Kowtowing!
Hearing the sound of kowtowing, Ye Xuan froze.
What in the world?
At that moment, the Sword of the Way floated before him.
Ye Xuan hesitated, then grasped it. The next instant, he felt the world around him shattering. Soon, the world returned to normal!
He glanced around, his eyes filled with confusion. He was still in the bamboo grove, but he felt as if he’d been through another lifetime.
The ancient tree that had stood before him was gone.
What had happened?
Ye Xuan looked at the Sword of the Way in his hand and said softly, “Qing’er!”
Suddenly, the space before him trembled slightly. A beam of white light landed in front of him, within which an indistinct figure of an elder could be seen, though Ye Xuan couldn’t make out his appearance. What he could see was that the figure was kneeling!
The Lord of Time?
Ye Xuan hesitated, then said, “Senior?”
The Lord of Time hurriedly replied, “No, no, I’m not worthy! Not worthy!”
Ye Xuan: “…”
The Lord of Time hesitated, then asked cautiously, “Young Master Ye, how did you enter the River of Time?”
Ye Xuan frowned. “River of Time?”
The Lord of Time glanced at Ye Xuan, still cautious. “You didn’t know?”
Ye Xuan shook his head. “No!”
The Lord of Time hesitated again, then said, “Young Master Ye, are you in the Sacred Heart Realm now?”
Ye Xuan nodded. “Yes!”
The Lord of Time’s brows furrowed, a trace of doubt in his eyes. “How could someone in the Sacred Heart Realm enter the River of Time… and even reverse time…”
As he spoke, his gaze fell on the Qingxuan Sword in Ye Xuan’s hand.
Seeing the sword, everything clicked!
Young Master Ye had cheated his way into the River of Time!
Realising this, the Lord of Time was speechless.
Ye Xuan suddenly asked, “Senior, could you explain…”
The Lord of Time’s voice trembled. “Young Master Ye, please don’t call me senior! I… I’m afraid for my life…”
Ye Xuan was exasperated. “Then what should I call you?”
The Lord of Time hesitated, then said, “Just call me Time will do!”
Ye Xuan nodded slightly. “Time, can you explain what happened to me just now?”
The Lord of Time was silent for a moment before saying, “Young Master Ye, time is like a long river. Within this river, there are past, present, and future. You just went back to the past. If you’d only gone to the past, it wouldn’t have been a big issue. But you went back and altered the future. By doing so, you disrupted the Laws of Time. Breaking the Laws of Time incurs time’s backlash. You were trapped in the ‘Interstice Realm’!”
Ye Xuan frowned. “Interstice Realm?”
The Lord of Time nodded. “It’s neither past, nor future, nor present. Those in the Interstice Realm will be erased by time.”
Ye Xuan glanced at the Lord of Time, then said, “Time, would you like to stand up and talk?”
The Lord of Time shook his head vigorously. “No, no… I… I like kneeling…”
Ye Xuan: “…”
The Lord of Time continued, “Young Master Ye, with your current strength, you shouldn’t be able to enter the River of Time and reverse time!”
Ye Xuan asked gravely, “What realm is required to enter the River of Time and reverse time?”
The Lord of Time thought for a moment, then said, “At least the Immortal Realm!”
Ye Xuan frowned. “Immortal Realm?”
The Lord of Time nodded. “Immortal body, immortal soul, immortal will—only by achieving these three forms of immortality can one traverse the River of Time. But even then, reversing time is impossible. To reverse time, one must reach Eternal Immortality, where body, soul, and will are eternal. Only then can one fearlessly navigate past, present, and future without being erased by the Interstice Realm!”
Ye Xuan’s expression grew serious. “According to you, wouldn’t someone who achieves Eternal Immortality be invincible?”
The Lord of Time nodded slightly. “Such a being would indeed have few rivals in the world. But to call them invincible would be an overstatement!”
Ye Xuan looked at the Lord of Time. “Even that isn’t invincible?”
The Lord of Time gave a wry smile. “Of course not!”
Ye Xuan was puzzled. “Why not?”
The Lord of Time thought for a moment, then said, “I am the Lord of Time, overseeing the Rivers of Time across countless universes… Even if you reach Eternal Immortality, with a single thought, I could decide your life or death.”
Ye Xuan blurted out, “So you’re invincible?”
“No, no!” The Lord of Time jumped as if startled, panicking. “I’m not invincible, truly not invincible! Young Master Ye… be cautious! Be cautious! The word ‘invincible’ must not be spoken lightly—it could bring calamity!”
Ye Xuan: “…”
The Lord of Time hesitated, then said, “There’s always someone stronger, and heavens beyond heavens. I… I’m nothing, really!”
Ye Xuan glanced at the Lord of Time, then said, “You’re the Lord of Time, controlling time?”
The Lord of Time nodded. “Yes!”
Ye Xuan blinked. “For example, my current realm isn’t enough, but I want to enter the River of Time to sever the past. Is there a way?”
The Lord of Time looked troubled. “That’s…”
Ye Xuan smiled. “Is it difficult?”
The Lord of Time nodded. “Very difficult…”
Ye Xuan suddenly looked at the Sword of the Way in his hand and smiled. “If it’s difficult, I won’t force the issue!”
With that, he turned to leave.
The Lord of Time suddenly asked, “Young… Young Master Ye, you and the Destiny Boss are…?”
Ye Xuan smiled. “She’s my sister!”
**Sister!**
The Lord of Time’s heart jolted, and he hurriedly said, “Young Master Ye, that matter you mentioned—I don’t think it’s difficult!”
Ye Xuan blinked. “Not difficult?”
The Lord of Time nodded eagerly. “Not at all!”
He opened his palm, and two characters slowly floated toward Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan glanced at them—they were the characters for “Time”!
The Lord of Time said, “Young Master Ye, these two characters contain my Laws of Time. Once they enter your body, you can activate them to briefly wield the Laws of Time. In this state, even if you enter the Interstice Realm, you won’t be erased. However, your current body, soul, and will aren’t particularly strong, so you can’t sustain the power of time for long. After using it, your body will be weakened!”
As his voice fell, the two characters turned into golden light and merged into Ye Xuan’s body.
Ye Xuan closed his eyes slowly. Moments later, he found two characters in his sea of consciousness.
The Lord of Time added, “Young Master Ye, your soul, body, and will are too weak right now. You mustn’t linger in the River of Time for too long!”
Ye Xuan said gravely, “If I strike someone in the past and kill them, they’d be dead in the future, right?”
The Lord of Time nodded. “Yes! But there’s a condition!”
Ye Xuan asked, “What condition?”
The Lord of Time said, “The greatest taboo in reversing time is changing yourself in the past. You can go back to kill someone, but you mustn’t go back to change yourself!”
Ye Xuan was puzzled. “Why not?”
The Lord of Time said gravely, “Killing someone in the past reverses their time, which doesn’t affect you. But if you go back and change yourself… Let me give an example. If you went back and killed your father, the present you would be erased!”
**Kill my dad!**
Ye Xuan shook his head frantically. “No, no! I’d never do that!”
The Lord of Time: “…”
Ye Xuan said gravely, “I understand what you mean, senior. I can’t go back and change people or events related to me, or it would directly affect the present me, right?”
The Lord of Time nodded. “Exactly! And Young Master Ye, you must understand one thing: the past is the past. When you go back, strictly speaking, it’s already history. To us, it’s something that has already happened. In other words, the past is illusory compared to the present. Never try to live in the past—if you do, you’ll be erased by the present’s Laws of Time.”
Ye Xuan frowned. “Present’s Laws of Time?”
The Lord of Time nodded. “The past has its Laws of Time, the present has its own, and the future has its own. Strictly speaking, they’re all still Laws of Time. It’s like you—past you, present you, future you… they’re all you, just at different stages!”
Ye Xuan understood.
The Lord of Time continued, “Also, in the River of Time, you mustn’t lightly probe the future. You can sever the future with a sword, but you, as a person, mustn’t go to the future!”
Ye Xuan was puzzled. “Why’s that?”
The Lord of Time smiled. “The past and present have already happened—they’re fixed. But the future hasn’t happened, so it’s uncertain. Moreover, the future is multifaceted. A person might have thousands of possible futures, and which one comes to pass depends on their present choices. The future and present are directly linked by cause and effect. If you choose to go to the future, you can, but that future might not be the final one…”
His expression grew serious. “If what you do in the future isn’t the final future—say, you decide now to eat in a quarter-hour, but in the future, you choose not to eat—your timeline will become chaotic. You’ll be forever lost in future space-time until you’re erased by the Great Path of Time! And the you in this space-time will vanish, because no one can exist in both present and future simultaneously—not even me.”
Ye Xuan fell into thought.
The Lord of Time added, “We must hold reverence for the future.”
Ye Xuan suddenly asked, “Can Qing’er go to the future?”
The Lord of Time was silent for a long while before saying, “She’s probably playing with even higher-level things!”
Ye Xuan: “…”
