After the Devouring Dragon disappeared, Chu Tian looked up. With the mountain range no longer blocking his view, a vast expanse of lake water lay before him.
"Xiao Hei, fly higher!" Chu Tian's brow furrowed the moment he saw the lake.
Without a word, Xiao Hei ascended, stopping slowly at its highest point. Flying any higher would trigger the forbidden zone's restrictions.
"Huh, this lake is quite beautiful!" Xiao Hei gazed downwards. The water directly in front of them was white, like milk, while to their right, it was pitch black, resembling ink. The black and white waters were not merging, as if separated by an extremely thin barrier.
To their left, the lake was a vibrant red. Further out, it was a slightly dimmer orange. Beyond that, it became unclear. To the right of the black water was purple, and then further still, cyan. It was evident that the lake's colors varied, forming a circular pattern. However, the lake was extremely wide. Directly ahead, a bank of mist obscured everything.
Seeing this, Chu Tian murmured, "Nine-Colored Lake?" He wasn't entirely sure, but it did remind him of the Nine-Colored Lake he had encountered in the Netherworld. Back then, he had found it quite peculiar, but hadn't paid it much attention, quickly passing through it on his way to the Ghost Gate. After crossing the Nine-Colored Lake, he had entered a valley filled with an endless sea of Forget-Me-Not flowers.
As Xiao Hei continued to approach, Chu Tian and his companion’s view gradually narrowed to a milky white expanse. Beyond the lake, faint dark shadows began to appear within the mist. These shadows vaguely resembled a mountain range. He wondered if it, too, would be filled with Forget-Me-Not flowers. However, these were just speculations. Their immediate priority was crossing this lake.
He recalled that the Nine-Colored Lake he encountered in the Netherworld was incredibly formidable. Even a feather would instantly sink. Furthermore, Chu Tian remembered that the lake in the Netherworld had wooden plank bridges connecting them. The gaps between these bridges were vast, and the lake was teeming with monstrous fish. Anything that fell into the water would sink, and only the wooden bridges could float on its surface. To cross, one had to traverse these bridges.
However, as Chu Tian and Xiao Hei drew closer to the milky white water, Chu Tian noticed that there was nothing on the entire surface of the lake. Xiao Hei landed softly. He dared not fly directly over it, unsure of what lay beneath. The milky white water rendered the depths completely invisible. The entire forbidden zone exuded an eerie aura, and neither Chu Tian nor Xiao Hei dared to proceed rashly, especially given the lake's striking resemblance to the Nine-Colored Lake.
After landing, Chu Tian and Xiao Hei found themselves facing white ground not far ahead. They walked slowly, eventually reaching the edge. Here, Chu Tian was certain that the calling emanated from a small island shrouded in mist in the center of the lake. The intense feeling and sense of distance originated from that spot.
Without hesitation this time, they stepped onto the white ground. The instant their feet touched it, Xiao Hei yelped again, shaking his body vigorously. Chu Tian, too, felt that familiar prickling sensation, as if something had been stolen.
After his cry, Xiao Hei tilted his head to look at Chu Tian. Initially, he saw nothing unusual, but after staring intently at Chu Tian, he frowned, looking utterly perplexed.
"Boss... why have you become younger?"
Chu Tian gave him a sidelong glance. "I've always been young!"
But Xiao Hei shook his head. "No, no... you've become smaller?"
As Xiao Hei spoke, Chu Tian also began to feel it. His clothes seemed to have become much looser. A sense of alarm washed over Chu Tian. With a thought, he summoned a mirror and held it up to his face. His eyes widened in shock. His face now appeared much more youthful, and his small frame had become leaner. He looked as if he had regressed to the age of fifteen or sixteen.
Chu Tian suddenly remembered the exploration team they had encountered when they first entered this area. That was exactly ten years ago. If the forbidden zone were divided into layers, the forest would be the first layer, the desert the second, the giant catfish the third, and their current location the fourth.
Mulling this over, Chu Tian slowly stepped back, returning to the rocky ground. The moment both his feet left the white muddy earth, he felt his body jolt, and the sensation of something being stolen returned. However, this time, it wasn't a feeling of loss. Xiao Hei followed him back. Chu Tian now appeared to be in his early twenties again.
Seeing this, Chu Tian frowned. "This isn't right... The first layer made me lose ten years, and it shouldn't be progressively less! Why didn't my appearance change in the earlier layers, but here I revert to being sixteen or seventeen?"
Xiao Hei nodded in agreement. "Maybe it's less as you go further back? If each layer represents ten years, then the fourth layer should mean forty years have been deducted. Haha, boss. It might not even be enough time for you to be reborn."
Xiao Hei spoke thoughtlessly, but Chu Tian took it to heart. "Reborn?" He repeated the phrase, and suddenly, his eyes lit up. "I know... Before rebirth, I was 24. I spent eight years in the Sea of Death. Now I'm 20! And I lost another year and a half with the Monkey!"
With this calculation, the timeline made sense. Thinking of this, Chu Tian's respect for the forbidden zone grew even higher. He also recalled the words whispered by the Devouring Dragon when it appeared, "There's actually a law of time here!" He hadn't paid much attention before, but now he remembered. The power of the law here was time reversal. With each additional layer traversed, time would reverse.
This implied that the giant hand they had encountered earlier also possessed the power of the law of time. It was just that when it struck, it had reset time to zero. It was likely that when Yun Hu and Ling Mao had come previously, Ling Mao had been struck and immediately reverted to its original form. It seemed the giant hand had no intention of taking lives. Of course, provided Ling Mao’s exceptional strength was considered, an ordinary person struck by that thing would either be reduced to minced meat or a bloody mess.
Considering this, Chu Tian felt that the forbidden zone wasn't as terrifying as it was made out to be. He even suspected that the forbidden zone might truly be a secret realm, designed for cultivation improvement. The previous sandstorm had been entirely composed of spirit energy crystals. As for the giant python, he didn't know what benefits it might bring, but since it had been taken by the Devouring Dragon, any benefits would ultimately be his. So, what benefits would this Nine-Colored Lake bring him? Thinking this, Chu Tian's eyes gleamed with anticipation.