Knocking-Heaven Pass.
The site of the Jiting Ruins.
Tide Sis and Changli arrived there, a massive wall stretching across their path.
The Time-Reversal Instrument, a mechanism through which the people of Jiting manipulated time, stood silently on the ground.
Three shackles held the gateway into Knocking-Heaven Pass firmly shut.
"Temporal power should, by rights, be the Sentinel's authority. For the people of Jiting to wield it so adeptly, the Sentinel must have taught them personally..." Changli said, looking at Su Jiuyue.
"Why would the Sentinel pass the art of manipulating time on to the people of Jiting, or teach it to them?" Tide Sis asked curiously.
"I'm afraid we can only learn the answer inside Knocking-Heaven Pass, once we unlock these shackles." Changli shook her head. "If we retrieve the Core Heart and open the Sleeping Dragon Court on this trip, you'll face the Sentinel directly. Are you confident?"
Tide Sis considered it for a moment, glanced at the Resonance Mark on the back of her hand, and smiled. "I'd say it's fifty-fifty."
Changli raised an eyebrow at that. "A fifty percent chance already shows tremendous confidence. Besides, it may not come to a fight. Even if you do cross blades, Patroller Ling An will be there..."
"If we count Ling An..." Tide Sis lifted her head and laughed. "I don't see how the Sentinel could possibly win."
"Uh..." Changli faltered.
She had not been on the front line during the battle against the Threnodian. She had never imagined Tide Sis had such immense confidence in Ling An.
Even in the short time they had spent together, someone as perceptive as her had clearly noticed that Tide Sis's feelings for Ling An seemed rather unusual.
A human and a Tacet Discord?
Changli's thoughts raced. *Had there ever been such a