God of Time

Luo Chen opened his eyes. He found himself lying on the cold ground, with a narrow crack in the ice above letting in a faint blue glow. The space around him was far larger than he had expected—this wasn't just an ice fissure, but a vast underground cavern.

Thick layers of ice covered the cavern walls. Strange points of light could faintly be seen moving within them, as if they were alive. An indescribable power filled the air, making his Martial Soul grow faintly warm.

"Where is this...?" Luo Chen struggled to sit up.

"Below that ice fissure." The Evil Emperor's voice rang out, carrying a rare note of excitement. "Boy, can you feel it? The power of space-time... It's everywhere here!"

Luo Chen closed his eyes. He could indeed feel it.

It was just like the small world inside the spatial rift he'd been in before—the flow of time around him seemed different from the outside world, and the texture of space felt warped. His Martial Soul was cheering, and the Seed of Space-Time inside him trembled gently, as if absorbing something.

"What about the Ice Jade Scorpion?" Luo Chen asked.

"It didn't come down." The Evil Emperor replied, "I told you, that beast wouldn't dare approach a place with such intense space-time fluctuations. You stumbled straight into your destination."

Luo Chen let out a long breath. Only then did he feel pain all over his body. That fall hadn't killed him, but it had certainly done a number on him.

He struggled to his feet and looked around.

Deep within the cavern, he could make out a passage sloping downward. Something seemed to be glowing at its end—a soft, mysterious silver-white light.

"Come on," the Evil Emperor urged. "We've come this far. Why not see what's down there?"

Luo Chen nodded and set off toward the depths of the cavern. The silver-white glow drew closer, and his heart beat faster.

What was at the source of that light?

The silver-white glow drew closer, and Luo Chen's heart beat faster.

The cavern passage wound downward. Countless tiny crystals were embedded in the ice walls on either side, giving off a faint blue glow. They seemed alive, flickering gently with each of Luo Chen's steps, as if welcoming him.

"What are these?" Luo Chen reached out and touched the crystals in the ice wall.

The Evil Emperor's voice carried a note of wonder. "In tens of thousands of years, I've never seen anything like them. These crystals are time power solidified in an extremely cold environment. Each one contains pure laws of time. Even a fragment the size of a fingernail would be worth a fortune outside—and here, they're everywhere."

Luo Chen's eyes lit up. "Can I take some with me?"

"Dream on." The Evil Emperor scoffed. "These crystals have fused with the ice wall. If you try to dig them out, they'll only shatter. But... if you cultivate here for a while and absorb the energy released by these time crystals, it'll greatly benefit your Seed of Space-Time."

Luo Chen nodded and continued deeper. At the end of the passage was a vast ice cavern. It was circular, about fifty meters across, with countless icicles hanging from the ceiling. A silver-white orb had formed at the tip of each one. Their light mingled, illuminating the entire cavern as bright as day.

At the deepest part of the ice cavern stood a wall of ice unlike the others.

Unlike the other crystalline walls, this one was a deep silver-gray, as if another world lay hidden behind the ice.

Luo Chen walked up and reached out to touch it. The moment his fingertips brushed the ice, a strange sensation surged through his entire body.

It was the power of time. Ancient, pure, boundless—as if it had slumbered here since time immemorial, waiting for something.

The silver-gray on the ice wall began to flow, as if it had been awakened.

The ice slowly parted to either side, revealing a narrow passage. A plain, ancient stone door could be faintly seen at its end.

"This is..." Luo Chen's heart raced.

He reached out to touch the stone door, then tried to push it open, but it didn't budge.

"Why? Does it need a corresponding amount of Soul Power?"

The power of time...

His Martial Soul was primarily imbued with the power of space. Was the time power it contained too impure?

Forget it. He'd give it a try. At some point, the Evil Emperor had gone silent, but Luo Chen didn't think much of it.

He raised his hand and took out the King Ball, bringing it close to the stone door. As Soul Power circulated, the door finally stirred, and an invisible force of time emanated from it.

The next moment, the stone door sucked Luo Chen inside. After an unknown length of time, he awoke from the chaos. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a circular object resembling a clock. Looking more closely, he realized he was in a palace.

Countless silver gemstones were set into the domed ceiling, like a starry sky turned upside down. The floor was paved with an unknown black stone, smooth as a mirror, reflecting the starlight above.

"You're awake?"

A grand, imposing voice rang out, startling Luo Chen. He looked around, but couldn't see anyone.

"Who's there?"

"It's me."

"Where are you?"

"Look behind you!"

Luo Chen turned around. A skeleton sat on the throne at the far end of the hall.

The clothes on its bones had long since rotted away, leaving only a tattered gray robe. Its right hand gripped a silver scepter, with an hourglass-shaped gem set into its tip.

Luo Chen slowly approached and asked, "Is that you?"

The next moment, silver light poured from the scepter and coalesced into a phantom before Luo Chen. It was an old man with indistinct features. Only his eyes were clear—there were no pupils in them, just two slowly turning clocks.

"How many years..." The old man's voice echoed through the entire palace, ancient and distant. "At last, I've waited for you, destined one."

"May I ask who you are?" Luo Chen asked warily. The old man's appearance was rather eerie—not exactly reassuring.

"I am the God of Time," the phantom said. "Or, more accurately, a remnant."

"God of Time?" Luo Chen pondered. As far as he knew, there were at least two beings in the Douluo God Realm who wielded the power of time.

One was the God of Time, and the other was the Dragon King of Time. Compared to the God of Time, the Dragon King of Time had received more attention in the original story. But the God of Time shouldn't have fallen at this point in time. Why call himself a remnant? Shouldn't this be a projection of his true self?

What was going on?

"I know what you're thinking. I'll explain the truth to you now. In a way, all of this happened because of you."

"Long ago, I foresaw turmoil in the Divine Realm. I searched tirelessly for a solution, and at last, I saw a timeline—a variable had appeared in it!"