The Character that Stood Still

Ji Ning, Celestial Immortal Cangjiang, Yu Wei, Nine Lotos, Mu Northson, Xue Hongyi… all of them were incomparably tense.

A faint point of light could even be seen flickering at Yu Wei’s brow.

Ji Ning’s elemental ki had already begun to seep into his storage treasure. Within it lay a single green leaf, its surface covered in grey runic patterns that made it seem utterly profound and mysterious. This was one of the two life-saving protective curios he had exchanged for at the aquatic palace.

“Hmph.” Nine Lotos clenched her fists as well; faint white lotus petals could be seen appearing on the skin of the back of her hands.

Each and every one of them was ready to instantly activate their protective treasures at any moment, all of them nervously staring at the warship and at the golden light shield that had begun to tremble and transform.

“Boom!” The enormous, ferocious wave crashed heavily against the warship’s light shield.

The warship itself tumbled violently, but still continued to charge forward.

Ji Ning and the others inside the tumbling warship felt as if their feet were nailed to the deck, yet their eyes couldn’t help but widen as they stared fixedly at the vessel.

“Crack, crack, crack…” A series of sounds came from within the warship. The golden light shield had even begun to grow dim.

“Aiya, aiya, aiya! Damn it, damn it, damn it!” Shaoyan Nong howled, a scroll suddenly appearing in his hand. The scroll looked completely ordinary; its paper might have been considered rare back in the Ji clan, but it was actually quite common in a place like Anchan City.

And yet, on this seemingly ordinary scroll, a single large character was written——

‘Still!’

‘Still!’ Ji Ning and the others were all captivated by this single character on the scroll. It was a simple word, but the endless aura of the Dao radiating from it was far vaster and more profound than the feeling Ji Ning usually got from comprehending the Dao of Rainwater or the Dao of Blazing Fire. It even made Ji Ning and the others feel an urge to kneel and pay homage.

“Hum!”

The character ‘Still’ on the scroll suddenly blazed with brilliant light, casting a hazy glow that illuminated its surroundings. The enormous wave-soldier beside it was also within the range of this illumination.

In that instant, the wind stopped. The water stopped.

It was as if Heaven and Earth itself had frozen.

But Ji Ning and the others were completely unaffected. They couldn’t help but stare in astonishment.

“This, this… what is going on?”

“No, the wave-soldier is still moving… but it’s moving incredibly slowly.” Ji Ning and the others immediately realized that the enormous wave nearby hadn’t stopped; it was just moving at an extremely sluggish pace.

“Swoosh.”

Without the wave-soldier blocking them, the warship instantly shot forward over ten kilometers.

“Open.” Shaoyan Nong, his face ashen, held the Immortal Mansion key. A void gate suddenly appeared before him. The warship instantly flew through the void gate, which then closed behind them.

“Whoosh~~~”

The enormous wave, which had seemed frozen just a moment ago, only now came crashing forward with savage force.

“How… how is this possible?” The leader of this wave-soldier unit, ‘True Treasure Daoist,’ stared in disbelief at the now-closed void gate in the distance. “Just now… just now…”

He would never forget that feeling.

He had clearly been controlling the wave-soldiers with all his might, and their attack speed had been very fast. But why had that enemy warship suddenly seemed to increase its speed ten thousand, a hundred thousand times over? Because the enemy’s speed had skyrocketed so absurdly, he hadn’t even had time to launch a single attack before they had pierced through their formation and opened the void gate.

“Master, how… how did they suddenly get so much faster? I couldn’t resist at all.” True Treasure Daoist sent mentally.

In the distance, ‘Duohe Immortal,’ who had been dealing with the Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang, had actually been keeping an eye on this place the entire time. After all, the humans in the warship were the most important targets.

He had been stunned as well.

“It wasn’t that they became faster; it’s that you became slower.” Duohe Immortal sent mentally. “In that instant, all of your soldier-attendants moved slower than a little turtle.”

“Impossible. I didn’t feel myself slow down, and none of my Dao-soldiers felt anything either,” True Treasure Daoist said urgently.

“That’s because… your time slowed down. You should have heard the saying, ‘A day in the Heavens is a year in the Mortal Realm.’ That’s because the flow of time in the Heavens and the Mortal Realm is different. You feel like only a day has passed in the Heavens, but a year has already gone by in the Mortal Realm. That’s what happened just now. You felt like only an instant had passed, but in reality, a long time had already gone by. The enemy warship had already flown over ten kilometers.” There was a hint of despair in Duohe Immortal’s eyes. “These humans were actually able to produce such a treasure… is Heaven intent on destroying all living beings in the Immortal Mansion World?”

True Treasure Daoist understood now.

It was time.

Time had changed.

Just like how he felt only an instant had passed, but in reality, others had already experienced a thousand years. This kind of complete divergence in the flow of time had created the scene they had just witnessed.

“To actually have such a treasure…” True Treasure Daoist muttered to himself.

“Hahaha… you can’t stop our young master, you can’t stop him!” The distant Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang had already begun to flee far away, his laughter echoing through the heavens.

The wave-soldiers didn’t bother to pursue him.

If Xiangliu Fang was determined to escape, there was no way they could catch him.

“Come, let’s go over there.” Duohe Immortal, who actually had the face of a middle-aged man, suddenly seemed to have aged considerably.

“Boom~~~”

The two groups of wave-soldiers merged into one, and the enormous wave rapidly flew away into the distance.

Soon.

The enormous wave-soldiers and the Yaksha Dao-soldiers converged.

“You actually failed? You were defeated?” Wu Sui Immortal sent mentally. The other Wu Jiang clan goblins all looked over.

“We failed.” Duohe Immortal’s voice was hoarse. “These humans actually brought out an inconceivably powerful treasure.” The two sides had been ten thousand kilometers apart earlier, so the Wu Jiang clan hadn’t been able to see the battle clearly.

“What kind of treasure could break through your blockade?” Wu Sui Immortal pressed.

“It was a treasure that can influence time.” Duohe Immortal shook his head.

“Time?” Wu Sui Immortal was startled. Having come from the Wu Jiang clan, he knew a bit about such secrets. In general, treasures that involved time were frequently encountered in battles between Celestial Immortals, and were considered normal and ordinary to them. But not even one in ten thousand of the Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals could ever hope to become a Celestial Immortal…

A treasure that could change the flow of time was already incredibly powerful in the eyes of Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. If they were Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals from the outside world, they might have actually seen such a thing before. But these two Loose Immortals of the Immortal Mansion World had only ever heard of them.

“Don’t worry.” Wu Sui Immortal sent mentally. “A treasure like that… those humans are incredibly lucky to have even one. I refuse to believe they have a second.”

Duohe Immortal nodded.

“Duohe, we have no path of retreat now. This is the last branch hall. We must defend it! This is also our last chance to obtain the Immortal Mansion key,” Wu Sui Immortal said. “This is the desire of the countless goblins of my Immortal Mansion World for endless ages. This is our last chance.”

“It’s not just the last chance.” Duohe Immortal’s voice was hoarse and low. “It’s also our only chance to survive.”

“Survive?” Wu Sui Immortal was startled, and then his face paled.

“To be able to use a treasure like that, to have a Fiendgod as a guard… these humans definitely have an extraordinary background.” Duohe Immortal’s voice echoed in the ears of every goblin soldier in the vicinity, slowly stating the fact that every goblin in the Immortal Mansion World feared. “Once this last branch hall is refined by them… the entire Immortal Mansion will be under their control. Then, they can deal with us however they please. Everything will be in their hands. They can summon a great army from the outside, or they can destroy our Immortal Mansion World, leaving our descendants with nothing to eat or drink, starving our clans to death. In short, once they refine the Immortal Mansion, they will have countless methods.”

All the goblins were terrified.

Yes.

As long as the enemy controlled the Immortal Mansion, they could launch a sneak attack on any part of it, throwing in some terrifying poison… it would be far too easy to destroy an area of ten thousand kilometers. A terrible poison could leave a region of ten thousand kilometers completely barren.

Building was hard.

Destruction was easy.

If this world were destroyed, after enduring for tens of thousands of years, there would probably be only a few survivors left in the entire Immortal Mansion World.

“This is our last hope.”

“This is our last chance.”

“We must fight this battle.”

“We must take the Immortal Mansion key!”

“Even if we all die in battle, we cannot let them refine this last branch hall!!!” Duohe Immortal’s voice shook Heaven and Earth.

“Fight!”

All the goblins roared. All the goblins were filled with boundless battle intent.

This was no longer a battle for freedom. This was a true struggle for survival!

An ancient, grand hall.

A warship instantly charged inside. The golden light on its surface had already disappeared, and the profound, mighty aura that had once enveloped the entire vessel was gone, as if it had become a dead object.

“The formation diagram has completely collapsed.” Mu Northson shook his head. “In the end, the warship could only rely on its inertia to fly in. An Earth-ranked puppet warship… just like that, it’s been destroyed.”

“What’s an Earth-ranked puppet warship compared to that?” Celestial Immortal Cangjiang shook his head, his eyes signaling towards the distance. “Take a look at Young Master Shaoyan.”

Ji Ning and the others all noticed.

Young Master Shaoyan Nong was holding the scroll, staring fixedly at the single word, ‘Still,’ on its surface.

Unfortunately, the word ‘Still’ no longer held any of its special charm. It was just like an ordinary character now.

“A thousand years in an instant.” Yu Wei said softly. “This was a ‘thousand years in an instant’ type of treasure. Once used, it was virtually guaranteed to be able to kill a Loose Immortal. Although such a treasure isn’t an Immortal-ranked magic treasure, it’s not far off.”

Ji Ning was a bit confused.

Seeing Ji Ning’s expression, Nine Lotos sent mentally, “‘A thousand years in an instant’ refers to treasures that can change the flow of time. It’s like how you might feel only an instant has passed, but in reality, a thousand years have already gone by for the other party. Of course, this is a very exaggerated description. But with such a massive difference in the flow of time, a Primal Daoist, relying on such a treasure, could even kill a Loose Immortal. This shows how precious this treasure is.”

Ji Ning understood.

When he had been in the aquatic palace receiving the inheritance of the divine ability ‘Starseizing Hand,’ he had gone to an inheritance space. Within that space, he had spent several months, yet almost no time had passed on the outside. That was far more exaggerated than that scroll.

“Damn it! Damn it!” Young Master Shaoyan Nong stared at the scroll in his hand, gnashing his teeth.