The red sun sank in the west, leaving behind a single streak of crimson cloud. Night was about to fall.
This was the sight Ye Zhen saw through the window of the quiet room at the inn.
The sight itself was nothing remarkable, but once compared against something else, it became extraordinary.
Ye Zhen remembered clearly that when he entered the Mirage Dragon Pearl, the sun outside had only just tilted westward—around the second quarter of the Shen hour, roughly four in the afternoon.
Yet now, the sun was setting, between the second and third quarters of the You hour—just before half past six in the evening.
And Ye Zhen remembered just as clearly that after removing the Mirage Dragon Pearl from his body and entering it, he had first wasted one hour without gaining any clue. Later, following the words of Mirage Dragon Primordial Spirit Ah Chou, he had cultivated for ten hours.
He had spent a total of eleven hours inside the Mirage Dragon Pearl.
Under normal circumstances, it should have been the following day, with the red sun hanging high in the sky—the second quarter of the Wei hour, around two in the afternoon.
But now the sun was setting. The discrepancy was nearly two hours, no matter how he counted it.
In an instant, Ye Zhen's heart jolted, and an utterly astonishing thought surfaced.
But the idea was simply too shocking. Ye Zhen needed to verify it.
"Nie Ting, from the moment A-Chou began setting up the illusion for me until now, how much time has passed?" Ye Zhen felt that time had become somewhat jumbled after entering the Mirage Dragon Pearl, but outsiders like Nie Ting should not have been affected.
"My lord, not long at all. Only about one hour. To be precise, less