383: Different time flow rates

Everyone's expression suddenly changed. They immediately adopted a battle formation, and those who were on the ground quickly stood up.

Their relationship was good; they could joke around when they weren't fighting, but as soon as battle was involved, they would immediately become vigilant.

Wang Yan's stone axe appeared in his hand, and he lightly plunged the handle into the ground.

Immediately, a burst of earthy yellow light appeared, making the ground beneath their feet solidify... Gu Qinghan opened his eyes and looked at the scenery before him, his expression showing momentary astonishment.

He now seemed to be in the wilderness; the scenery was beautiful and made people feel refreshed and relaxed.

He could hear the gurgling sound of water seemingly coming from not far away.

"No monsters?"

Gu Qinghan looked around, but could only see a peaceful landscape.

To be safe, Gu Qinghan released the already extremely powerful Dragon Cat and Dragon Bear, positioning them to protect him, one in front and one behind.

At the same time, with the help of the Crow King, he ascended into the sky, wanting to survey the surrounding landscape.

When he flew high up and looked in the direction of the water sound, he immediately saw an extremely wide river.

Although the river was wide, it did not produce any large waves, flowing quietly.

Gu Qinghan increased his altitude again, only to discover that the river branched off after a certain distance.

The branch was as wide as the main river, but it flowed in a different direction, leading to unknown places.

Looking in the other direction, Gu Qinghan saw that this river was actually a tributary of another equally wide river.

That river, whose source was unknown, traversed this plain and flowed toward unidentified regions.

Just as Gu Qinghan wanted to move forward, he suddenly noticed the Crow King was motionless.

He subconsciously thought a threat had appeared, but after looking around, there was nothing unusual.

Strangely, when he commanded the Crow King to descend, it smoothly returned to the ground.

Gu Qinghan looked thoughtfully at the sky, but when he tried to make the Crow King ascend again, he couldn't manage it at all.

"Does this mean I must walk across the ground? Was the first ascent a beginner's benefit?"

Gu Qinghan pondered this, looking at the road beneath his feet, which stretched into the distance and disappeared at the horizon.

Without thinking, Gu Qinghan could guess that these roads must also have branches, just like the river.

It seemed that in this secret realm world, what he needed to do was make the correct choices.

What would happen if he didn't walk on the road?

Gu Qinghan thought, looking at the Dragon Bear, which resembled a small mountain.

At his signal, the Dragon Bear slowly stepped off the wide road and took a step forward.

Then, it immediately stopped.

Gu Qinghan waited for a long time but didn't find anything unusual; it seemed walking on or off the road didn't matter.

The Dragon Bear slowly took another step, stopping again at Gu Qinghan's command.

Gu Qinghan checked the surroundings again, and after confirming nothing was amiss, he was about to let the Dragon Bear continue forward when his pupils suddenly contracted.

Just now, his gaze swept over the Bear King's right leg—that familiar black fur with faint golden highlights had appeared there once again!

But Gu Qinghan clearly remembered that this type of fur absolutely should not appear on the Dragon Bear anymore!

He immediately commanded the Dragon Bear to retreat back onto the road, but the fur in that area did not revert.

This scene looked extremely bizarre and jarring, yet it was genuinely happening right in front of Gu Qinghan.

"It seems I must make choices while staying on the road, otherwise a situation similar to what just happened is highly likely."

Gu Qinghan recalled his two subordinates. At this moment, the danger was actually quite clear.

At least for now, the danger in this secret realm world did not come from monsters.

The true danger lay in the seemingly ubiquitous traps here.

If Gu Qinghan hadn't guessed wrong, it should be the power of time.

It caused a portion of the Dragon Bear's body to revert to its previous state, while the rest remained unchanged.

If this state gradually intensified, some parts might even age.

Gu Qinghan even felt it wasn't impossible for the Dragon Bear to simply disintegrate.

Although there was no visible threat, Gu Qinghan's expression was unprecedentedly solemn.

The unknown is the most terrifying thing.

Gu Qinghan exhaled deeply and slowly placed his right foot forward.

Immediately afterward, he checked every part of his body, and even checked his own status.

Very good, there was no change.

He let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that walking on these roads, carved out by unknown individuals, meant he would be safe.

The second step, the third step... Gu Qinghan walked for more than a dozen steps before reaching the area where the Dragon Bear's body had changed earlier.

He stared intently at the area off the road, wanting to see if he could discover anything.

But it was extremely calm there, no different from the surrounding environment.

Yet Gu Qinghan was not in a hurry to leave. He just stood there, staring intently, without taking another step forward.

After an unknown amount of time, Gu Qinghan felt the scenery before him distort momentarily, but it quickly returned to normal the next instant.

However, realization dawned in his eyes, because Gu Qinghan noticed that a wrinkle seemed to have just appeared there.

Or rather, a fissure that existed for an extremely short time had appeared there.

If he hadn't guessed wrong, that fissure must have been what caused the change in the Dragon Bear's body.

At this moment, Gu Qinghan seemed to partially understand the meaning behind the name of this secret realm.

He walked forward again, every step cautious.

Meina didn't know where she was right now, but Gu Qinghan had told her that if she couldn't immediately sense him, she should find the river of time and wait on its banks.

The river he saw from the sky should be the river of time.

Every step Gu Qinghan took, his heartbeat briefly quickened slightly.

After all, he wasn't certain that the path would definitely be free of danger.

After an unknown period of time, Gu Qinghan finally reached the fork in this small road.

He looked at the two forks, making his choice based on the direction the water sound was coming from.

But when he took the first step, he immediately felt an unusual sensation in his body.

It wasn't that he was injured, but the movement of his stepping leg became slow.

Just like slow motion in a movie, Gu Qinghan could clearly see his movements being slowed down.

However, his mind remained sharp, and he watched helplessly as it took him nearly ten seconds to place his foot on the ground.

"Is the flow of time different? Or is it some other problem?"

Gu Qinghan didn't feel any internal abnormalities in his body, which immediately put his mind at ease.

He looked back at the section of road he had just traversed, gritted his teeth, and walked onto the selected fork.

After his entire body entered the area of this fork, Gu Qinghan suddenly felt the surrounding vegetation begin to shake.

But it took him several seconds to realize something: the surrounding vegetation wasn't actually shaking.

Instead, the flow of time in the area he was in had slowed down, causing him to perceive the gently swaying grass and trees being blown by the wind as shaking.