Ten Years in a Flash, Spirit Abyss Realm of Mental Power!

The tenth day arrived—the final day—but by now, Luo Chen could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion.

If the power of time over the first seven or eight days had been like water, the power of the last two days had transformed into a raging, tempestuous sea.

Violent surges of temporal energy poured into his sea of consciousness like a tidal wave, one after another, each wave feeling as if countless blades were slicing through his mind. Luo Chen's entire face twisted in agony; his teeth ground together with a rattling sound, and blood trickled from the corners of his mouth.

He cursed inwardly, though the sound was audible only to himself. His consciousness had been shattered into pieces, like a broken mirror with fragments scattered into every corner of his sea of consciousness.

Luo Chen fought desperately to hold onto his core.

He did not know how he had managed to endure. Perhaps it was the refusal to die here, perhaps the unwillingness to perish before achieving anything, or perhaps it was simply his stubborn nature taking hold—regardless, he did not shatter.

Time is indeed ruthless, yet it also possesses a certain mercy; at times, it can soothe your pain, or even grant you a rebirth!

Luo Chen held on.

After an unknown duration, that violent force finally began to subside. His sea of consciousness was no longer recognizable—no, it had not been destroyed, but completely reshaped. The once-narrow sea had expanded dozens of times over, and the water no longer held a pale blue hue, but shimmered with a silvery luster.

That was the brand left behind by the power of time.

He felt his consciousness reassembling from its fragmented state, much like a shattered piece of iron being smelted back into a sword. It was sharper, tougher, and colder.

The light faded away.

Luo Chen opened his eyes.

He found himself standing outside the hourglass—no, he hadn't walked out himself; the hourglass had spat him out.

Luo Chen tried to stand, only to find he had trouble controlling his body. He looked closely and saw that his hands had become slender and well-defined, the childishness completely gone.

It really had been ten years!

He should be seventeen years old now. He touched his face; his hair had grown past his waist, and a thick layer of soft, unkempt beard covered his chin.

Yet, he had truly only spent ten days inside. Time was truly miraculous; this could be considered an acceleration of the flow of time. He wondered what his current strength was like.

He clenched his fist tightly to gauge the power in his body. At first, he felt unaccustomed to his frame, but he adapted quickly.

His soul power had long been stuck at the 30-level bottleneck, but the greatest improvement was in his spiritual power!

He closed his eyes and looked inward at his sea of consciousness. The pool that had once been the size of a puddle was now a true ocean.

The silvery water was boundless, surging with waves, each crest carrying the faint glimmer of temporal power. He tried to release his spiritual power—everything within a radius of dozens of miles was within his perception. Every snowflake on the ice, every undercurrent beneath the frozen layer, even a few soul beasts fighting a hundred miles away—he could "see" it all with perfect clarity.

He attempted to manipulate objects around him with his mind, easily "grabbing" a candlestick from the Temple of Time.

"Deep as an abyss, vast as the underworld; where the mind goes, all things submit. This is the mark of breaking through to the Spirit Abyss Realm!"

Luo Chen was overjoyed. Breaking through to the Spirit Abyss Realm meant his spiritual power was now at the pinnacle of humanity. Furthermore, this improvement meant he could command more and stronger soul beasts.

Before this, controlling six soul beasts had been exhausting, but now, that problem was non-existent. He had initially intended to seek the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for their distraction-control techniques, but now, it was entirely unnecessary.

Upon completing the first trial, a silver, hourglass-shaped mark appeared between his brows, and his hair and beard had turned silver.

Congratulations on completing the first trial of the God of Time: Time Baptism. Spiritual power significantly increased, breaking through to the Spirit Abyss Realm! Soul power increased to level 30. Time Indicator ability unlocked: Time Acceleration. Range: five-meter radius. Duration: three seconds. Cooldown: 24 hours.

Excellent, a time-based ability. For now, it was only time acceleration, but perhaps later there would be time deceleration, time stop, or even time reversal!

Luo Chen was filled with anticipation. "Time acceleration?" He tried to activate the pocket watch.

A warm force surged from his chest, enveloping his entire body. He felt as if everything around him had slowed down—no, not slowed down; he had sped up. The sound of the wind rushing past his ears was elongated, and the flapping of the Ice Feather Eagle's wings looked like slow-motion playback. He tried to raise his hand, and it sliced through the air more than twice as fast as usual.

Three seconds later, the effect vanished. Luo Chen took a deep breath. Two-fold acceleration for three seconds didn't sound like much, but in a battle between experts, three seconds was enough for him to strike several times.

"This thing is useful," he muttered, closing the pocket watch and tucking it away.

"It's time to go back and see. I wonder how Mom and Dad are doing. They must have been worried sick during the ten years I was missing."

At this thought, Luo Chen felt a pang of guilt. Leaving home for ten years without a word—to him, it had been ten days, but to those in reality, it had been a decade!

He immediately stood up and bowed toward the "remains" of the God of Time. It was not merely a lingering shadow, but more like the soul of an avatar.

He turned and left the Temple of Time. The moment he stepped outside, the temple suddenly flashed with silver light, then shrank until it became a small hourglass.

So, the true form of the Temple of Time was the Time Hourglass. After shrinking, it flew into the hourglass mark on Luo Chen's brow, and then both the mark and the object faded beneath his skin.

"Kid! I can finally contact you! Ten years! A whole ten years! Why didn't you talk to me? Do you know how I spent these ten years?"

It was the Evil Emperor. The Evil Emperor was speaking. Indeed, ten years ago, the Time Hourglass had severed Luo Chen's connection to the outside world, leaving his soul beasts trapped in the Gulu Ball for a full decade.

Luo Chen scratched his head, not knowing what to say.

The Evil Emperor suddenly remarked, "Hey, how did you turn into this ghost of a person? Wait, let me see... this seems to be... the power of time! You brat, you comprehended the power of time?"

The Evil Emperor's tone shifted, carrying a hint of something unreadable.

"Long time no see, Xiao Xiezi," Luo Chen said with a flippant tone. Without further ado, he arrived at the rift from ten years ago.

"Hmph, it's a pity about that Ice Jade Scorpion from back then; it would have made a suitable soul ring," Luo Chen said.

He then pulled out the Gulu Ball and tossed it forward. The next moment, the massive body of the Ice Feather Eagle appeared. It froze upon seeing Luo Chen.

Back then, this person had locked it in a small space without a word and hadn't come out for ten whole years—it was terrifying!