Time flowed on, and more than a year had passed since the Third Cataclysmic Tide.
Within the protective walls of Oasis City, the Hundred Territories remained in a habitable state. However, beyond these walls, other Great Territories had seen their environments steadily deteriorate, reaching extremely perilous levels. They were not much different from the outer regions of the Demonic Realm.
Perhaps the power of the Evil Gods was reawakening. More and more of their minions emerged from the Demonic Realm, settling in various Great Territories across the East, West, North, and South, establishing their tribes and empires. The conflicts between these Evil God factions were bloody and brutal, but their slaughter of the beings within the Demonic Realm was even more savage.
Outside the walls of Oasis City, no oases remained. Oases were too conspicuous in the eyes of the Evil Gods' lackeys and servants; no matter how well they were hidden, they would be found. The secret places, once opened by the Ancients, also seemed to be gradually losing their safety.
Rumors circulated among the Ancients: the secret places were being breached, Evil God attendants and servants were flooding in, brutally killing the Ancients and offering them as blood sacrifices to the Evil Gods. Suddenly, all Ancients lived in fear.
Resistance was impossible. Even if they could defeat some Evil God attendants, they would be targeted by stronger attendants and conjurers. Resistance would only hasten their deaths. They could only hide far away.
However, the boundless starry sky beyond the Demonic Realm was no safer. If found by powerful figures from the Evil God factions, they would have nowhere to escape. Where could they hide? Only within the Hundred Territories, shrouded by the walls of Oasis City.
Some Ancients sought refuge in this region and created simple secret places. Others, too lazy to expend energy on rebuilding their homes, entered human cities and resided there temporarily. And some other Ancients...
“The Lord of the Nine Seas and the Old Man of Folly have already left this universe,” declared the Great Sun Divine Venerable. These two were top-tier Ancients, even more renowned than the three of them.
“We should also leave. Otherwise, when the Evil Gods truly awaken one day, it might be too late,” he said, looking at the Moon Lord and the Lord of Stars.
There were also twenty to thirty other Ancients following them. These Ancients all wore expressions of confusion about the future. After all, beyond the universe lay true ‘nothingness,’ where time did not flow, and space had no up or down. They might drift lost within it, traveling for thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of years without encountering anything. Even if they did not die from the depletion of their power, they would descend into madness.
Ancients accustomed to comfort found such a future difficult to accept. Even the few Ancients who dedicated themselves to arduous cultivation were unwilling to face it. Cultivation passed quickly, but beyond the universe, they couldn’t even cultivate. Who knew what great horrors lay beyond the universe, waiting to swallow them whole? Did the Evil Gods not originate from beyond the universe?
But they had no choice. One path led to imminent death, while the other offered at least a sliver of hope, a chance to fight.
“Moon Lord, you are hesitating,” the Great Sun Divine Venerable observed. “This is unlike you.”
The Moon Lord sighed. “I am indeed hesitating, wondering whether to choose to leave this universe or to stay and fight.”
Hmm?
The Great Sun Divine Venerable and the Lord of Stars were puzzled. They thought the Moon Lord’s hesitation stemmed from reluctance to leave her homeland. They felt the same. But why would the Moon Lord entertain such a muddled thought as staying to fight? Could it be that the Moon Lord was being corrupted by an Evil God and was losing control?
The expressions of the two great potentates shifted slightly.
“Rumor has it that the disappearance of the Lord of the Nine Seas was related to the Kindling? But even if the Kindling could cause the Lord of the Nine Seas to perish, it is still far from being able to contend with the Evil Gods. Moon Lord, do not entertain such naive notions!”
The Moon Lord shook her head slightly, knowing that whatever she said at this moment would be futile. Her own past thoughts had been incredibly resolute. She gently extended her hand, and a brilliant aura of authority appeared in her palm, grasping infinite power.
Many Ancients looked on blankly, not understanding the meaning of this. The Lord of Stars’ eyes narrowed. “Moon Lord, you… you’ve fully recovered?!” When injured, he could not exert his full strength, nor could he do so with such ease. The Moon Lord was the same! The Moon Lord, even if not fully recovered, was at least seventy to eighty percent back. The power of authority radiated outwards, with not a trace of impurity.
But how was this achieved? He, the Lord of Stars, had toiled for years to dispel only a small portion of the Evil God’s impurity.
“No, not just fully recovered, you’ve even advanced further! Is this also related to the Kindling?”
“This is indeed related to the Kindling,” the Moon Lord paused and then said, “After all, I’ve resided in the City of Burning Flames for several months, and I’ve had some small gains.”
You call this a small gain?
No, you’ve only stayed for a few months, is that a long time?
The Great Sun Divine Venerable and the Lord of Stars, if not for their dignity, would have involuntarily twitched their lips. For powerful beings like them, who had reached the pinnacle of their paths, both eradicating impurities and advancing further required time scales of centuries. A few months, was this some new kind of joke?
But the Moon Lord had indeed recovered; they could not be mistaken. Moreover, the Kindling was, after all, the force that created Oasis City, a miraculous power no less than the Kandela Empire. For them to come up with something else was not entirely outrageous. At most, it was moderately outrageous.
“In fact, the reason the Lord of the Nine Seas perished within the Kindling’s domain was because he coveted the Kindling’s method of rapid recovery.”
“Then this method…?”
The Moon Lord walked to the long table and smiled slightly. “This method is incredible, and the price required to restore us great potentates would certainly be extremely high. However, I have a slight acquaintance with that Kindling Mentor. He has agreed to restore the two of you, requiring only a small payment, perhaps some seldom-used rare treasures.”
“The others can also be restored. There’s no need to worry about being unable to afford the payment. The lower your cultivation realm, the lower the reward the Kindling will demand.”
To be fair, this fee was not expensive. The Lord of the Nine Seas truly died somewhat unjustly.
No, not entirely unjustly. If not for the Moon Lord’s considerable influence, they, these old fellows, might not have been able to enjoy this method. Even if they could, they would have had to pay a price that would make their hearts ache. It was the Moon Lord who, back then, had overruled many objections and commissioned numerous Ancients to help the Kindling relocate oases, which had led to much gossip. Now, it seemed the Moon Lord had foresight!
But the Moon Lord herself knew that it wasn’t her foresight, nor was it her great influence. She had only met that Mentor a few times. What truly made that Mentor willing to make concessions and pay a great price to restore the Great Sun Divine Venerable and the others was you, Yin Yueluoxi. She hadn't expected that one day she would be benefiting from her sister's influence. This feeling, it seemed, was not bad.
…
Within the Kindling Secret Realm, on the training ground, Fang, the black-hearted capitalist, was unaware that his business had already opened. He was browsing the dungeon interface on his panel.
“Dungeon Travel.”
“Time Nodes.”
“Past and Future.”
“There must also be an element of destiny involved here.”
He traveled against the flow of time to the past, altering some people and events, yet precisely filling the gaps in history, harmonizing with destiny from the ethereal realms. Of course, if he could not harmonize with destiny, and instead went against the prevailing tide, he might incur great disaster and pay a price he could not afford.
“River of Time!”
Whoosh.
The environment of heaven and earth changed instantaneously. A vast river, its beginning and end unseen, coursed through heaven, earth, and the universe, flowing with immense power. It was everywhere. It was everything.
Fang You stood at the edge of the River of Time, pausing to gaze for a long while. Then, he slowly stepped forward, wading into the River of Time. Past, present, future… Under the torrent of immense temporal power, his majestic divine body of laws appeared incredibly frail, his form seemingly emitting cries of unbearable burden.
He slowly raised his foot and took a step backward. Like a full exertion of his authority, it consumed considerable energy. He took ten steps backward. It was akin to continuously unleashing the Spear of Annihilation, rapidly depleting the inventory within the Gate of Infinity. He took fifty steps backward. It was comparable to the state he was in when he killed the Lord of the Nine Seas, having exerted his utmost and already sustaining injuries.
“The River of Time is indeed a magnificent ‘object.’ If an ordinary Tenth Realm entity were to enter, they would likely be shattered by the waves of time in an instant.”
“This may also be related to the lack of special techniques.”
He felt that there were indeed applicable techniques for traversing the River of Time. However, these techniques were extremely profound, requiring skills of Crimson grade or higher, which he did not possess.
But, well…
“I choose you, Pavilion of Time.”
A exquisite pagoda flew out from his body and landed steadily on the River of Time. Fang You leaped up and entered the pagoda. Instantly, all the invisible pressure vanished. Fierce waves of time continued to crash against the Pavilion of Time, but they could not shake it in the slightest. This was the power of Temporal Navigation!
By controlling the Pavilion of Time, he could freely roam the River of Time, whether traveling to the past or the future. Of course, obtaining fragments of future information was still not easy. Traveling to past time nodes was even more perilous; one wrong step could lead to eternal damnation. Therefore, Fang You chose to enter dungeons, with the power of destiny as his escort.
Splash—
The Pavilion of Time plunged into the surging river and traveled upstream. Within the pagoda, Fang You also stared intently at his surroundings. Compared to when he had traveled against the River of Time in the past, he now at least had the qualification to study the River of Time. He stared, almost entranced. With the dual protection of the Pavilion of Time and the power of the dungeons, the traversal was very smooth. Throughout the entire River of Time, no other figure was visible besides him.
Boom—
Water splashed, and the Pavilion of Time plunged into a certain time node, disappearing without a trace.
…
“Ding!”
“Hint: You have completed the dungeon ‘The Founding of Winter’,” reward…”
…
“Ding!”
“Hint: You have completed the dungeon ‘The Ancient Holy Court’,” reward…”
…
“Ding!”
“Hint: You have completed the dungeon ‘The First Pillar of Heaven’,” reward…”
…
Rumble—
Water splashed, but on the River of Time, it was merely an insignificant speck. The Pavilion of Time returned to the present, flew out from Fang You’s hand, and landed back in the secret realm.
“In the blink of an eye, I have entered six dungeon timelines,” he mused with emotion. In these timelines, he was not the protagonist. It wasn't that he lacked the ability, but he could not be the protagonist, not even an important supporting character. He could not leave too many traces of himself in these past timelines. He was merely a passerby, a traveler of time, an observer of destiny.
Yet, he had bestowed some opportunities upon the founding emperor of Winter; provided a little help at the beginning of the Holy Court’s establishment; and discussed the Dao with the Martial Pillar. He cultivated in the historical timelines and made some attempts. He unearthed some secrets; obtained certain historical relics; altered the destinies of some individuals. His authority over time had improved. As his temporal power grew, he could also manually search for more ancient dungeons on the dungeon traversal interface. The older the time node, the more likely it was to contain the secrets he sought!
“The War of the Gods in Candela.”
“The Twilight of the Gods in the early Mysterious Era.”
“What happened when the outer-realm Evil Gods descended.”
The last question was the one he most wanted to know. However, the history of that period seemed blank. Beings like the Great Sun Divine Venerable and the Moon Lord, who should have experienced that era, could not say much. There were still many unknowns. And if he had the opportunity, he wanted to test the sharpness of the Evil Gods in the past timelines.
“Before that, I need to improve further.”
…
After the third ability of the Pavilion of Time was activated, the Years Secret Realm did not develop a third layer. However, after the World Tree ascended, the Kindling powerhouses gained a new place for cultivation – World Leaves! On the World Tree, each leaf was a world, and these worlds could adjust the internal and external time flow rates! Of course, there were limitations. The stronger the individual entering a World Leaf, the harder it was for the World Leaf to adjust the time. The time flow rate could not be as high as that of the Years Secret Realm, and the World Tree required significant consumption of Divine Crystals and Divine Origin for adjustments.
But the advantage was that one could enter and exit the World Leaves at any time! For Kindling powerhouses who lacked time, even if they could only gain an extra two or three years within a year, it was worthwhile.
However, the days of cultivation were extremely monotonous. So was time travel. He shuttled between the past and the present, staying in those dungeon timelines for a short period of ten days to half a month, or as long as a year or two. But when he returned from a dungeon timeline, it was not necessarily the exact second he left. Sometimes, time had passed. It might be a few hours, a few days, half a month, or one or two months. He had not yet deciphered the mysteries within, only lamenting how profound the Dao of Time was. If he had not relied on the dungeon mechanism for traversal, even with the Pavilion of Time, he might have been lost in the River of Time and unable to return.
After returning from a dungeon, Fang You would rest for a while in the current timeline, or cultivate in the Years Secret Realm, and then begin his traversal after preparation. He gradually moved upstream in the River of Time. He began to see the scenery of the early Mysterious Era, an era where gods rose and gods fell. He cautiously moved towards earlier time nodes, leaving mysterious legends in certain eras.
Around the same time, the Moon Lord was walking on the streets of the City of Burning Flames. She vaguely recalled an encounter with an Evil God in the early Mysterious Era. That time was even more tragic; if not for the rescue by a mysterious powerhouse, she might have perished then. She had to sever that memory to prevent the spread of the Evil God’s impurity. The mysterious powerhouse she was grateful to remained only a blurry figure deep within her memory.
“Hmm, wait.”
The Moon Lord gazed at that figure deep within her memory, “How does this mysterious powerhouse seem somewhat similar… to that Kindling Mentor?!”