Forty-Fourth Illustration: The Unveiling of Time and Space [Part One]

“Your mental and internal energies are still pure. Even if you possess the Sacred Heart of the Primordial Demon, it’s only because your will is steadfast,” Aslan said, after checking Sang Sang’s cultivation level and assessing her progress with law runes. He discovered that she had achieved the third realm—subtle mastery—in several laws, and her mastery of the law of space had even reached the fourth realm—divine transformation. More importantly, some aspects of her mastery over time and space laws had already merged, and these too were at the third realm of subtle mastery. He couldn’t help but ask, “Are you planning to major in spacetime in the future?”

Sang Sang replied, “I’ve considered it before, but I haven’t made a decision.”

“Spacetime is the supreme principle. Many self-proclaimed peerless prodigies dream of mastering it—some even reach the fifth realm, returning to simplicity—but no one in this world has managed to condense its essence. There are powerhouses who cultivate time and space separately, though,” Aslan explained. “You can use the command of spacetime over all laws to form your stellar core, but when you attempt the Xuan-level breakthrough, if ten years pass without success, you’ll need to choose a different principal law.”

Few people cultivate the law of spacetime. There are two sources for it: one is by chance—encountering treasures related to spacetime and obtaining a trace of the spacetime law’s projection or a law star, then exhausting every means to strengthen it. The other is cultivating the laws of time and space separately before merging them.

The former opportunity is extremely rare, and even if attained, progressing further is as hard as reaching the heavens. The latter, though difficult, produces a few achievers in every generation. Yet, spacetime gained through fusion cannot form the true essence. In history, the handful who condensed the essence of spacetime did so through the first method, yet even they failed to attain immortality, perishing at the Xuan-Yuan level. The essence was often absorbed by the world’s will, with only spacetime artifacts left behind.

Thus, everyone knows the immense power of spacetime, but very few are willing to pursue it, which only adds to the myth of its difficulty.

After a moment’s silence, Sang Sang answered, “The future can wait; the Xuan level is still far away. Perhaps by then, I’ll realize it’s beyond me.”

Aslan nodded. “It’s your choice. Right now, you’re at the peak of the Heaven level, and you’ve learned most soul-based spells. There’s still enough time before the next assessment. I’m giving you seven days off. When you return, we’ll add courses on faith power utilization. Lord Anthony has prepared enough faith power for your practice.”

Sena parked the flyer outside the mulberry treehouse and opened the door for Sang Sang. “The creativity exhibition is in the academy’s ninth pavilion. Your teacher, Boya, spends all day there. You should visit after you get back.”

“I know.” Sang Sang waved, scooping up the little Jin who ran out to greet her. The tension on her face finally eased.

Sena watched Sang Sang’s figure disappear into the treehouse, returned to the flyer, switched to autopilot, and sighed repeatedly.

“There are many who use the time differential in the God Tomb to cultivate, but there’s never been one as young as her. Judging by her progress in laws and her cultivation breakthroughs, it must have been decades, if not a century or more. How does a child endure such loneliness, quietly training on her own? And why does she show so little change in spirit afterward?”

Aslan didn’t even look up. “Don’t judge others by your own experience.”

I know I’m the classic example of youthful arrogance—thinking myself a genius from an advanced civilization, believing I was second to none, only to be hindered for centuries by my flawed character, never breaking through.

Sena’s face darkened instantly, then he pretended not to hear and continued muttering to himself.

“Most of those the temple accepts from lower civilizations are either overly self-abasing or arrogant, but every now and then, there are a few outliers who remain unchanged by their environment. Their psychological advantage is obvious. As long as they don’t die young, they always become important figures… And that Heavenly Emperor—he’s even more remarkable.”

Sang Sang cradled little Jin in her hands, took out a calligraphy brush, and began inscribing a power-gathering rune array on Jin’s body, while recounting her experiences in the God Tomb.

Little Jin was worried. “Master Yuanmo said your soul and his come from the same place, possibly an Outer Demon from the Immortal Civilization, reincarnated with the help of a deity-level expert. Even the spacetime essence on you was split off from a deity. Do you believe that?”

“Half-believe, half-doubt.” Sang Sang lifted little Jin, squinting as she looked at him, while drawing on his other forearm. “According to Master Yuanmo’s background, he could see through people’s hearts, making it hard to tell truth from falsehood, and he excelled at deception—hence the title ‘Demon.’ What he said was so distant from me that I was briefly shaken when I first heard it. But after calming down, I realized it didn’t matter whether it was true or not; after all, now I am Sang Hongye.”

“I know you’re open-minded, but if the spacetime essence was placed on you by someone else, that person would sense it whenever you contemplated it. Moreover, the Heavenly Emperor’s spacetime insights also come from your essence,” little Jin said, stretching out his arm for Sang Sang to continue. His small head tilted back.

“So what? Should I give up the spacetime essence and switch to another law just because of this possibility? Or should I keep the Heavenly Emperor from comprehending it through me?” Sang Sang tapped little Jin’s forehead with her brush. “The essence of spacetime in me is indeed strange—I can’t use it of my own accord, nor can I separate it. It’s not an innate talent. When Grandpa Anthony tested my soul, the only result was ‘synchronization.’”

“I’m more willing to believe the Heavenly Emperor is a Child of Destiny. To this day, apart from Master Yuanmo, only the Heavenly Emperor can see the spacetime essence in me and comprehend it. Oh, and Ye Xiu—he’s from the Time Clan, so of course he can tell. But even he only knows my soul has traveled through spacetime, thus carrying its aura, but cannot sense the essence itself. As for Master Yuanmo, did he see the spacetime essence directly, or did he discover it from my memories? After all, his skill is seeing into people’s hearts.”

“The Heavenly Emperor being a Child of Destiny makes no difference—we three are one. The fact is, Master Yuanmo now knows you possess the spacetime essence!” Little Jin covered his forehead. “Your reincarnation is unnatural—even knowing all your memories, I still have doubts. Now that Master Yuanmo mentioned you might have been reincarnated with the help of a deity, I’m even more suspicious. For time in the whole world to rewind eighteen years—even a deity would find that hard, unless someone merely saw your future through spacetime, then implanted memories of that future and power into your twelve-year-old self, making you believe you were reborn.”

“That makes sense,” Sang Sang nodded, her hand steady as she extended the array lines to the tips of little Jin’s tiny fingers. “Maybe that deity purposely placed the spacetime essence on me just for the Heavenly Emperor to see. Why not give it directly to him? Perhaps because my soul can perfectly conceal it.”

“Exactly, that’s very possible. You have a past life, the Heavenly Emperor surely does too, and so do I… At any rate, it’s no coincidence the three of us are together.” Little Jin turned, exposing his back for Sang Sang to draw. “Ye Xiu’s appearance in the Milky Way isn’t a coincidence either. According to what I found about the Time Clan, they’re called the Library of the Universe. Their coming-of-age training is to observe and record the history of worlds, usually in the most prosperous, advanced civilizations. So why come to the remote Milky Way and just happen to meet us—and then keep following us?”

PS: Sisters, don’t forget to vote.