The Chaos Bead

Su Miao clutched the Sea Calming Bead, which had been made light as air by her thoughts and was giving off a soft Five-Colored Radiance.

Her big eyes blinked as she stared eagerly at the smooth, mirror-like Jade Wall ahead, its surface covered in moss.

Should she smash it?

Just give it one tiny little smash?

To see whether this pretty marble was really as powerful as her memories claimed?

Her chubby little hand lifted slightly. The Sea Calming Bead, now weightless, hovered above her palm, spinning round and round as it gathered momentum.

Yet, at the very instant before the bead was about to fly from her hand, the Chaos Bead, which had been quietly floating in the depths of her Sea of Consciousness, seemed to tremble ever so faintly—so faintly it was almost imperceptible.

A trace of cool Dao intent, carrying a hint of disapproval, rippled outward like waves and gently brushed across Su Miao's excited, restless thoughts.

Su Miao suddenly shuddered. Her little hand clenched instinctively, pulling back the Sea Calming Bead that had nearly caused trouble.

"Mm..."

Tilting her little head, she showed a trace of confusion and lingering fear.

"Seems like... I can't just smash things? What if I break something? And it wouldn't be good if I hit the flowers or grass..."

She muttered to herself, completely unaware that with her current meager magic power, even if she pushed herself to the limit, she could probably only leave a tiny white mark on the Jade Wall with the Sea Calming Bead. She was still a hundred thousand miles away from breaking it.

What might truly get damaged was probably the pitiful sliver of divine soul connection she had with it.

But that instinctive, master-protecting interference from the Chaos Bead, combined with a child's vague fear that destruction might bring punishment, made her slam on the brakes in time.

"Fine, fine, I won't smash it."

She muttered, casting a somewhat regretful glance at the Jade Wall that had escaped disaster before casually putting away the Twenty-Four Sea Calming Beads again.

Hm?

Put them away where?

Her gaze naturally fell upon the dull gray bead within her Sea of Consciousness.

"Store!"

With a thought, the twenty-four Soul-Absorbing Orbs in her palm vanished instantly. The next moment, they appeared safely in some corner of the boundless space inside the Chaos Bead.

They went to keep company with the Eighth-grade Lotus Platform, several chunks of Innate Geng Metal Essence, Cinnabar Fruit, and the other things she had collected before, looking as tiny as a few specks of dust.

"Wow..."

Even though it was not her first time experiencing it, Su Miao could not help exclaiming once more at the vast space within the Chaos Bead.

Her consciousness gazed upon that hazy, chaotic expanse that seemed to stretch on without end, and an indescribable shock filled her heart.

How could any Storage Ring or storage bracelet possibly compare to this?

If all the oceans and land of Blue Star, her hometown in her previous life, were thrown into this space, they probably would not even take up much room!

This was a true Qiankun treasure!

"Wonderful! No matter how many treasures I get in the future, I'll be able to fit them all inside!"

A tremendous surge of excitement instantly swept away that tiny bit of regret.

She grinned foolishly in delight in the real world, her eyes curving into crescents.

Su Miao, a girl of tremendous drive, immediately embarked on her great filling endeavor!

Before, she simply had no concept of it.

But now that she knew this "pocket" was practically limitless, the collecting obsession and hoarding habit cultivated by modern shopping festivals instantly flared to life!

She bent down and, with much huffing and puffing, stuffed several Immortal Jade Pebbles by her feet—ones whose colors she found especially unique and whose shapes were pleasingly round—inside.

With a thought, the stones vanished and appeared in some corner of the chaotic space.

She skipped over to a clump of Calming Dao Pattern Grass that gave off a tranquil blue glow, then carefully dug up one plant, roots and soil included.

Store it! Add a bit of color to that empty space!

Though the grass might not survive long after leaving Mount Fangzhang's particular environment, it was pretty, and that was enough!

Then she spotted a Seven-colored Shell that had been blown down by an immortal breeze, its shape as perfect as a work of art.

Store it!

A crystal-clear Unknown Branch, with what seemed like swirling nebulae flowing within it.

Store it!

She even tried to draw in a small stream of Three Lights Divine Water, but her control over her magic power was insufficient, and she only managed to collect a few drops.

Those drops of divine water floated in the chaos space, still radiating golden, silver, and purple halos, untouched by the assimilating chaos qi.

"Hehe, mine! It's all mine!"

She clapped her little hands, her consciousness sweeping through the ever-growing, wildly assorted collection in her "warehouse," her sense of satisfaction overflowing.

As for whether these things were priceless treasures or utterly useless in the Prehistoric World?

That wasn't important!

Beauty was justice!

If it pleased her eye, she stored it!

After having her fill of basic storage, her little head, brimming with the spirit of exploration, began pondering another wondrous function mentioned in her Inherited Memories.

[Adjusting the flow of time within]

"Time... flow rate?"

She chewed on her fingernail, trying hard to understand.

"So... time passes faster inside and slower outside? Or slower inside and faster outside? Then couldn't I put fruit in there and make it ripen faster?"

This was a little beyond her level, involving spacetime laws she could not understand at all.

But who was Su Miao?

She was the fierce one who had used a cramming-style cultivation method to turn herself into a Mystic Immortal hatchling!

Her whole thing was daring enough to swallow the heavens—if she wanted to try it, she tried it!

She found a Spiritual Grass seed she had picked up earlier, though she had no idea what it was called.

Tender green, round and plump, brimming with Vitality—it was quite pleasing to the eye.

"I'll plant one outside first as a reference..."

She dug a small hole and buried the seed inside.

Then, carefully, she drew a few drops of spring water from nearby and sprinkled them over it.

After marking the spot, she immediately sank her consciousness into the Chaos Bead and chose a place far away from her "pile of miscellaneous junk."

She imagined the flow of time there becoming "just a little faster."

"Faster! Let the seed sprout faster!"

She focused all her will and mobilized that pitifully tiny sliver of magic power.

Her little belly puffed out, her small face flushed bright red, as she tried to communicate with the supreme Restriction within the Chaos Bead that involved the Time Law.

The process was countless times harder than refining the Sea Calming Bead.

The Time Law was one of the most supreme and profound laws in the Prehistoric World.

How could a tiny Mystic Immortal rookie like her touch it so easily?

She only felt as though her consciousness had crashed into an invisible yet incomparably heavy wall.

She simply could not penetrate it; her efforts vanished like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

Her little face had turned pale from exhaustion, sweat beading on her forehead. Just as she was about to give up, the Chaos Bead seemed to soften its heart once more.

Or perhaps it had been moved by her clumsy yet stubborn persistence. Deep within its cracks, another nearly imperceptible trace of Dao intent flowed.

That wall seemed to open a sliver thinner than a strand of hair, barely allowing a faint wisp of her power to seep through.

Bzz...

Su Miao felt the area she had selected ripple ever so slightly.

It was as though something had changed, yet as though nothing had changed at all.

Spacetime remained chaotic; the accelerated region she had imagined did not appear.

"Did... did it work?"

Panting heavily, she felt completely drained as she murmured uncertainly to herself.

She hurriedly took out the Spiritual Grass seed.

Beside the spot where she had just buried the other seed, she dug another hole.

She buried the seed she was trying to ripen into it, then watered it with a few drops of spring water as well.

Then she moved over a small stone and sat beside it, propping her cheeks in both hands, her big eyes staring unblinkingly at the two little dirt pits.

Her heart brimmed with anticipation, as if she could already see a sprout immediately popping out of the pit on the left, then swiftly growing leaves, blooming, and bearing fruit.

"Come on, come on! Grow! Grow!"

she chanted inwardly, her little fists clenched tight.

A quarter of an hour passed...

Two quarter-hours passed...

Half an hour passed...

Neither of the two little dirt pits showed the slightest movement!

Not even a blade of grass had poked through!

Su Miao: "???"

Wasn't the flow of time supposed to be different?

Wasn't it supposed to speed up ripening?

Unwilling to give up, she leaned in for a closer look, practically pressing her nose to the soil as she carefully sensed it with her Spiritual Sense.

At last, she seemed to notice that in the dirt pit containing the seed "accelerated" by the Chaos Bead, the soil on the surface... seemed... to have dried just the tiniest bit faster?

So little it was practically negligible!

And the Vitality within the seed... seemed... to have become active by an utterly insignificant amount?

It was still far too early for it to break through its shell!

As for sprouting?

There was not even a shadow of it!

At this rate, a seed that originally needed ten days to sprout might now need nine and a half?

Better than nothing!

"Liar! Broken Bead! You're completely useless!"

With her expectations dashed, Su Miao puffed out her cheeks in anger, like a little green frog blown full of air.

She stretched out her chubby little hand, and flailed at the phantom of the Chaos Bead in her Sea of Consciousness with a barrage of completely harmless slaps, though all she could hit was air.

"Where's the acceleration you promised! All you do is make the soil dry a tiny little bit faster? What's the use of that! I could just water it! You made me work for so long! I thought I'd be able to grow fruit to eat right away! Useless Broken Bead!"

The Chaos Bead silently endured this undeserved accusation.

Its radiance remained restrained, its cracks unchanged, wordlessly declaring:

With your meager mana and understanding, being able to budge the Time Law by even a fraction and make time flow about one-thousandth faster in a localized area is already heaven-defying, all right!

If I had not actively cooperated, you would not have been able to achieve even that one-thousandth!

The seed not sprouting is because its own Dao Rules require time to nurture it!

What does that have to do with me!

How aggrieved!

Back when I was at my peak, with but a thought I could... sigh, a true hero does not boast of former glory. How stifling!

Unfortunately, Su Miao did not receive a single trace of its ancient thoughts and protests.

The Little Girl glared angrily at the Chaos Bead's consciousness for a while longer. Seeing that it gave no response at all, she soon found it boring.

"Forget it. No fun. All you know is how to play dead."

She curled her lips, and her attention quickly shifted away from the disobedient bead.

Having grown tired of playing with the bead, her gaze naturally fell upon the small dark-blue banner floating quietly beside the Chaos Bead.

—The Profound Origin Water Control Banner.

This banner looked soft and squishy, and it could spray water. It should be more fun than that Broken Bead, right?