Paths and Micro-particles

The old man quickly left the hall. At that moment, Zhu Jiuling turned his enormous head and looked at Zhou Zheng.

"Please offer me your guidance, Senior!" Zhou Zheng said with a salute.

"I can sense the aura of your soul. You are very young!" Zhu Jiuling said. "To have grasped Profound Mysteries to this extent at such an age, it is no wonder you were granted the title of Bronze Token Divine Envoy!"

"You overpraise me, Senior!"

Zhou Zheng remained very calm. Zhu Jiuling's words had basically said nothing.

"Since you came for the Mystery of Time, I'll first talk about the Mystery of Time!" Zhu Jiuling continued. "The Time Deceleration Profound Mystery you possess came from combining Wind Thunder, correct?"

"Yes!"

Zhou Zheng nodded, though he was somewhat surprised. Zhu Jiuling truly deserved to be a Deity who had grasped the Time Divine Heart. He could actually see the connection between Zhou Zheng's Mystery of Time and Mystery of Wind and Thunder.

"Some comprehend Time Deceleration from the Mystery of Wind, while others comprehend it from the Mystery of Thunder. It is not strange that you comprehended it from the combination of Wind Thunder!" Zhu Jiuling said.

"But I see that you intend to merge the Mystery of Light into it as well. Aren't you afraid of disrupting the balance?"

By now, Zhou Zheng knew that this Deity had exceptionally sharp eyes, so he did not hide anything. He directly said, "Senior, I believe merging the Mystery of Light into it will make my swordsmanship stronger. As for the balance of Time Deceleration, I have always maintained it carefully."

"You do have some nerve!" Zhu Jiuling sneered.

"You must understand that, while theoretically no Profound Mysteries are completely impossible to merge, some are indeed inherently unsuitable for fusion. Take the Particle Profound Mystery and the Mystery of Time, for example. If you insist on merging them, what could you possibly create? When it comes to fusing Profound Mysteries, more is not necessarily better, nor is a higher grade necessarily better. Suitability is what matters most!"

"Senior, are you saying you do not recommend that I continue merging the Mystery of Light?" Zhou Zheng asked.

"The path is your own choice. Others cannot interfere. I am merely telling you of the risks involved!" Zhu Jiuling said calmly.

"If I could see through every secret within the Profound Mysteries of heaven and earth, perhaps I would choose to interfere with your decision. But unfortunately, I am still on this path myself, far too distant from such a realm!"

"Then what does Senior mean?" Zhou Zheng was somewhat puzzled.

"I will not interfere with your path, but I can offer you advice! You can first combine the Mystery of Light with the Mystery of Lightning, or first combine the Mystery of Light with the Mystery of Wind. If you succeed, then consider combining all three Profound Mysteries!" Zhu Jiuling said.

"Also, you can ask the Artifact Spirit of the Temporal Temple and see whether anyone has walked this path before."

"I see!"

Zhou Zheng nodded slightly. This path was indeed more prudent.

"Of course, even if the Temporal Temple Artifact Spirit tells you that someone has walked this path before, do not blindly become optimistic. Once you discover that you cannot continue, you must decisively give up!" Zhu Jiuling said.

"In the God Realm Abyss, many Great Powers know the path to First-grade True Meaning, yet few are willing to tell their disciples about it. Why? Because if your talent is insufficient and you force yourself down this path, you are simply wasting time! Different people walking the same path will achieve entirely different results. For example, you were able to combine Wind Thunder into the Time Deceleration Profound Mystery, but if someone else were to walk this path, there would only be an extremely, extremely small chance that they would comprehend Time Deceleration as you did!"

"So that's how it is... This junior has learned much!" Zhou Zheng nodded, deep in thought.

In truth, Zhou Zheng had vaguely understood this principle before.

For instance, Zhou Zheng had always known that combining the four Profound Mysteries of earth, wind, water, and fire, together with the Mystery of Life, was the path to First-grade True Meaning—the World True Meaning.

Yet Zhou Zheng had never considered walking that path.

Because even now, among the four Profound Mysteries of earth, wind, water, and fire, he had only comprehended the Mystery of Wind. Forcing himself to study the rest would only yield twice the effort for half the result. Even though his talent was constantly being transformed by the Gate of Time and Space, whether he could see the path through remained unknown.

However, although Zhou Zheng had known this principle before, he had merely known it without truly understanding it.

Now, he understood it a little better.

As a transmigrator, Zhou Zheng knew far more secrets than the Transcendentals of this world. Yet sometimes, knowing too much was not a good thing. Just as the Great Powers of this world never told the weak about the path to First-grade True Meaning.

It was not because they were stingy. Rather, some things were useless even if spoken of, and would instead become obstacles to progress.

Everyone wanted to grasp First-grade True Meaning, but not everyone could comprehend it!

If everyone knew this path, then in the end, how many could succeed?

Most likely, the overwhelming majority would die of old age before comprehending First-grade True Meaning.

Whether a path works or not, I'll only know after walking it myself. Only a path I have walked myself can be the Path to Heaven! Zhou Zheng realized that he had known too much before, and thought too much as well.

But in truth, on the path to becoming stronger, if one could not advance bravely and diligently, doing everything possible to cut through all obstacles, but instead constantly worried about what lay ahead and behind... then even the greatest talent would likely be unable to achieve anything remarkable!

Zhou Zheng was still young. Even if he chose the wrong path, he could fully afford to lose.

What he feared was hesitating and looking back, never daring to continue onward!

"Very good. That is exactly the spirit I wanted. My words were not wasted!" Zhu Jiuling lightly nodded his enormous head. He had actually seen through Zhou Zheng's change at a glance.

"I must thank Senior for the reminder!" Zhou Zheng said gratefully.

"It was only a reminder. Whether you can gain any insight from it depends entirely on yourself!" Zhu Jiuling said rather calmly before continuing, "All right, everything I said before was nonsense. Now I will guide you through the true Mystery of Time. Experience it for yourself!"

Before Zhou Zheng could react to Zhu Jiuling's words, he felt the time around his body rapidly begin to slow.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Strands of strange fluctuations continuously appeared, while the degree of Time Deceleration rapidly increased.

Time Deceleration—what formidable Time Deceleration!

Zhou Zheng immediately became alert. He rapidly memorized these strange fluctuations. To personally experience such a clear instance of Time Deceleration at this level was an opportunity that could only be encountered by chance.

Moreover, perhaps Zhu Jiuling had done it deliberately, but the traces of this Time Deceleration were especially obvious, allowing Zhou Zheng to sense them even more clearly.

Zhu Jiuling did not maintain the Time Deceleration for long. Soon, he returned the time around Zhou Zheng to normal.

Yet before Zhou Zheng could catch his breath, he suddenly felt the time around him begin to flow at high speed again.

Time Acceleration...

Zhou Zheng was slightly stunned. This was an entirely unfamiliar field to him. Though Time Deceleration and Time Acceleration differed by only one word, they were in reality as far apart as heaven and earth.

"Consider this a complimentary experience!" Zhu Jiuling's voice sounded. Hearing this, Zhou Zheng calmed himself and began carefully sensing the effects of Time Acceleration.

After a long while, Zhu Jiuyin withdrew his Divine Power, and everything around Zhou Zheng finally returned completely to calm.

"The Mystery of Time actually has another invincible move: Time Stop. Unfortunately, you cannot experience this move. Within Time Stop, even your consciousness is completely stopped!" Zhu Jiuling said calmly.

"Time Stop?"

Zhou Zheng was slightly startled.

"That's right. Generally speaking, only those who have mastered the complete Mystery of Time can perform Time Stop! It is precisely because of Time Stop that the True Meaning of Time is ranked as a First-grade True Meaning!" Zhu Jiuling said with emotion.

"Because once it is comprehended, it is truly invincible among Transcendentals! Even Transcendentals who have comprehended genuine First-grade True Meanings would find it difficult to deal with a Transcendental who possesses Time Stop. Of course, Time Stop cannot deal with other Transcendentals possessing First-grade True Meanings either. Any First-grade True Meaning is invincible among Transcendentals!"

"I see!"

Zhou Zheng nodded slightly. This was still far too distant from him; for now, it was enough to simply listen.

However, Zhou Zheng could also hear a trace of unwillingness in Zhu Jiuling's tone. The Mystery of Time was powerful at the Transcendental stage, but at the Deity level, it was somewhat weaker.

The True Meanings mastered by Deities had already evolved into Divine Hearts, yet the True Meaning of Time, a First-grade True Meaning, became only a Second-grade Divine Heart after evolving into a Divine Heart.

It truly was rather miserable!

After having Zhou Zheng return and contemplate the Mystery of Time on his own, Zhu Jiuling did not continue discussing it.

"How did you grasp the Particle Profound Mystery?" Zhu Jiuling suddenly brought up the Particle Profound Mystery.

"This junior awakened a Bloodline Talent of the particle type!" Zhou Zheng found it somewhat strange, but he did not conceal anything and answered directly.

"Show me!" Zhu Jiuling said.

"All right."

Zhou Zheng agreed. He immediately drew his sword with a backhand motion and slashed through the air.

Boom! Crack! Crack!

In an instant, countless particles shattered in the Void, and an invisible gust swept outward.

"Mm!"

Seeing this, Zhu Jiuling lightly nodded his enormous head.

"Just as I expected!" Zhu Jiuling said calmly.

"Senior, is there something wrong with my Bloodline Talent?" Zhou Zheng looked at Zhu Jiuling in confusion.

"Your talent appears to shatter particles and produce destructive force, but what is truly more formidable is that after the particles are shattered, the Micro-particles they produce form invisible destructive power!" Zhu Jiuling said calmly.

"Your talent also involves Micro-particles. That is quite rare!"

"Micro-particles!"

Zhou Zheng was slightly surprised. Among True Meanings, the Particle True Meaning was third-grade, while the Micro-particle True Meaning was second-grade. The difference of one grade was as vast as the difference between heaven and earth.

Likewise, the difference between a Bloodline Talent involving only particles and one involving Micro-particles was also enormous.

"The Micro-particle Profound Mystery is a Profound Mystery that Flying Celestial level transcendents and even Saint level transcendents find very difficult to comprehend, because your souls are not powerful enough to observe the existence of Micro-particles. If you cannot even observe them, how can you speak of comprehending them?" Zhu Jiuling said calmly.

"Indeed!"

Zhou Zheng nodded. In fact, had his Bloodline Talent not greatly sharpened his perception of particles, he would not have so easily comprehended the Particle Profound Mystery, much less reached the third level of the Myriad Realms at such a rapid pace.

"However, it is not without a solution!" Zhu Jiuling said.

"Many special tools or magic arrays made by Transcendent Mages can help you clearly observe Micro-particles. If you are interested, you can pay attention to such matters."

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior!" Zhou Zheng immediately expressed his gratitude.

This reminder was extremely important to him. If Zhu Jiuling had not reminded him, he likely would not have discovered the truth of his Bloodline Talent until at least after becoming a Saint level transcendent.

"All right, this guidance ends here. You may go!"

Zhu Jiuling said no more. His enormous head lowered, and his huge eyes closed.

Seeing this, Zhou Zheng did not say anything further. After saluting, he quickly turned and left the hall.

A moment later, amid a burst of Space-Time fluctuations, Zhou Zheng vanished from Zhu Jiuling's Private Space in the blink of an eye.