Above time itself?
Hiss-!
The moment they considered this possibility, every powerhouse on the Douluo Continent with even the slightest understanding of power felt a chill shoot from their spine to the crown of their head, every hair on their body standing on end!
Voices of shock rose one after another from every corner of the Douluo Continent.
Inside a dormitory at Shrek Academy.
Tang San abruptly sat up in bed, fine beads of cold sweat seeping from his forehead.
Thinking back on how he had actually considered Burial Heaven Island "safer" than the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land just moments ago, he could not help finding his own idea utterly absurd!
Both places could be called death zones!
After all, whether it was the years cutting down heaven's chosen in the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land or time imprisoning peerless beauties in High Heaven · Burial Heaven Island, both involved the profoundly terrifying power of time.
And yet...
That Heavenly Emperor seemed to have visited even places this terrifying, and had left a heaven-reaching stone stele in each.
In fact, from Jiang Wanwan's words, it was not hard to tell...
That Heavenly Emperor still presided over the White Jade Capital and had not been trapped here.
"Is this the Heavenly Emperor of the Shrouding the Heavens World? An absolute powerhouse who dominated an era?!"
Tang San swallowed with difficulty, his eyes filled with shock.
Beside him, Yu Xiaogang had lost the ability to speak altogether. His lips trembled, unable to produce another word of "theoretical analysis."
The Martial Soul Theory he had spent his life researching seemed so pale and laughable before the power to manipulate time laid bare in the Shrouding the Heavens World.
For the first time, he profoundly realized...
Beyond this world, there might be beings far beyond the limits of his imagination.
And just then!
The scene in the sky screen underwent another drastic change!
Crack... crack, crack-
A series of clear, piercing sounds, like glazed jade being forcibly crushed, rang out without warning.
Everyone's gaze was instantly drawn back to the sky screen.
There, in the live broadcast, was Xu Han on High Heaven · Burial Heaven Island.
Under countless horrified gazes, the surface of his body, like porcelain...
Began to develop countless fine black cracks that covered his entire body in an instant!
"..."
Bang-!
A dull shattering sound rang out, not loud, but enough to make people's hearts feel stifled.
Before everyone's eyes, Xu Han's entire body completely disintegrated!
There was no flying flesh and blood, no eruption of energy. He truly resembled a ceramic figurine that had lost every trace of its spirituality.
He shattered into countless irregular fragments, their edges flickering with an eerie black light, which clattered to the ground.
When those fragments touched Burial Heaven Island's ground, shrouded in the mists of time, they vanished silently like drops of water merging into the sea, leaving not the slightest trace.
As though this person had never existed.
In a corridor at Eastsea Academy.
"Sh-shattered?!"
At the sight, Tang Wulin's eyes widened in horror.
Gu Yuena's cool, breathtakingly beautiful face was likewise filled with unprecedented shock, a light of disbelief flickering deep within her purple eyes.
"It really is the power of time!"
As the Silver Dragon King, she had inherited some of the Dragon God's memories and knowledge...
She understood better than anyone the weight carried by the word "time."
And so she understood better than anyone just how much the title "Heavenly Emperor" now meant.
"Acceleration, stillness... this is power that touches the fundamental laws!"
"Mastering even one form of time's power would be enough to defy heaven and change one's fate, yet that Heavenly Emperor Hao... he seems to have disregarded both of these extreme temporal effects at once?!"
"If we could obtain that Heavenly Emperor's help, we Soul Beasts..."
At that thought, Gu Yuena's breathing suddenly quickened, excitement and fervor flashing in her eyes.
Across from her.
Although Tang Wulin's understanding of the power of time fell far short of Gu Yuena's, Xu Han's miserable end, shattering like porcelain, was right before his eyes...
He swallowed in horror.
He recalled how he had previously envied Xu Han for being transported to the Shrouding the Heavens World right before him.
And when Gu Yue had told him that he would die even if he went, he had still been puzzled.
"Now it seems that if it really had been me instead of Xu Han, I probably would have died on High Heaven · Burial Heaven Island too!"
But soon, Tang Wulin grew a little curious again.
"Gu Yue, how can slowing time down kill someone? Shouldn't they remain in eternity?"
Hearing this, Gu Yuena returned from her thoughts of the possibility of revitalizing the Soul Beast Clan and shook her head slightly.
"Xu Han was just an ordinary person. He couldn't withstand the backlash from the power of time, so he died."
In the Far North.
The Ice Empress likewise watched the scene of Xu Han shattering, her eyes full of lingering fear. "Sister, this Burial Heaven Island is far too terrifying!"
Yet extraordinary light flashed repeatedly in the Snow Empress's ice-blue eyes. She drew in a deep breath of freezing air, trying to suppress her excitement, but her voice still carried a slight tremor:
"No, Bing'er, you're wrong."
"This Burial Heaven Island is a death zone for beings who cannot withstand its power, but for certain other beings, it is an unimaginably blessed grotto-heaven!"
"A blessed land?" The Ice Empress was puzzled.
"Think carefully!"
The Snow Empress explained urgently, "Time flows extremely slowly inside Burial Heaven Island. A thousand years might pass outside while only a day passes on the island!"
"What does that mean?"
"It means that if a powerhouse whose lifespan is nearly exhausted, yet who cannot break through, enters it, they can use the island's slow flow of time to gain an almost endless lifespan in a different sense, to contemplate and search for an opportunity to break through!"
"Do you remember what I told you earlier..."
"That there is definitely a terrifying Soul Beast on this Burial Heaven Island?"
The Ice Empress nodded, surprise in her eyes. "Sister, could there be a powerhouse of our Soul Beast Clan on Burial Heaven Island who has little time left?"
The Snow Empress shook her head. "Right now, I'm not certain whether that being is a Soul Beast, but they are definitely not human!"
As she spoke, the Snow Empress looked solemnly at the Ice Empress. "Bing'er, if you can go to the Shrouding the Heavens World, then find a way to see whether that powerhouse of our beastkind on Burial Heaven Island will accept you."
"If they will..."
"Then for ten thousand or even a hundred thousand years, you would hardly have to worry about heavenly tribulations again!"
"No need to worry about heavenly tribulations?" The Ice Empress was delighted.
"Yes!"
For a time, both the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress yearned immensely to go to the Shrouding the Heavens World.
In the bedchamber of the Supreme Pontiff's Palace at Spirit Hall.
Bibi Dong's graceful, regal figure leaned slightly against the back of her chair. Her red lips parted as she murmured to herself.
"To think I previously assumed someone had launched a sneak attack... laughable, truly laughable!"
At this moment, Bibi Dong completely overturned her previous judgment.
The deaths of Long Aotian and Xu Han had not been caused by sneak attacks or traps at all, but by the indiscriminate, terrifying laws inherent to that realm itself!
"To envelop such an immense region in the laws of time through supreme power... just what kind of heaven-reaching ability is this?"
Fine goosebumps rose on Bibi Dong's fair arms, and a chill welled up from the bottom of her heart:
"Could any deity in the Douluo Continent's Divine Realm accomplish this? The Asura God? The Sea God? Or the Angel God?"
Bibi Dong did not know. After all, she had not reached that realm.
And now, on the sky screen.
With Xu Han's death, the third perspective sank into darkness once more.
[Second perspective: Zhu Family of the Star Luo Empire, Zhu Zhuyun (Level 38 Soul Elder)]