"Time is the movement of matter..."
"If all the matter in the universe stopped moving, time would stop too."
Jiang Ding murmured to himself.
He took a step and arrived in the Nine Spirits Domain, within the Fire Spirit Minor World.
All its intelligent beings had been relocated and compensated accordingly, because this place would become the Great Sun Sword Lord's site for studying time.
This minor world floated in the dark expanse between worlds, forever in place. Countless stories had unfolded within it, and everyone in those stories had died, yet the world remained, radiant as a pearl.
Its crystal walls spun, bringing the world day and night and the passage of the seasons.
Clang!
Jiang Ding drew his sword and struck.
In that instant, heaven and earth fell still. The spinning crystal walls, the floating minor world, its mountains, rivers, seas, howling winds and torrential rains, and its countless beasts, cattle, sheep, insects, and birds... Every living creature and every thing in that world froze.
All matter had been brought to a standstill.
Such was a single sword strike from a Celestial-level powerhouse!
"Had time really stopped?"
Jiang Ding looked toward the minor world.
His gaze pierced layer upon layer of crystal walls and clouds, coming to rest in a primeval forest, upon a great tree, upon a spirit cicada in the midst of shedding its shell.
The first-tier spirit cicada hung motionless.
Not just its body—its blood, muscles, cells, and even its soul had stopped moving. Down to the finest molecular and particle levels, all was still.
Thus, its lifespan had stopped changing too.
It would remain in this instant. No matter how the universe outside changed, its lifespan would neither gain nor lose a single second.
"So this is the Time-Erasing Sword..."
"No. More precisely, the