Time was like a wild donkey: once it started running, it barreled into everything in its path.
And to the Dreadbound Sea of Realms, a few hundred million years amounted to nothing. They were merely an inconspicuous instant in its long existence.
Even to a Nine-Wheel Realm giant like the Blood-Eyed Ancestor, they were no more than a nap.
After quietly moving to another spot, the Blood-Eyed Ancestor resumed his tempering. He threw himself into it completely and soon put Li Yun's arrival out of his mind.
Until a few hundred million years had passed.
Then, on a sudden whim, the Blood-Eyed Ancestor opened his eyes again. Somehow, Li Yun came back to mind.
With a touch of wicked amusement, he thought, Nearly four hundred million years have passed. The Inner Ring at the edge of the Boundary Sea seems to have expanded again, and the Central Ring along with it. Many Calamities that were once half-dormant and half-active must have been fully roused. That bold Seven-Wheel Realm Ancient God who barged into the Central Ring back then—if the Calamities haven't eroded him to death, he's probably packed up and fled by now, right?
The thought actually made him curious.
He felt an urge to return to his old spot and see whether that bold Seven-Wheel Realm Ancient God was still there.
"Heh... Tempering calls for a little relaxation now and then. I've nothing else to do, so I might as well take a look."
At the Blood-Eyed Ancestor's level, his temperament had long since ceased to be rigid. He often did as he pleased, and when a whim struck him, he acted on it.
And so,
the Blood-Eyed Ancestor quietly made his way back to his former spot.
"Huh..."
"He's still here? Wait, no... This fellow—hiss—he actually broke through?"