The space before his palm rippled faintly.
Only an inch.
Tiny.
It lasted only a moment.
Yet within that inch, the flow of spiritual energy briefly stalled.
Chen Changqing's thoughts stirred, and he flicked out a strand of spiritual energy.
The strand flew into the rippling space, and its speed suddenly slowed by half a beat.
Only after half a beat did it continue forward.
"Interesting!"
Chen Changqing's eyes lit up.
Half a beat might mean nothing to low-level cultivators.
But when experts fought, half a beat was enough to rewrite the outcome.
If an enemy's sword was slowed by half a beat at the instant they struck, his Heavenly Thunder Sword would already have reached them.
If, while fleeing for his life, he could use that inch of distortion to alter his own speed, he might avoid a fatal blow.
Of course, it was still very crude.
The range was too small.
And the consumption was enormous.
Chen Changqing only tested it a few times before a considerable amount of spiritual energy was drained from his body.
The spiritual energy consumption was too great. This was him; anyone else would probably be sucked dry on the spot.
The Fragment of the Creation Jade Disk gradually quieted down as well.
The system notification sounded again.
[Ding!] [The first stage of refining the Fragment of the Creation Jade Disk has been completed.] [Host has obtained: preliminary comprehension of the Law of Time and Space.] [Current mastery: initial glimpse of the path.] [Further refinement requires more AFK Points.]
Hearing the words "more AFK Points," Chen Changqing immediately frowned.
"Don't scare me."
"How much for the next stage?"
[Ding!] [Second-stage refinement requires AFK Points: 1,500,000.]
Chen Changqing fell silent.
After a moment, he put the fragment back into the