386: River of Time

This idea was quite absurd, but Gu Qinghan felt it was the most likely possibility.

After all, he had just acquired a heaven-defying item that could pause time for a maximum of 30 seconds, so time reversal wasn't impossible either.

Furthermore, Gu Qinghan felt that if he or one of his subordinates touched a certain rift again, they would still be sucked into the state he had just experienced.

Even with the time capsule, he dared not try again.

What if the effect inside one of the rifts was time stagnation? Gu Qinghan estimated he would be stuck there forever.

Having understood these matters, Gu Qinghan fixed his gaze on the path ahead and slowly started walking in the direction of the water flow.

The familiar sounds, the familiar scenery, the familiar path.

However, when Gu Qinghan took those first few steps, he did so with immense courage.

After all, one lifetime of that endless, nightmarish torment was more than enough.

This time, however, Gu Qinghan did not encounter any forks in the road.

After walking for some time, he saw his field of vision suddenly widen, followed by the sight of a broad river.

Gu Qinghan immediately quickened his pace and rushed toward the river.

Only when he reached the riverbank did he let out a heavy sigh of relief.

The river water was extremely clear; if not for the occasional wave, one might not even realize it was a river.

Gu Qinghan stared at the river for a while and was surprised to find that between the occasional waves, some images seemed to flash past.

Gu Qinghan saw that the image within one wave seemed to be a large, bare tree.

When the wave fell, the two smaller splashes it created also contained different images.

In the image of one splash, the large tree had become lush and green again.

In the other splash, only a tree stump remained.

It seemed these two small splashes represented two different outcomes for the original large tree.

"This must be the river of time... 'Floating in the void without reliance' must be describing this kind of scenery, right?"

Gu Qinghan sighed, but he was not in a hurry to explore the river.

He first looked around both sides, wanting to find Meina's figure.

After all, Meina should be a necessary condition for taking Chen Yuting out.

Luckily, Gu Qinghan actually saw Meina's figure.

She had clearly seen him too, and was waving her hand while running toward him.

Meina let out a heavy sigh of relief after seeing that Gu Qinghan was fine.

She looked at the plains behind her and said with lingering fear:

"When I came to the riverbank just now, I was almost sucked into a rift.

Luckily, my professional ability gives me decent survival skills in the Secret Realm, otherwise, I don't know what would have happened.

That rift felt extremely dangerous to me, but I could only sense it when I was about to touch it."

Gu Qinghan nodded, but then heard Meina continue asking:

"Did you not encounter any danger when you came over?

Ah... that's not what I mean.

I mean, you arrived before me, even though you knew nothing about the Secret Realm."

Gu Qinghan smiled and said to Meina:

"Actually, I was sucked in once, but fortunately, I managed to get out."

Surprise appeared on Meina's face, and she subconsciously retorted:

"You must be joking. We only just entered here a little while ago..."

Gu Qinghan shook his head without explaining, but Meina's words confirmed that he had indeed experienced a time reversal just now.

He turned his gaze toward the wide river and asked Meina:

"To what extent can you utilize your abilities within this Secret Realm?"

Meina thought for a moment, then stretched out her fair finger and touched a nearby tree.

The moment the tree was touched, its entire structure immediately began to change, like modeling clay.

Half a minute later, the unknown tree had been transformed into a small boat.

Meina's face was slightly pale at this point, but she still smiled at Gu Qinghan and said:

"I can still manipulate some objects within the Secret Realm, but perhaps because this Secret Realm's level is too high, my consumption is a bit high."

Gu Qinghan looked at the boat with some surprise; the Secret Realm Peeker's ability truly was astonishing.

At the very least, this ability to seek good fortune and avoid disaster, and even transform objects within the Secret Realm, gave them a significant advantage inside the Secret Realm.

Seeming to notice the surprise on Gu Qinghan's face, Meina said with a hint of resignation:

"The reason you might think my profession is weak is because we deliberately approached you in the Secret Realm last time.

And later, you even managed to get the Lord of the Secret Realm inside to help you capture us... Under normal circumstances, other Professionals several levels higher than us might not even be able to defeat us in a Secret Realm.

Even if they couldn't defeat us, it would be easy for us to escape."

A look of grievance was on Meina's face; it wasn't that she was dissatisfied with becoming Gu Qinghan's subordinate.

It was just that the process of her capture had been too easy.

This sense of humiliation made it impossible for her to explain her true strength to Gu Qinghan, and only now could she slightly show it off.

Gu Qinghan laughed heartily upon hearing this, realizing that the Secret Realm Peeker was also a Legendary Profession.

Even if Legendary Professions lacked powerful combat abilities, they possessed strength far surpassing ordinary people in other aspects.

Their conversation quickly ended, and Meina controlled the wooden boat as it slowly entered the water.

The boat was slightly unstable on the water, but after several adjustments by Meina, it finally rested steadily in place.

"Do you sense any danger in the river?"

Gu Qinghan didn't actually want to get on the boat, but he felt that the shore might not be safe either.

Meina bent down to sense the environment, then stood up and shook her head, saying:

"I don't sense any danger, but there shouldn't be any monsters in this Secret Realm.

The danger here most likely comes from those rifts, or something else entirely."

Gu Qinghan thought about it and strongly agreed with this statement.

After all, the experience just now was literally killing without a trace.

Furthermore, after being swept into the time rift, he inexplicably walked toward death.

In the end, his consciousness would be worn away over the long passage of time, while his body would fall to the ground and become a withered skeleton.

Thinking of this, Gu Qinghan pulled out a piece of equipment from the necromantic space.

It was a staff he had previously given to Chen Yuting, capable of continuously launching fireballs.

Following the instructions the Time Walkers had taught him before, he placed the piece of equipment in the river.

The staff did not sink; instead, it floated on the surface of the water, spinning around twice.

Subsequently, the staff did not drift away with the current; instead, it began moving against the flow of the water.

Gu Qinghan's face first showed joy, but he quickly grew nervous.

The staff was moving very fast. If the river water hadn't been so clear, he wouldn't have been able to see where the staff was anymore.

Just then, Meina jumped directly onto the boat and beckoned to Gu Qinghan:

"Get on! I'll take you to catch up!"

Gu Qinghan had no other choice but to immediately step onto the hastily constructed wooden boat.

Meina placed both hands on the side of the boat, and this small vessel, which had no oars, slowly started moving.

Initially, the boat's speed was not fast, but after a few seconds, it gradually matched the speed of the staff ahead.

After slightly catching up, Meina maintained a speed equal to the staff's to reduce her mana consumption.

Gu Qinghan watched the erratic, floating staff ahead, his heart gradually heating up with excitement.

However, before he could think further, he saw the previously calm river water suddenly begin to churn!