After obtaining the complete Time and Space technique, Zhou Qing devoted most of his efforts to it.
Of his thirty-six currently free bodies, Wu Xian's original body and his seventeen clones continued sweeping through the World Prison.
Of his Second Primaltwin's eighteen clones, three studied the Power of Illusion, three studied Space Power, three studied Time Power, and the remaining nine all studied the Time and Space technique.
Just like that, more than twenty years passed.
Zhou Qing's insights into Time and Space steadily improved. Just as he felt he was close to breaking through to the second level of the Power of Time and Space, information suddenly appeared on the Infinite Simulation Panel, which had been silent for a long time.
Seeing that the simulation time had long since reset to zero, Zhou Qing, who was in the World Prison, chose to start a new simulation without hesitation.
[Simulation beginning. Simulation world: Desolate Era world. Drawing simulation identity...]
As Zhou Qing had expected, it was the Desolate Era world again.
Higher Special Lifeform, Source Walker, Chaos Source Beast...
Zhou Qing watched the enticing identities flash across the panel, his face expressionless.
This was already his third simulation, and he knew full well how the panel operated. He chose to ignore these identities that were within sight but out of reach.
A few seconds later, the panel stopped flashing, and Zhou Qing's simulation identity for this attempt was revealed.
[Draw successful. Identity: Dongfang Jue, posthumous son of the eldest prince of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, Nine Directions Chaos World, Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, Blackmist Domain, Flame Dragon Domain, Desolate Chaos Universe.]
The eldest prince's posthumous son. Doesn't that make me the King of Nine Directions' grandson...?
Zhou Qing's expression turned complicated as he read the information on the panel.
The King of Nine Directions was undoubtedly the person he hated most. The man had caused him to be imprisoned for several chaos cycles.
And now, the man was actually going to become his grandfather in the simulation. Fate really did make fools of people.
But then he noticed something.
The eldest prince's posthumous son...
Zhou Qing remembered that before he entered the World Prison, the eldest prince had fallen alongside his master, Ancestor God Fantian.
In other words, does this simulation take place an endless number of years ago?
Upon realizing this, Zhou Qing could not help but feel awe at the simulation panel's immense power.
To play with time in a world like Desolate Era, the panel's standing was probably far beyond anything he could imagine.
After marveling for a while, Zhou Qing turned his attention back to the simulation panel.
Zhou Qing analyzed his simulation identity this time and gleaned some information.
First was the location of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom. It was not in the Damo Domain, but in a place called the Blackmist Domain.
In the Flame Dragon Domain, the distances between domains were vast.
Generally speaking, one had to be at least a World Realm expert to travel to the domains surrounding one's own.
As for nonadjacent domains, such as the Damo Domain and the Tiansang Domain, not only was the journey long, but it was also filled with all kinds of dangerous places. Even World Realm experts risked their lives if they forced their way across.
Only upon reaching the Daolord level could one barely gain the ability to travel easily between different domains.
At that thought, Zhou Qing looked at the vast world that imprisoned him and could not help but marvel.
Although he did not know how far apart the Damo Domain and the Blackmist Domain were, the fact that the World Prison had drifted from another domain all the way to the Three Realms was nothing short of a miracle.
[Simulation objective: Survive for one chaos cycle.]
As Zhou Qing reflected on this, the simulation objective appeared on the panel.
Survive for one chaos cycle?
Looking at the entirely new simulation objective, Zhou Qing appeared surprised.
Instead of reaching a certain realm as before, he had to survive. In other words, he had to stay alive.
This doesn't look good...
Zhou Qing frowned.
The previous two simulations had required him to become an Empyrean God or a Celestial Immortal within a thousand years. Though difficult, they had at least given him a definite goal.
But the word "survive" brought far more variables.
Especially since the time requirement was as long as a chaos cycle.
There was no telling how many dangers would catch him off guard during that chaos cycle.
To figure out the simulation's difficulty, he still needed to know whether the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom had already fallen.
In the original story, Ji Ning might have told the prisoners in the World Prison that the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom had been destroyed at every turn, but that was only to shake their wills and make it easier for him to search their souls and plunder their treasures.
In fact, there was no evidence in the original story that could prove the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom had fallen.
There were two reasons the original story assumed the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom had fallen.
First, a treasure as precious as the World Prison had been missing for several chaos cycles, yet the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom had never come looking for it.
Second, after Ji Ning went to the Damo Domain, he found no trace of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom.
But now that the Infinite Simulation Panel had told him whether the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom was in the Damo Domain, those two facts could only prove that its fate was unknown, not that it had fallen.
Thus, Zhou Qing had to make two assumptions.
First, the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom had not yet fallen and continued to exist normally in the Blackmist Domain.
This situation was obviously the most ideal for his simulation.
As long as the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom had not fallen, it meant the kingdom had not encountered an unimaginably formidable enemy. In that case, as the posthumous son of the kingdom's eldest prince and the grandson of the King of Nine Directions in the simulation, he would certainly have no shortage of Dao protectors, and his safety would be relatively secure.
Second, the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom had already fallen.
This situation was rather worse, because, as stated above, the fall of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom would mean it had encountered an unimaginable enemy.
After destroying the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, that enemy would surely not spare him in the simulation, a direct blood relative of the King of Nine Directions.
If that were really the case, this simulation would almost certainly fail.
At that thought, Zhou Qing's expression grew grave.
Meanwhile, the Infinite Simulation Panel began the simulation.
[Carrying memories of your previous life on Earth, you reincarnate in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom.] [When you awaken, you find yourself in a warm environment. You soon realize that you have transmigrated and are currently developing in your mother's womb.] [Because your father is an Ancestor God and your mother is a First-Tier True Immortal, your gestation is extremely long.] [As the child of two powerful beings, you have a strong soul despite not yet being born. You possess a powerful ability to learn, and in about a month, you learn the language of this unfamiliar world.] [Thus, you learn that you are in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, that your father is its eldest prince, and that he is serving as regent. You immediately realize that you have transmigrated to the Desolate Era world, and not to the Three Realms, but to the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, a power mentioned only by name in the original story.] [Recalling that much of the evidence in the original story indicated that the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom would fall, you begin to worry about your future fate.] [To take control of your own fate and avoid being caught up in the unexpected fall of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, you resolve to grow stronger.] [Still in your mother's womb, you do your utmost to absorb the Primordial Qi of heaven and earth from the outside world, accelerating your growth; you also absorb every last bit of the rare treasures your mother consumes to nourish you during pregnancy.]