pushing the door open as the creaking sounded across the room. Before him lay the wolf corpse, emanating a strong stench which reached him almost immediately. He squinted his eyes, took a step forward, and headed closer.
Soon enough, he closed his eyes, splitting his mind as half of it was sent into the White Palace.
He quickly sat down, stretching his hand, his fingers brushing past the wolf's fur, creating a connection. The killing intent rushed at that moment, his hand becoming a medium for transfer.
Inside the White Palace, a dark purple fog invaded, and an awful scent came with it. The fog swirled intensely, condensing and forming a wolf.
This… is quite different from last time. Sigh, no matter how much I plan, if such unforeseen circumstances were to occur, I would be helpless to my own luck. Zixin commented inwardly, munching on his words.
Zixin simply stared at the wolf, waiting patiently for it to move, but it didn't; it, too, waited.
Huh? Is it waiting for me to move so it can strike? Staying here motionless would just be a waste of time; if it doesn't make a move, then I suppose I'll just have to. Zixin bit his lips nervously, his hands trembling.
He waved his hand, as countless thoughts began to surface. With another wave of his hand, those thoughts froze mid-air as they began merging, forming dozens of walls one after another.
The moment the walls were finished, he heard a sudden howl coming from the wolf.
Howl!
He connected his mind to one of his thoughts at the first wall, using it to survey the wolf. And before he knew it, the wolf started rushing forward, accelerating by the second.
After a minute passed, it leaped forward, digging its claws at the walls as it began to run upwards, completely ignoring gravity!
Zixin's heart sank immediately, as his thoughts ran wild: How could the remaining killing intent be this strong? How did it just ignore gravity? Hmm… wait a second… isn't this a trait of the White Palace?
There was a famous saying, "The Holder's view of the world reflects on their environment." Which basically means that the understanding of certain concepts directly correlates with the environment known as the White Palace. He continued.
Zixin continued to recall, further using the White Palace to help him remember the details. Soon enough, more thoughts and memories resurfaced from within his mind.
A small blue thought nudged him, so he gave it a look: The Concept Manifest Theory claims that the first criterion for increasing the chances of gaining access to the White Palace is through gaining a basic understanding of the world. It also poses the idea that one's understanding of a concept directly changes their own White Palace. Having a deeper understanding of a concept would, in turn, strengthen its effects within the White Palace, vice versa.
"Wait, so the wolf can walk on the walls because of my understanding of gravity? Ugh, even if I want to deepen my knowledge, I couldn't possibly do it now. I just have to adapt, it seems." Zixin sighed, continuing to observe the wolf.
And just eight at that moment, the wolf arrived at the very top of the wall. But Zixin had already prepared his next move.
With a wave of his hand, cracks started forming across the walls, causing the wolf to start acting with caution. Unfortunately for it, its time had already run out as the walls crumbled into falling debris.
The moment the debris fell close to Zixin, he removed his grip on the debris, returning its form back to aitsspherical thought. Then he sat down, reshaping them back into debris as he hid underneath.
And within a matter of seconds, the rows of walls were nothing more than shattered rocks.
Outside his hiding spot, the wolf howled before splitting itself into five new wolves. It ran using its nose to find him; there was no scent inside the White Palace.
"Oh, right, there can't possibly be scent inside the White Palace, after all, everything here is basically just my thought, which means that they won't have smell, and neither would I." Zixin let out a sigh after understanding this.
The wolf let out its frustration on some nearby debris, crushing them on its paws with its bloodshot eyes. After which, it fell into deep thought.
The killing intent fell into silence as it analyzed the situation carefully. Its greatest strength had already been lost; without the use of its nose, it couldn't possibly find Zixin.
The wolf let out another frustrated howl, crushing even more debris. Its gaze fell on the shattered rocks beneath it, as a sudden idea crossed its mind.
Its current form is the key! It's nothing more than a will, and wills have no exact form; that's why it was able to change its form so freely. Zixin is also in a similar situation, but he's a complete mind, and as such, he doesn't suffer the weakness of having limited thoughts, which makes up a will. In other words…
The wolf's eyes lit up as it howled with joy, its eyes glowing intensely.
Soon enough, the wolves collapsed, transforming into purple mist. The mist grew over time, permeating through the spaces underneath the debris.
From the beginning, they both already knew each other's motives. For the wolf, it was to make Zixin feel pain; after all, it was killed by him. And for Zixin, it was to gain the wolf's trust.
Because of this fact, the wolf grew cautious, using this opportunity to try and strike the moment it finds him. And so, the wolf believed that Zixin was currently waiting for an opportunity when the wolf would weaken enough for him to strike and possibly force it to obey through his wicked means.
The wolf laughed, gathering all the mist into one place. A swirling vortex immediately formed, creating a tornado. Debris began to rise, being sucked into the tornado.
But soon enough, the vortex faded, returning into mist. The mist gathered and flew away, deserting Zixin.
Zixin, who had been watching this through one of his thoughts, fell silent, his eyes wide open from confusion. He sighed, closing his eyes and concentrating, keeping his composure.
Zixin sat in the same position for a few hours. After the first hour, he surveyed his surroundings and returned to concentrating. After the second hour, he surveyed again, but after finding nothing, returned to concentrating. But after the fourth hour, his heart sank.
"It's been four hours,s and it's still hiding? It couldn't have possibly left; I would have known if it did. So… it must be waiting for me to slip up." Zixin shook his head, connecting his mind to one of his thoughts to observe the white void.
But all he saw was a blank canvas with nothiness as its name. He waved his hand, letting the thought fly away, but no matter how far he searched, he found nothing, no signs of the wolf at all.
Zixin cut his connection to the thought, waving his hand once more as the rubble faded away.
"It might have left without my knowledge so…" Zixin muttered, but before he could even finish speaking, a wolf leaped forward and attacked him. Thankfully, his white robe moved on its own, blocking the attack.
A second later, the wolf jumped back and observed him.
Where did it hide until now? Wait a second, don't tell me it hid beneath the rubble too?! Zixin's eyes widened at the realization, his hands trembling from shock.
Thank goodness that this white robe has some protective capabilities; otherwise, I would have been done for. Zixin sighed, staring back at the wolf, ready to throw hands if needed.
And before he knew it, the wolf pounced, but just as it did, a thought intercepted it, blocking the attack on time.
The wolf retreated a few meters away before splitting itself into three. Two of them went to attack whilst the third waited in the back.
Zixin bit his lips, using another thought to block the first wolf, then drawing his leg back to kick the second.
The first wolf smashed into the thought, which had already taken the form of a wall, whilst the second was sent flying back.
Zixin sighed, shifting his gaze to where the third wolf was, but it was already gone.
A sudden chill ran down his spine, his gaze shifting above. His eyes widened at the sight of the wolf's falling maw.
Without hesitation, the wolf devoured Zixin's head in one fell swoop.
Unbearable pain rushed through Zixin's body, his mind at the brink of collapse. He grabbed at the wolf, but it suddenly transformed into mist.
Zixin fell to the ground, breathing roughly. Blood bled, dying his white robe a shade of red. He held his head as the blood painted his hands.
And just as he did, he came to a realization: I'm not bleeding at all; these are just my thoughts, which took the form of blood. These thoughts were once part of my mind, but now, they are just another set of thoughts for me to control. But, it seems that if I lose too many thoughts, my mind would collapse on its own and cause me to be ejected from the White Palace, in other words, exhaustion.
After composing himself, Zixin scanned his surroundings but found nothing. He then jumped, scanning once more, and after seeing all the debris, he let them fade away.
After which, he noticed purple mist flying away. Once he landed, he rushed forward, carefully following the wolf.