183: Chapter 183 Sudden Enlightenment over Time and Space, Breakthrough in the Void Scripture

The air in the Prodigy Arena's first ring solidified the moment the battle began.

Not metaphorically.

It was "Time" itself.

Kronos's Time Slow Domain expanded within 0.1 seconds, and the silver-white light silently swallowed the entire 120-meter diameter arena.

That light was not light; it was "Law" — the Origin power that the Time-Space Race had relied on for ten thousand years to survive, compressed to the extreme under 127 times gravity, with every wisp as heavy as a star.

[Time Slow Domain · Complete State]

[Range: 50m radius]

[Effect: Non-Time-Space Race unit time flow = 1/10]

[Duration: Infinite (Consumes 5% Chaos Power per second)]

[Current Caster Chaos Power: 100% → 95% → 90%]

— — —

Lin Ye stood where he was.

His thinking was still functioning normally.

But his body was 10 times slower.

The action of lifting his right hand to press against the sword hilt took 0.3 seconds in his consciousness.

But in reality, his finger only moved 0.3 millimeters.

[Current Time Flow: 1/10]

[Time required for one sword swing: 0.3 seconds → 3 seconds]

[Time required to move one meter: 0.7 seconds → 7 seconds]

— — —

0.1 seconds (Real time).

Kronos moved.

His Time Acceleration activated.

[Time Acceleration · 3x]

[Self time flow: 1/10 → 3/10]

[Relative speed difference to Lin Ye: 30x]

— — —

The silver-white figure, like a stream of light, spun crazily around Lin Ye.

1st circle.

2nd circle.

3rd circle.

— — —

0.3 seconds.

The first blade pierced Lin Ye's back.

[Damage dealt: 11,300]

[Lin Ye HP: 100% → 97.7%]

[Aging · 1 stack: All stats -1%]

— — —

0.5 seconds.

The second blade.

[11,700]

[97.7% → 95.1%]

[Aging · 2 stacks]

— — —

0.7 seconds.

The third blade.

[11,500]

[95.1% → 92.3%]

[Aging · 3 stacks]

— — —

1 second.

The fourth blade.

The fifth blade.

The sixth blade.

— — —

1.7 seconds.

The seventeenth blade.

[Cumulative damage: approx. 200,000]

[Lin Ye HP: 92.3% → 47.1%]

[Aging · 17 stacks: All stats -17%]

— — —

Lin Ye stood where he was.

His HP: 47.1%.

His aging stacks: 17.

His Chaos Domain — could not be activated.

Because any skill that requires "active activation" needs 10 times the time to complete.

He needed 3 seconds just to lift his finger to activate the Domain.

And in those 3 seconds, Kronos could stab him 30 times.

— — —

But Lin Ye did not give up thinking.

He was recalling.

Recalling that Incomplete Manual brought out from the depths of Purple Mountain, which he had always hidden at the very bottom of his Storage Ring.

[Void Scripture · Incomplete Manual]

[Type: Emperor-level Cultivation Technique remnant]

[Quality: ??? (Unable to evaluate)]

[Description: Insights into the Law of Time and Space left behind by the Undying Emperor, recording the primitive mysteries of "Void Realm", "Time", and "Space". This scripture is severely incomplete, with only over three thousand characters remaining, most of which are obscure and difficult-to-understand Imperial text.]

[Current Enlightenment Progress: 0% (Not yet initiated)]

[Enlightenment Conditions:]

[1. Must survive in the Law of Time Domain for over 10 seconds]

[2. Must personally endure cumulative Time damage exceeding 200,000]

[3. Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body must resonate with the Law of Time]

[Current Status: Conditions met — Resonating]

— — —

Lin Ye sensed it.

That Incomplete Manual was heating up slightly in his arms.

Not temperature.

It was "Resonance".

The instinctive attraction of the Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body to the Law of Time allowed the Imperial scripture remnant, which had been asleep for ten thousand years, to actively release its mysteries for the first time.

— — —

2 seconds.

Kronos's 18th blade struck.

0.01 seconds before the blade tip touched Lin Ye's skin, Lin Ye's consciousness was dragged into a Void Realm.

It was not the arena.

Not the Hegemon Body Ancestral Star.

Not any space he knew.

It was "Nothingness".

No up or down.

No distance.

No passage of time.

Only lines of golden Imperial text, slowly spinning around him.

— — —

[Void Scripture · Opening]

"Without beginning or end, this is the Void Realm."

"Time and Space are the cages of all things."

"Yet the Chaos is outside the cage."

"Viewing Time and Space with Chaos, Time and Space are like bubbles."

"Viewing Chaos with Time and Space, Chaos is like eternity."

— — —

Lin Ye looked at the line "Yet the Chaos is outside the cage."

3 seconds.

He understood.

Not comprehension.

It was "Resonance".

The Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body was, by nature, an existence that transcended time and space.

The Time Slow Domain only trapped the "flesh".

It could not trap the "Origin".

— — —

2.3 seconds.

His consciousness returned to reality.

Kronos's 19th blade was on its way.

But in Lin Ye's perception, that blade — was slower.

Not because the Domain weakened.

It was because he himself was "seeing through" time.

[Void Scripture · Enlightenment Progress: 0% → 3%]

[Time Resistance: +0% → +3%]

— — —

2.5 seconds.

The twentieth blade.

[Enlightenment Progress: 3% → 5%]

[Time Resistance: +3% → +5%]

— — —

2.7 seconds.

The twenty-first blade.

[Enlightenment Progress: 5% → 7%]

[Time Resistance: +5% → +7%]

— — —

3 seconds.

The twenty-second blade.

[Enlightenment Progress: 7% → 9%]

[Time Resistance: +7% → +9%]

— — —

Kronos felt something unusual.

The speed at which his blades struck Lin Ye was slowing down.

Not because his own speed was slowing down.

It was because Lin Ye's body was "actively" avoiding the blade.

Even though he only avoided it by 0.1 millimeters.

But 0.1 millimeters, at a 30x speed difference, meant he needed to stab 3 more times to hit the same spot.

— — —

3.3 seconds.

The twenty-third blade.

The twenty-fourth blade.

The twenty-fifth blade.

— — —

[Enlightenment Progress: 9% → 11% → 13% → 15%]

[Time Resistance: +9% → +15%]

— — —

Lin Ye's HP: 47.1% → 41.2% → 35.3% → 29.4%.

Aging stacks: 23 → 25 → 27.

All stats -27%.

But he stood.

His eyes were getting brighter and brighter.

— — —

4 seconds.

Kronos stopped.

He stood 7 meters in front of Lin Ye.

Looking at him.

In those silver-white pupils, for the first time, there appeared — uneasiness.

"...What are you doing?" he asked.

— — —

Lin Ye did not answer.

He just closed his eyes.

[Void Scripture · Enlightenment Progress: 15% → 17%]

— — —

4.3 seconds.

He opened his eyes.

In his field of vision, Kronos's Time Slow Domain was no longer "invisible".

It was a silver-white, slowly rotating sphere.

On the surface of the sphere, there were countless fine cracks.

Those were the "faults" generated when the Law of Time collided with the gravity field of the Hegemon Body Ancestral Star.

— — —

4.7 seconds.

He reached out.

Not an attack.

It was "touching".

His fingers pressed on the widest crack on the surface of the Domain.

[Chaos Power · Inject]

— — —

The crack — expanded.

0.1 millimeters.

0.3 millimeters.

0.7 millimeters.

1.7 millimeters.

— — —

[Void Scripture · Enlightenment Progress: 17% → 23%]

— — —

Kronos's pupils contracted violently.

He felt that his Time Slow Domain was being "torn open".

Not through confrontation.

It was "utilization".

Lin Ye was using his Chaos Power to enlarge those natural cracks.

— — —

5 seconds.

The crack expanded to 3 millimeters.

Lin Ye reached his whole hand in.

[Chaos Power · Assimilation]

[Assimilation Target: Law of Time fragments inside the crack]

[Assimilation Progress: 0% ... 3% ... 7% ...]

— — —

5.3 seconds.

Assimilation progress: 11%.

Lin Ye pulled his hand back from the crack.

In his palm, there was an extra silver-white, slowly rotating crystal.

[Law of Time Fragment · Miniature]

[Type: Law Materials]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Description: Law of Time fragments stripped from the cracks of the Time Slow Domain, containing the essence of the Time-Space Race's ten thousand years of Cultivation.]

[Effect:]

[1. Refine: Permanently increase Time Resistance +5%]

[2. Study: Can be used to comprehend the Void Scripture Incomplete Manual]

[3. Fusion: Can be fused with Chaos Power to create new Laws]

— — —

Lin Ye did not refine it.

He pressed that crystal onto his glabella.

[Void Scripture · Absorbing Law of Time Fragment]

[Enlightenment Progress: 23% → 31%]

[Time Resistance: +15% → +23%]

— — —

5.7 seconds.

He reached out again.

The second fragment.

[Enlightenment Progress: 31% → 38%]

[Time Resistance: +23% → +30%]

— — —

6 seconds.

The third fragment.

[Enlightenment Progress: 38% → 44%]

[Time Resistance: +30% → +36%]

— — —

6.3 seconds.

The fourth fragment.

The fifth fragment.

The sixth fragment.

— — —

7 seconds.

He retrieved a total of 17 fragments.

All 17 fragments were absorbed.

[Void Scripture · Enlightenment Progress: 44% → 71%]

[Time Resistance: +36% → +58%]

[Breakthrough: Void Scripture · Minor Achievement]

— — —

[Void Scripture · Minor Achievement]

[Type: Emperor-level Cultivation Technique branch]

[Effect:]

[1. Time Resistance +20% (Total +58% after stacking with fragments)]

[2. Space Perception +50% (Can perceive any spatial fluctuation within a 100m radius)]

[3. Unlock skill "Void Step · Evolution": Can move normally in the Time Slow Domain, double consumption]

[4. Unlock skill "Chaos Time-Space Bubble": Create an independent time-space zone with a 3-meter radius around oneself, immune to all time/space negative effects, duration 7 seconds, cooldown 300 seconds]

— — —

Lin Ye opened his eyes.

He looked at Kronos.

3 seconds.

He smiled.

That smile was different from any previous battle.

Not mockery.

Not relief.

It was "Enlightenment".

— — —

"Your Domain," Lin Ye said.

"Can no longer trap me."

— — —

7.3 seconds.

He activated [Chaos Time-Space Bubble].

Gray light surged from his body, forming a transparent sphere with a 3-meter radius within 0.1 seconds.

Inside the sphere, the time flow — returned to normal.

Outside the sphere, Kronos's Time Slow Domain was still operating.

But those silver-white rays of light, the moment they touched the surface of the sphere, were all "slid away".

[Chaos Time-Space Bubble · Immune to Law of Time]

[Duration: 7 seconds]

— — —

Kronos stood outside the sphere.

He looked at that gray sphere.

Looked at Lin Ye inside the sphere.

3 seconds.

His lips moved.

But there was no sound.

— — —

7.7 seconds.

Lin Ye walked out of the sphere.

His movements — normal.

In the Time Slow Domain, normal.

[Time Resistance +58%] + [Chaos Time-Space Bubble residual effect] = Immune 90% Time Slow.

His time flow: 1/10 → 9/10.

— — —

He walked to Kronos.

Sword tip pointing at his throat.

— — —

Kronos looked at him.

3 seconds.

He smiled.

That smile was the same as when the battle started.

Very light.

Very faint.

But this time, it carried a trace of — relief.

"You won," he said.

— — —

[Battle Ended]

[Time taken: 7.7 seconds]

[Winner: Night Emperor (Heavenly Court · Rank 66)]

[Evaluation: Comprehended Void Scripture Minor Achievement in the Time Slow Domain, created Chaos Time-Space Bubble, completed desperate reversal]

[Advancement: Finals]

— — —

Lin Ye stood where he was.

His HP: 29.4%.

His aging stacks: 27 (automatically dissipated after battle).

His Chaos Time-Space Bubble — still operating, 3 seconds remaining.

But he stood.

— — —

He turned around.

Walked off the arena.

Every step was very slow.

But every step left 3-centimeter-deep footprints under 127 times gravity.

1st step.

2nd step.

3rd step.

— — —

17th step.

He stood at the entrance of the rest area.

There, 9 people were waiting for him.

Su Qingyue.

Shi Potian.

Chen Hao.

Zhou Tieshan.

Chu Yunxi.

Zhao Wuji.

Qin Ruoxue.

Yun Qianxue.

Lu Xinghe.

— — —

He looked at them.

3 seconds.

He spoke.

"Finals."

"Who is the opponent?"

— — —

Qin Ruoxue stepped forward.

Her expression was more solemn than ever.

"Dragon Clan Princess," she said.

"Pale Moon."

"Rank 75."

— — —

[Dragon Clan Princess · Pale Moon]

[Rank: 75]

[Bloodline: Golden Dragon Royal Family (89% purity)]

[Combat Power Evaluation: 207,000-223,000]

[Record:]

[1. Never participated in qualifiers, advanced directly to the top eight (Dragon Clan privilege)]

[2. Quarterfinals: Opponent Rank 67 God Race High Priest, time taken 0.7 seconds]

[3. Semifinals: Opponent Rank 68 Holy Demon Race Prince, time taken 1.3 seconds]

[4. The youngest "Dragon King Bloodline Awakener" in the Dragon Clan's ten thousand years]

[5. Mastered forbidden skill "Dragon God Descend": Summon ancient Dragon God projection, duration 60 seconds]

— — —

Lin Ye looked at the line "Rank 75".

3 seconds.

He pressed his right hand on the sword hilt.

That fine iron longsword brought back from the Trial Ancient Star, the gray crack in the center of the sword body, was currently pulsating at a frequency of 1.7 seconds/time.

With the breathing of Shi Potian in the medical pod.

With the heartbeat of Su Qingyue standing behind him.

With the finals coming in 17 hours.

Perfectly synchronized.

— — —

In the distance.

On the holographic screen of the 1st ring area, the list of finalists was scrolling.

[Finals · Prodigy Arena]

[Red Team: Pale Moon (Dragon Clan · Rank 75)]

[Blue Team: Night Emperor (Heavenly Court · Rank 66)]

[Time: 17 hours later]

— — —

Lin Ye looked at that name.

3 seconds.

He turned around.

Walked toward the medical pod.

— — —

[Chapter 183 · End]