After studying it in detail, a thought suddenly flashed through Zhang Dong's mind: these motionless Micro-Particles were probably just a subcategory within the broader category of Time Stop.
Just like Teleportation in the Space Law could be divided into Dead Object Teleportation and Living Object Teleportation, with the latter far more difficult than the former.
Naturally, stillness in the Time Law also had different levels and varied depending on the target.
What he saw before him was an innumerable mass of particles and Micro-Particles, all completely still. Even ordinary Marquis-level Immortals would likely struggle to observe something so minuscule.
Catching sight of particles and Micro-Particles was already difficult, let alone seeing them on a microscopic level.
The Rule Profound Mystery System could also be used to comprehend the laws of the Primordial Universe.
No matter what system one followed, in the end, all paths led to the Origin Great Dao.
I thought I'd be able to see Time Stop directly manifested... But comprehending even one subcategory is already an incredible opportunity. This trip wasn't in vain. Zhang Dong wasn't disappointed.
How many cultivators could only dream of such an opportunity?
He immediately composed himself and decided to first comprehend the broad category of Time Stop. If he could fully grasp it, his Law Comprehension would reach the level of a Peak King.
Besides, using Time Stop against an enemy was even more useful than Teleportation.
As long as he could halt time for just an instant, that would be enough for a master to deliver a fatal strike and decide the outcome.
Zhang Dong first needed to study the finer distinctions and master Inanimate Stillness. By then, his Law Comprehension would be sufficient to pass the sixteenth level of the Heavenly Bridge.
Using the methods of the Rule Profound Mystery System, Zhang Dong could naturally magnify the particles and Micro-Particles billions of times.
From his perspective, each Micro-Particle was as enormous as a celestial body.
Its internal structure is intact. This isn't freezing; freezing should be a method of the Law of Water. Zhang Dong pondered the Law Essence.
It was as if the stretch of time in which the Micro-Particle existed had been plucked out of existence.
Time Stop didn't crudely freeze all things. If it did, the internal structure of a stopped object should collapse, since its internal particles would still be moving. Forcing them to stop would be tantamount to destroying it.
But these Micro-Particles before him were structurally intact. They had simply ceased all movement.
Time has been taken away... Zhang Dong's thoughts stirred.
He tried using his understanding of the Time Law to touch one of the Micro-Particles. Time Stop itself could be crudely broken by external force.
One didn't need to master the Time Law. Even someone who knew nothing about it could ignore the law if they had enough power.
But Zhang Dong used his own mastery of time to try to awaken the Micro-Particle's Timeline, forcibly interfering with it.
The next second, the Micro-Particle, as enormous as a star, began to move.
Its Timeline revived, and it began moving with renewed vitality, even affecting the surrounding stream of Micro-Particles.
"I understand." Zhang Dong's eyes lit up. "The fundamental method behind Time Stop is to remove the Timeline. The difference between inanimate and living things is considerable, but once I figure out Inanimate Stillness, the rest probably won't be too difficult."
Time Stop didn't make all things cease moving. It temporarily separated them from the Timeline they occupied.
It was like pulling a single painting out of a moving film. The painting itself remained unchanged; it was simply no longer part of the playback.
Having grasped this principle, Zhang Dong was overcome with joy.
He began spreading his consciousness, sensing ten, then a hundred, then a thousand Micro-Particles at once... and tried to influence them with his own power of the Time Law.
At first, the process was awkward and consumed enormous mental energy. But as his understanding deepened, his technique gradually grew more practiced, and his control over the power of time became increasingly precise.
Time quietly passed in the outside world. The Feather Slaughter Clan's usual limit for visitors was only seven days, but Zhang Dong had already been there for a full fifteen years.
For all fifteen years, Gao Li and King Huo Yi hadn't budged an inch. They had remained faithfully on guard by the entrance.
Some within the Feather Slaughter Clan had voiced objections, feeling that Zhang Dong had occupied the Chaos Heaven Mirror for too long and was seriously affecting their own geniuses' chance to study it.
But one word from Elder Xu Jin silenced every dissenting voice.
"Forget fifteen years. Zhang Dong could study it for a hundred and fifty years, or even fifteen hundred." Elder Xu Jin said indifferently, "Even if an entire generation of my Feather Slaughter Clan's juniors can't study the Chaos Heaven Mirror, it doesn't matter."
Under normal circumstances, the Feather Slaughter Clan might produce one King and a few Marquis-level Immortals in a generation.
How much would that really matter to the whole clan?
Even if ten thousand Peak Kings joined forces, Elder Xu Jin could crush them with one hand.
As long as Zhang Dong eventually became a Cosmic Overlord among humanity, or even a Universe Master, the Feather Slaughter Clan's status would naturally undergo a qualitative transformation.
They were unlike the other subordinate clans in the Hong Alliance. Clans with a Cosmic Overlord or Universe Master had considerable freedom. Even if they didn't ally themselves with humanity, they could join any other pinnacle force.
But a clan with only a few High Venerables had little freedom to speak of. They were simply humanity's dogs.
Outside the secret chamber.
"With His Highness's talent, after studying for more than ten years, who knows how much he's improved?" Gao Li said with a sigh. "Maybe he can even match me."
He was only one step away from becoming a Marquis, and had reached the fourteenth level of the Heavenly Bridge. Judging by the attitude of the Ganwu Kingdom Master and the others, Gao Li reckoned that Zhang Dong had probably passed the Universe-level Primordial Heaven-Reaching Mountain.
Zhang Dong had already reached the level of Law Comprehension required for the twelfth level of the Heavenly Bridge back then. After studying for more than ten years, he might have reached the thirteenth or fourteenth.
As for the fifteenth level, Gao Li hadn't even considered it.
Every three levels of the Heavenly Bridge marked a major threshold. The fifteenth and fourteenth levels might seem just one step apart, but the gap in difficulty was immense. Marquis-level Immortals possessed an Undying Body and held a far higher status than Army Lord Immortals.
If they could grow to become Peak Marquises, most King-level Immortals would have to pay a price to kill them.
King Huo Yi smiled faintly but didn't respond. As a King from an Alien Race, it wasn't appropriate for him to comment on the Law Comprehension of a Virtual Universe Company prince.
Inside the chamber, Zhang Dong was still studying Inanimate Stillness.
Another three years passed. Suddenly, Zhang Dong felt a stirring within him. He raised his hand and pressed it lightly. Dozens of floating Micro-Particles in the empty space before him abruptly stopped.
He hadn't pinned them in place with brute force. Instead, he had silently severed the flow of time in that small region.
The area was tiny, and the effect lasted only an incredibly brief moment, but this was indeed Inanimate Stillness on a microscopic level. Achieving this meant that Zhang Dong's Law Comprehension had reached the fourteenth level of the Heavenly Bridge.
He was now at Gao Li's level.
Zhang Dong slowly exhaled, his eyes filled with boundless joy. The laws of the Primordial Universe were obscure and difficult to comprehend, and he was no longer at the Realm Lord stage, when he had been fastest at comprehending laws. Yet in just over ten years, he was already on the verge of comprehending Inanimate Stillness.
At most, another two years. Within twenty years, he would go from the twelfth level to the fifteenth.
That was the value of a First-Class True Intent transcendent.
Of course, the system also played a part. The Rule Profound Mystery System was inherently more advanced among the cultivation systems focused on comprehending the Dao.
Snow Eagle had explained it clearly when he left the Boundary Heart Continent and headed for the various Holy Realms: Dao cultivators all studied the mysteries of rules.
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