Heart Force and the Power of Time

Although this simulation was a failure, Zhou Yu's gains were still immense.

The True Explanation of Time and Space passed down by Muliu Ancestral God, the Heart Force inheritance accidentally obtained by his clone in the simulation, and other such treasures were all incredibly valuable assets.

The former was difficult for Zhou Yu to comprehend at his current level, but he could certainly put the Heart Force inheritance to use.

Zhou Yu decisively began to condense his Heart Force. With the experience brought by the memories from the simulation, he condensed his Heart Force quite smoothly. Once he had gained an entry-level grasp, he quickly reached the second stage: Ice Heart.

Afterward, he broke through to the third stage of Heart Force: Dominator.

This was something the Zhou Yu in the simulation had failed to do. Even though that version of him was a Empyrean God, his journey had been too smooth. Despite living for three million years, his Heart Force level had remained stuck at the perfection of the Ice Heart stage until the very end.

Zhou Yu himself was different. His own path had been filled with hardships, and his Dao Heart had been tempered by repeated Heart Demon Tribulations over the past three million years, making it far more resilient.

Combined with the fact that he had absorbed the cultivation memories of two versions of himself from the simulations, his inner mind had become increasingly deep and unfathomable, far stronger than before.

As he condensed his Heart Force now, he actually broke through the third stage and continued to push toward its perfection.

Of course, a breakthrough in Heart Force was not determined solely by one's Dao Heart; it also required guidance from an inheritance and, more importantly, enlightenment.

Many powerful cultivators might possess terrifyingly strong Dao Hearts, yet their Heart Force levels remained low because they either lacked an inheritance or failed to grasp the true meaning of higher-level Heart Force.

That Zhou Yu was able to break through the third stage was not only due to having a complete inheritance, but also because he had grasped the true meaning of the third stage of Heart Force. Only by truly dominating his own inner mind could he reach this level.

On the other side, at the Black-White Academy.

Zhou Yu stood with his hands behind his back beside a pavilion, watching two figures sparring below. One was a Wanxiang-stage perfection puppet, and the other was Ji Ning, who was dressed in animal skins.

Ji Ning's sword light was sharp and fierce, and he had actually completely suppressed the Wanxiang-stage perfection puppet.

Although Ji Ning cultivated the Crimson Brightness Nine Heavens Diagram and was capable of fighting above his rank, there was no doubt that his sword technique had also improved tremendously over the past three years.

Three years to reach this stage isn't too exaggerated; his growth speed is about the same as a reincarnated immortal. What makes Ji Ning truly terrifying is that he grows faster and faster through tempering. This is clearly a talent for 'Potential Boost,' Zhou Yu mused to himself.

After a long while, Zhou Yu waved his hand to stop the fight.

"Master." Ji Ning darted over and bowed.

"Not bad, you have improved quickly." Zhou Yu smiled and said, "You have been in the academy for three years now; it is time for you to finish your apprenticeship."

"I am ready to leave the academy?" Ji Ning was pleasantly surprised to hear this.

"Follow me." After saying this, Zhou Yu turned and walked into the pavilion. He gestured for Ji Ning to sit opposite him and said:

"Leaving the academy to venture out into the world carries the constant risk of danger. I have prepared three protective items for you."

As he spoke, Zhou Yu waved his hand, and three items instantly appeared.

Ji Ning focused his gaze and discovered a golden talisman, a treasure shaped like a miniature thatched cottage, and a jade pendant shimmering with a mysterious purple light.

"The first item is nothing extraordinary." Zhou Yu pointed to the golden talisman and said, "This is a Great Teleportation Talisman."

"A Great Teleportation Talisman?"

Ji Ning was shocked. He had heard of this talisman; usually, only Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals possessed such a trump card!

And he called this "nothing extraordinary"?

"The second treasure is a formation." Zhou Yu pointed to the thatched cottage and said:

"I have refined a formation into this. When you encounter danger, you need only input your magic power to activate it. Even ordinary Earth Immortals or Loose Immortals trapped inside wouldn't be able to escape for a day or two."

"Trapping an Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal for a day or two?" Ji Ning gasped inwardly; this was far too exaggerated.

"As for the third item..." Zhou Yu did not explain further this time. He said, "Just keep it on your person at all times, and it will naturally protect you when you encounter a crisis."

"Thank you, Master." Ji Ning bowed deeply.

Although Zhou Yu was an unfathomable Loose Immortal, these three treasures would likely make even ordinary Immortals covet them. To bestow them upon a mere Purple Mansion cultivator like himself truly moved him.

"Remember, on the path of immortality, the most important thing is one's own self. Do not rely too heavily on external objects." Zhou Yu spoke again.

"Yes."

Ji Ning nodded.

"Master, I am leaving." Ji Ning bowed once more, then turned and departed.

Zhou Yu stood there until Ji Ning was teleported out of the Nine Absolutes Universe Array by a spatial force, at which point he turned and left as well.

"It is time for a proper period of seclusion." Zhou Yu arrived in a quiet room.

At this moment, he focused his intent, and mysterious pale purple energy began to glow around him.

Under the influence of this mysterious power, the flow of time around Zhou Yu changed rapidly. In the blink of an eye, the flow of time accelerated several hundred times, stopping only when it reached eight hundred times the normal rate.

"That should suffice." Zhou Yu nodded.

He certainly could not have achieved such cultivation under time acceleration in the past.

But things were different now.

The version of him in the simulation had comprehended the "Power of Time."

Unlike the Great Path of Time, which was almost useless within the Three Realms, this "Power of Time" originated from the Origin of the Chaos Universe and could be utilized anywhere throughout the entire Chaos Universe.

In fact, this was the greatest gain Zhou Yu had obtained from the previous simulation.

In the simulation, Zhou Yu's Power of Time finally broke through to the third level. This level of the Power of Time was already formidable, surpassing the divine and magic power of Celestial Gods and True Immortals by a significant margin.

It could be said that this third level of the Power of Time caused Zhou Yu's strength to skyrocket by thousands, even tens of thousands of times. Even as a Loose Immortal, he was fully capable of reaching the true level of a Empyrean God or True Immortal.

With the aid of the Power of Time, Zhou Yu could naturally achieve time acceleration.

At this moment, Zhou Yu's status as a mere Loose Immortal actually became an advantage, as it drastically lowered the difficulty of accelerating time.

Furthermore, the Power of Origin—such as the Power of Time—was exceptionally unique and consumed very little of Zhou Yu's own energy, allowing him to easily maintain an eight-hundred-fold time acceleration for himself.

If he were already an Earth Immortal or even a True Immortal, maintaining such acceleration for a long duration without paying a heavy price would actually be quite difficult.

Of course, having a soul that was too weak was not a good thing in the end. If Zhou Yu's soul were strong enough, his efficiency would remain extremely high even without time acceleration.

Therefore, if he could not find a way to shed his Loose Immortal status through the Heavens Simulation, he would still need to reincarnate as soon as possible.

It's just that finding the right opportunity isn't easy. The Three Realms are not peaceful right now; it would be too unjust to die in an accident after reincarnating. Zhou Yu shook his head inwardly. Without someone he could fully trust to assist him, he would not rashly attempt reincarnation.

If all else failed, he would stick to his original plan: wait for Ji Ning to grow up and then ask him for help.

Without dwelling on it further, Zhou Yu soon calmed his mind and began to quietly meditate and cultivate.