Looking back

After leaving Brilliant Peak, Wei Yi carried the Time Mirror straight to the quarters of one of the Tianxuan Holy Land's most elite disciples.

"Big Brother Madman, I tricked my Brother Luo Yan into lending me his precious mirror!" Wei Yi shouted, as though afraid someone might not hear him.

The master of this residence was one of the Tianxuan Holy Land's strongest disciples of the current generation. He acted without regard for the consequences, behaved like a lunatic, and never listened to reason, earning him the name Little Madman.

"Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't let anyone hear!" Little Madman grabbed Wei Yi and swiftly tossed him into the courtyard.

"Big Brother Madman, is there someone even you're afraid of?" Wei Yi blinked his large eyes and asked curiously.

Little Madman's usual irreverence was gone. His expression was grave. "I'm afraid Senior Sister will suppress me!"

If there was anyone within the Tianxuan Holy Land whom Little Madman feared, it was the Eastern Wasteland's most dazzling pearl-the Tianxuan Saintess.

He couldn't beat her in a fight, and she was his senior. Most importantly, when his saintess senior sister beat him, she really went for the kill, and even the Holy Land's elders dared not intervene. If provoked, she would beat the elders along with him!

Her talent was peerless, comparable to that of the ancient Great Emperors. Every elder in the Holy Land revered her like an honored ancestor. Who would dare get in her way?

Wei Yi asked, "Then why do you still want to provoke the Saintess...?"

Little Madman replied with unruffled confidence, "You don't understand. We'll never have a chance of beating someone like Senior Sister in our entire lives. The only way to defeat her is to get hold of her little secrets and force her to submit! Make her admit she can't beat us!"

Wei Yi only half understood. After a moment, he asked, "Big Brother Madman, has the Saintess suppressed you before?"

Little Madman bristled and glared at him. "Nonsense! Nothing of the sort ever happened. All those stories going around are rumors!!!"

Little Madman turned his attention to the Time Mirror in Wei Yi's hands. After studying it for a moment, he asked uncertainly, "Are you sure this thing can really look back through time and show everything that happened in a certain place over a certain period?"

The mirror before him was covered in densely packed cracks, as though it had shattered into hundreds or thousands of pieces. It looked as if a touch would reduce it to shards, its entire surface seemingly forced back together.

This thing could look back through time? Why did it seem so unreliable?

There were no fluctuations of magical power coming from it, either, let alone any aura of the Dao. It seemed like the most ordinary mirror imaginable.

Wei Yi answered with absolute certainty, "I'm sure! I've seen Brother Luo Yan use this mirror more than once to recreate what happened in a certain place over a certain period!"

Little Madman took it from him and inspected it over and over, but still found nothing unusual. Yet from what he knew of Wei Yi, the boy would never lie to him about something like this. It was probably true!

Some magical artifacts in this world were like that: seemingly ordinary, yet containing the power of mighty divine abilities. He had seen such divine artifacts before.

This mirror was probably one of them!

"I'll try it first!" With that, Little Madman channeled his magical power into the shattered Time Mirror. An intensely dazzling white light poured out of it and enveloped the entire residence. In that single fleeting flash, the whole residence was reflected within the broken mirror.

Little Madman was utterly stunned. He had only injected a tiny trace of magical power, yet the mirror had seemed to activate on its own, forcibly sweeping away all his reserves. For the moment, he had actually become a mortal and needed to rest and recover!

"Th-this... what the hell is this thing?" He was terrified. This was the first time he had encountered such a frightening divine mirror.

The shattered surface truly began to reflect a scene from three days earlier, showing everything from beginning to end without omitting a single detail.

"Senior Sister!" A hoarse, desperate roar came from the mirror first.

"I really didn't steal your Ten-Thousand-Face Flower! I swear!" Two figures soon appeared in the mirror. One was a young man, spirited and heroic, brimming with a sharp, fearless edge.

The other was a woman with bright eyes, gleaming white teeth, and a slender neck, as fresh and lovely as a lotus rising from the water, her beauty unrivaled. Dressed entirely in white, she seemed beyond the mortal world, flawless and too beautiful to be real!

The two were fighting-or rather, Little Madman was being thoroughly beaten by the woman.

"Who else in the Holy Land besides you would dare do such a thing? If you can't produce the Ten-Thousand-Face Flower today, I'll suppress you for another three years!" the woman of peerless grace declared. Her blows grew increasingly vicious. Had this place not possessed a peerless formation and a vast expanse of space, it would surely have been destroyed.

Her words seemed to enrage Little Madman. He immediately activated his divine art and roared, "Witch, don't think you can suppress me a second time just because you did it once!"

Faced with Little Madman's desperate assault, the woman activated the exact same divine art and effortlessly overpowered him.

"Ah! I refuse to accept this!"

Watching his Big Brother Madman get effortlessly suppressed by that peerlessly beautiful woman in the mirror, Wei Yi couldn't help looking at Little Madman beside him.

"Ahem. Senior Sister's extraordinary talent is unmatched throughout the ages, and she began cultivating before I did. For now, I'm still no match for her! But once my cultivation reaches its full potential, I'll wash away today's humiliation and suppress her to avenge what happened!" Little Madman said without blushing or missing a beat.

More voices came from the mirror. Wei Yi turned back to look, but Little Madman immediately blocked his view. "There's nothing worth watching! I'll turn it off!"

As he spoke, Little Madman frantically channeled his magical power, trying to shut off the Time Mirror.

"Where did this damned mirror come from? I can't turn it off!" Terror filled Little Madman's face as he continued pouring in magical power. Yet the bizarre mirror was like a bottomless pit, devouring it ravenously. Having already drained him once, it forcibly wrung him dry again, leaving him utterly exhausted in almost the blink of an eye.

In the end, only two voices came from the mirror.

"You really didn't steal the Ten-Thousand-Face Flower?"

"Senior Sister, I swear to heaven! I never even thought about stealing your Ten-Thousand-Face Flower!"

The voices grew fainter and fainter until the conversation finally ceased.

Realization dawned on Wei Yi. "So you borrowed the mirror to find out who stole the Saintess's Ten-Thousand-Face Flower, Big Brother Madman?"

"Of course! Think about it. The illustrious Saintess of the Tianxuan Holy Land, the greatest beauty in the Eastern Wasteland, falsely accused someone without listening to reason. If word got out, wouldn't her reputation stink?

"So once I find the real culprit and prove I didn't steal the Ten-Thousand-Face Flower, won't I have hold of Senior Sister's little secret and be able to milk it for the rest of my life? Making her submit would be as easy as plucking something within arm's reach!" Little Madman spoke with complete confidence and utter conviction, as though everything were under his control!

Wei Yi wanted to believe him, but something felt wrong. He murmured to himself, "Is that really how it works?"

"Of course! When has your Big Brother Madman ever lied to you? You can't go wrong listening to me! Once we drag out the real culprit, we'll be able to swagger sideways through the Tianxuan Holy Land!" Little Madman continued egging him on.

He had thought the boy was merely boasting, but it turned out he really did have a trick or two up his sleeve-he had found this bizarre mirror!

Little Madman's eyes shifted, and he suddenly asked, "Junior Brother, let me ask you something. Who exactly is this Brother Luo Yan you keep mentioning?"

"Brother Luo Yan is Brother Luo Yan. Who else could he be?" Wei Yi asked, puzzled.

Little Madman opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing. He figured the little brat hadn't understood what he meant. Never mind-taking care of business came first. If he couldn't find the real culprit, Senior Sister would use him as a punching bag and beat him to death.