Faced with Ryze's anger, Huo Yuhao felt awkward. Knowing he was in the wrong, he tried to defend himself in a quiet voice. "Ahem... I haven't gotten to that part yet... I think warnings like that should be written right at the beginning."
Just then, Venerable Gu Yi walked in behind Ryze.
Unlike Ryze, who was furious that Huo Yuhao had nearly caused a catastrophe, Gu Yi remained calm and composed. She simply reminded him gently, "Our duty is to safeguard reality and the Cosmic Rules, not to tamper with them and threaten the world."
Gu Yi took the Eye of Agamotto back from Huo Yuhao's silent hands and placed the powerful artifact on the strange altar once more.
With Gu Yi's interruption, the old mage Ryze's anger gradually subsided. He turned to Huo Yuhao curiously and asked, "How did you do that?"
An Lan looked up. "Do what?"
"Those long incantations," Ryze said. "Where did you learn the knowledge needed to understand and use them?"
Huo Yuhao seemed distracted and answered casually, "I was born with Ling Mou, so I have a pretty good memory."
"You may have misunderstood something!" Ryze looked at him with a complicated expression, the corner of his mouth twitching as he said, "Ninety-nine percent of the mages in the Sacred Hall could spend their whole lives studying that book and still not understand what it says, let alone use any of it..."
"Even the other masters and I can't cast a Time Spell with the Eye of Agamotto... What you did takes a lot more than a good memory!"
"Before you, the last person to achieve even a little success in the Way of Time was named Kailan."
Ryze sighed. "Besides Venerable Gu Yi, he was the only person in the Sacred Hall who could activate the Eye of Agamotto. That's why this powerful artifact was kept here in the Library."
Gu Yi, having put away the Eye of Agamotto, walked over to the two of them. She looked at their conversation with a warm smile and said to Huo Yuhao, "You were born for magic. Perhaps one day, you'll be the best among us!"
Huo Yuhao's Ling Mou dimmed. "But I started learning magic to undo my regrets and bring my mother back to life. The more I learn and the stronger I get, the more distant that hope seems."
"I didn't come here to protect the Universe or pursue some goal like mastering great power, Master Gu Yi."
Huo Yuhao turned and walked out of the Library, his figure looking desolate.
The scene on the Heavenly Screen had shown only a glimpse of Huo Yuhao's ability to Manipulate Time, yet it had already left countless viewers outside utterly stunned!
As the saying goes, time flows like water, never to return.
Even in a world like Douluo Continent, where any kind of Martial Soul and every sort of miraculous ability could exist, this power still filled people with awe!
Inside Shrek Academy, Shi Xing, the Time Douluo and City Lord of Shrek City, was watching the Heavenly Screen with the academy's senior staff. He was completely dumbfounded.
His Martial Soul, the Time-Space Silver Disk, was an exceedingly rare Martial Soul with both time and space attributes.
But not one of his Soul Skills came close to the outrageous Time Spells Huo Yuhao had displayed on the Heavenly Screen!
Shi Xing thought back over his Soul Skills. From his First Soul Ring to his highest-year Ninth Soul Ring, almost all of them had some connection to time.
Some accelerated his perception of time, letting him react faster than others. Others slowed down his opponents' perception of time, making them sluggish.
He could also speed up his own sense of time to move faster, or predict a target's next move a few seconds in advance.
His Ninth Soul Skill could even slow time in a small area until it nearly stopped. Combined with his powerful spatial restraint, it produced an effect comparable to the Martial Soul Fusion Skill of Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo from the Spirit Hall a thousand years ago.
But compared to the artifact called the Eye of Agamotto and the Time Magic Huo Yuhao had used, the Soul Skills he'd once prided himself on—skills that had earned him the title of Time Douluo—now seemed utterly pathetic.
"Now those are the Soul Skills I want!" Shi Xing stared at the Eye of Agamotto, which Venerable Gu Yi had returned to the top of the altar. It didn't even seem to have any special protection around it. His eyes reddened with envy and longing!
It was like a novice in the Way of Time looking upon the God of Time!
"Those runes, those Time Spells... How did he cast them again?" Shi Xing panted, no longer able to stay calm.
As the Heavenly Screen showed Huo Yuhao's life in the Sacred Hall, scenes from those Magic Classics appeared from time to time. Many people across the continent tried to study them, hoping to uncover a power that was clearly more profound and mysterious than Douluo's system of Soul Rings and Soul Skills.
But just like Huo Yuhao when he first looked through Gu Yi's books, Shi Xing and the many other top Douluo Continent experts obsessed with Time Magic were utterly bewildered.
They couldn't make heads or tails of those intricate, mysterious Magic Runes! They couldn't even understand the illustrations and explanations in the books!
For most people, this was merely disappointing. For Shi Xing, it was pure torture!
He even suspected that if he could master the Way of Time recorded in the Book of Cagliostro, he might be able to create a Time-Space Godhood and become a god!
But he couldn't understand it. An endless treasure trove lay before him, and yet he couldn't touch it! The feeling was so unbearable that Shi Xing almost wanted to dive straight into the Heavenly Screen, grab the Eye of Agamotto, and refine it on the spot!
At the same time, many people finally understood why the Sacred Hall could hold back the Dimensional Demon Gods invading from Outside the Universe.
Just look at that artifact called the Eye of Agamotto! It was probably far more powerful than the God Realm Gods' divine artifacts?!
And the Supreme Mage could use it to Manipulate Time and cast Time Magic. What enemy could withstand such a dirty trick as rewinding time at will?
Still, this left some people puzzled.
According to the Bald Old Mage Ryze on the Heavenly Screen, the librarian Kailan was one of only two people in the Sacred Hall who could use the Time Artifact. Since he could Rewind Time, why didn't he heal his own injuries after he was wounded?
And why didn't Master Gu Yi use it to resurrect Kailan after he was killed?
They claimed they couldn't break the Natural Rules. Did they really follow their rules so strictly? Were they really so inflexible and unwilling to adapt?
As for the hard-to-understand things Ryze had said while angrily scolding Huo Yuhao—things like Time Loop and Time Paradox—most people from Douluo couldn't make sense of them.
After all, the average person wasn't very smart, and this was a world that placed Martial Soul Supremacy above all else. Even when they invented things like Soul Tools, they only looked for ways to make the most of Soul Power.
Naturally, hardly anyone devoted themselves to studying the natural sciences unrelated to Martial Souls.
Before you continue