"Before I explain the basic principles of Time Conversion, you must first understand what time is."
The white-bearded old wizard curled a finger and gently tapped the pocket watch floating before him. An invisible flash of spell light passed over it, and clock faces of different sizes rose from the watch and drifted in every direction. They crowded around the two young wizards, filling every gap in Zheng Qing's field of vision in an instant.
Each clock face showed a different time. The ticking of their second hands overlapped, a thread of order wandering through the chaos. It felt like standing on a beach, listening to the rise and fall of the sea.
Time flows like water. That really is an apt description.
The thought flashed through Zheng Qing's mind.
Master Baoyangzi's somewhat monotonous voice sounded in his ear again. "Time is a dimension, a widely used measure, and one of the fundamental rules that allow many spells to work.
"The magical theories popular in the Wizarding World today—whether classical mysticism, the Information Grand Unification Theory, or the even more influential Dimensional Theory—each have their own way of explaining the concept of time. Every path is profoundly complex and can take you a long way.
"What I'm telling you today does not belong solely to any one of them.
"To help you grasp part of the truth about time as quickly as possible, this lesson will draw on several overlapping theories. You only need to understand what I teach in class. Until you've reached a certain level in your understanding of this world, I don't recommend studying the deeper concepts further.
"That is also why I don't approve of you learning about Time Conversion yet.
"In theory, given your current knowledge of magic, this is not the best time for