Time Was About to Start Accelerating!

Soul Power fell, chipping a tiny hole in the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

However, in an instant, the hole widened. A vast surge of Soul Power burst from the crack in the ring like a breached dam, flooding into Jiang Ci'an's body.

In the past, a mistake like this would probably have meant starting over.

But this time, Jiang Ci'an remained calm. The Soul Ring beside him shone as he activated "Time Control."

Everything stopped abruptly.

The surging Soul Power froze within his meridians, and his distended meridians halted just before they were about to burst.

Then everything began to reverse.

Like the receding tide, the Soul Power flowed back through his meridians, retracing its path bit by bit until it returned to the chipped Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

The crack healed, and the ring was restored as if nothing had happened.

Jiang Ci'an withdrew his hand, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

"That makes things quite a bit easier."

With "Time Control," he no longer had to kill himself and start over every time. He could simply rewind time like watching a video in reverse, then try again. His research efficiency had improved immensely.

He could also slow time down or stop it outright, allowing him to better observe those fleeting details and making it easier to find and fill in any gaps.

Excellent.

Jiang Ci'an let his smile fade and closed his eyes. The familiar sensation of rising washed over him. When he opened them again, he had returned to reality.

The Virtual World reset.

Then Jiang Ci'an closed his eyes again.

The familiar sensation of falling swept over him.

When he opened them, the same Blue Silver Grass lawn stretched beneath his feet, with the same gray walls of Notting Academy in the distance.

Jiang Ci'an silently cloaked himself in "Indifference." Carried by Soul Power, he slowly rose into the air.

He chose a spot with a clear view and suspended himself there, like a mote of dust floating in the sky.

Then the deep purple Soul Ring beside him blazed with brilliant light.

The domain of "Time Control" began spreading outward from around him.

It was a sensation difficult to describe, like ripples in water or waves of light. Centered on him, it quickly spread in every direction.

It covered Notting Academy, Holy Soul Village, and Soul Hunting Forest...

In the blink of an eye, it covered the entire Virtual World.

Jiang Ci'an drew a deep breath, his gaze settling into calm.

Time... began to accelerate.

The world began to change.

Below, people in Notting Academy started moving: going to class, leaving class, eating, training. Everything proceeded along its own predetermined course.

Then faster and faster.

Someone walked out of a classroom, hurried down the corridor, and nodded to a person coming the other way. All those actions took place in just a second or two, so quickly that they looked like footage playing at double speed.

More and more people hurried back and forth around the academy, their movements trailing afterimages. Countless blurred lines merged into a single mass, impossible to make out.

In the sky, the sun began to sink rapidly.

The orange-red sunset lasted less than half a second before fading away. Night fell right after, and the moon rose in the east, dragging a silver-white trail across the sky. Before it could even be seen clearly, it had already set.

Then the sun rose again and sank once more.

Sunrise and sunset, moonset and moonrise. Day and night cycled faster and faster, leaving a continuous trail of light across the sky. The sun's and moon's luminous paths intertwined like a brocade being woven at great speed.

The world flickered between light and dark like a heartbeat.

The trees nearby grew at a visible pace. Branches stretched, leaves unfurled, and fresh green deepened into dark green, then turned yellow. The withered leaves fluttered down, soon leaving the branches bare. Then new buds sprouted, the branches filled with leaves again, and another cycle began.

One year, two years, three years...

Time raced forward at a breathtaking speed.

Jiang Ci'an hovered in midair, his golden eyes calmly and indifferently watching everything below. No one could see him or sense him.

His gaze settled on Tang San.

He watched Tang San assemble Hidden Weapons in the work-study students' dormitory. Tang San's fingers flew as one Hidden Weapon after another took shape. Accelerated by time, his movements blurred into a choppy animation.

He watched Tang San leave Notting Academy and obtain his Second Soul Ring in Soul Hunting Forest. He also saw Xiao Wu leave the dormitory alone one moonlit night, sneak into the woods behind Notting Academy, and secretly condense a new Soul Ring for herself.

He watched them slowly grow up, their faces changing from childish to youthful, their short frames growing tall and slender. Then they left Notting Academy and traveled south in a horse-drawn carriage.

Jiang Ci'an followed them to another city.

He watched Tang San and Xiao Wu clash with Dai Mubai, who was embracing twin sisters. The altercation ended soon enough, and the very next day, they enrolled at Shrek Academy.

Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Oscar, Ma Hongjun... one familiar yet unfamiliar figure after another appeared.

Jiang Ci'an watched it all in silence, with no intention of interfering for the moment.

Time continued to race forward.

Soon, Zhao Wuji led the Shrek Seven Devils into Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for Soul Rings.

Then, after Oscar successfully obtained his Third Soul Ring, Er Ming appeared with a roar and carried Xiao Wu off in front of everyone.

Jiang Ci'an's gaze followed Xiao Wu and Er Ming, soon bringing him to Lake of Life, where a dense aura of life permeated the air.

At this point, Jiang Ci'an slowed the acceleration of time a little.

Ignoring Da Ming, Er Ming, and Xiao Wu as they chatted, Jiang Ci'an's pupils shimmered faintly as he peered through the lake, looking deep below.

Before long, he spotted a vast underground cavern beneath Lake of Life.

And within it stood dozens of figures with terrifying auras.

The Soul Beasts, each with a massive, varied form and cultivation nearly all at the ten-thousand-year level, quietly occupied their own corners, lending the place a semblance of order.

Among them stood several figures with even more terrifying auras.

Jiang Ci'an looked them over one by one, their names naturally flashing through his mind.

Scarlet King, Xiong Jun, Ten Thousand Demon King, Zi JI, Bi Ji, Di Tian... and even a golden giant cat curled up nearby, fast asleep and snoring.

Jiang Ci'an's gaze lingered on the giant cat for a moment, and for some reason, a sense of closeness stirred in his heart.

Why did he suddenly want to see what it felt like to pet it?

Suppressing the strange thought that had come out of nowhere, Jiang Ci'an shook his head and continued looking.

At the center of all the Soul Beasts, a giant silkworm, pure white and marked with golden patterns, was bound by layer upon layer of chains.

Energy streamed constantly from its body, evenly consumed by every Soul Beast present.

With each mouthful, their auras naturally rose a little.

The rate seemed slow, but it was still vastly faster than their ordinary cultivation.

After taking a brief look at this one-of-a-kind, million-year Soul Beast material, Jiang Ci'an let his gaze sweep past the dozens of Ferocious Beasts and continued probing deeper below.

And there, inside another enormous underground cavern, a colossal figure lay sleeping.