271: Suiyan

As the narrative reached this point, the look in Zhou Yan's eyes when he gazed at Shi Suiyan had changed, to the extent that she found it difficult to continue.

"Senior Brother, what is it?"

"Ah, nothing. Please, continue."

Although Zhou Yan said this, in his heart, he had already acknowledged Shi Suiyan.

With similarly Heaven-Defying origins and comparable experiences in enduring pressure, Shi, I acknowledge you. You can take half of this pressure-endurance throne.

But upon hearing the subsequent content, Zhou Yan could no longer sit still.

The Feast of Time plan was actually a continuation of another "Time Plan."

The Time Plan, with Ma Hao's theory as its core, attempted to perfect the Law of Time in the modern era.

They believed that Feng Xu was already the pinnacle of humanity, and since even he had failed to take the final step, it indicated that humans had limitations and required a more special vessel.

Consequently, the remnants of the Time Controller organization approached the Truth Cult, hoping to leverage their powerful technological capabilities to develop the Law of Time.

However, the Truth Cult refused.

The reason they gave was that they had already been bitten back by technology once, so they did not intend to repeat the same mistake, while simultaneously warning them to stop.

But the Truth Cult had a loose structure; if they would not do it, other factions were willing to take over.

After recruiting another batch of scholars from the Myriad Law Domain to fill the vacancies, the experiment officially began.

The initial concept was to replicate a mechanical semi-finished product capable of bearing the path of the Law without gaining life due to the influence of the Law.

Progress was smooth at first, but the Law of Time ultimately transcended ordinary human cognition.

The stages before Soul Transformation Perfection could still be found in Ma Hao's manuscripts, but information regarding the mastery of the Law at Soul Transformation Perfection and the final ascension was likely known only to Feng Xu himself and his direct successor, Ma Hao.

Thus, the accident occurred as expected.

The mechanical creation codenamed "Time" gained life, but for unknown reasons, it stopped thinking after only 42 seconds.

The birth of life allowed it to almost complete the final ascension, leaving it only half a step away from Body Integration.

The researchers were both relieved that it had stopped thinking, avoiding the creation of a monster, and regretful that it had not continued, as just a little longer would have been enough to complete the Law of Time and allow it to be continued.

The slight difference made them even more unwilling to give up, so they began to study ways to make "Time" continue thinking with all their might.

After several years and the consumption of vast resources, they finally found a solution.

The "Feast of Time plan" was finalized, involving a large number of children with time-related talents connecting to "Time" with the intervention of the Time Controller, to explore the thoughts within those 42 seconds and attempt to continue thinking in place of "Time."

These children were known as "Feasts."

The plan initially progressed very smoothly, and they quickly obtained the required information.

It turned out that the moment "Time" gained life, it awakened a Law Divine Ability.

And that was precisely the ability mastered by Shi Suiyan to traverse timelines and open up new ones.

Due to its nature as a mechanical creation, it deduced countless timelines within those 42 seconds, reaching the end, but stopped for unknown reasons.

Thus, the second experiment was launched, and the "Feasts" were required to delve even deeper.

But an accident happened again.

One "Feast" suddenly went berserk, their cultivation directly surging to the Nascent Soul Stage, and began wreaking havoc until the powerful figures at the base suppressed them, bringing the matter to a temporary close.

This incident resulted in the deaths of most of the researchers and all the "Feasts" in that batch.

Only then did they realize that the 42 seconds of "Time" were unimaginably long for humans.

Those children appeared to have only delved in for a moment, but in reality, they had experienced the Reincarnation of countless worlds, becoming lost in the Reincarnation and turning into vessels for "Time."

"Time" itself had no ability to think, but its vessels were exceptionally violent and would grow stronger as time stacked.

However, since the experiment had shown hope, it was difficult to stop.

After it became difficult to collect more children with time talents in West River, they began searching outside.

Shi Suiyan thus became part of the second batch of "Feasts."

And from then on, she began her endless, painful Reincarnation.

Those timelines were mostly filled with suffering and Hell, and they had to struggle to survive.

Only by achieving a Breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Stage and being able to perceive the Law could they have the ability to escape the Reincarnation and return to reality.

But the researchers did not care about this.

Even if they returned, the next step was still to continue the Reincarnation until reaching Soul Transformation Perfection within the cycle, to perform the final thinking in place of "Time."

Everything proceeded step by step just like that.

Although there were sporadic instances of "Feasts" going berserk, under the suppression of Body Integration powerhouses, it never caused any waves.

Until the researchers responsible for observing Shi Suiyan felt a sense of compassion.

They were a pair of parents who had just lost their own child.

The pain of losing a child and the miserable plight of Shi Suiyan made it unbearable for them.

Thus, "Time" thought.

To better advance the experiment, the laboratory was already filled with various escape prompts, helping the "Feasts" to quickly escape the laboratory within other timelines and reach the outside world to rapidly increase their strength.

But because of the actions of that couple wanting to let Shi Suiyan go, all the "Feasts" saw new possibilities across countless timelines.

They began to frantically delve into other timelines, trying to grasp this sole chance of survival, and through the variable of Shi Suiyan's escape, look for an opportunity to live.

This intense will to survive propelled the will of "Time."

It thought for a brief moment.

Thus, all the "Feasts" became its vessels, and the only thought was.

"Survive, and level everything."

A terrifying Hell descended right then.

All "Feasts" reached Soul Transformation Perfection in an instant, existing in the past, present, and future.

Only Shi Suiyan, by relying on her Divine Ability to acquire her past state, avoided being taken over by "Time" and escaped with the two researchers.

Because she was also a "Feast," "Time" did not attack her, and the three of them left the laboratory just like that.

Later, Shi Suiyan looked back at the scene of the laboratory through her Divine Ability; at least from the timeline's perspective, everyone there had died.

Since the "Feasts" existed in the past, present, and future, unless one severed all their temporal existences, they were almost immortal and indestructible.

A group of immortal and indestructible, violent monsters was difficult to deal with, even for those at the Body Integration Stage.

As for whether someone at the Void Refining level eventually took action or if other reasons caused the "Feasts" to perish, Shi Suiyan did not know.

With her abilities, it was hard to even glimpse the traces of the Body Integration Stage, let alone Void Refining.

Afterward, the two rescued Time Controller members became Shi Suiyan's adoptive parents, and the three of them began living in seclusion in West River.

It was also at that time that Shi Suiyan changed her name to Shi Suiyan, representing her official farewell to the past, as well as her adoptive parents' beautiful wish that she would eventually break free from the suffering of time and find peace.

They still hoped that the time pursued by their predecessors could be continued, but certainly not in such a cruel way.

They had opposed that experiment from the start, but were powerless to stop it.

Now that they had inadvertently destroyed that Hell, they actually did not know where to go from there.

Therefore, they did not accept Shi Suiyan's help to embark on the path of cultivation, but instead spent the rest of their lives like ordinary people, eventually handing over all the remaining Legacy possessed by the Time Controller to Shi Suiyan.

This was precisely the reason why Shi Suiyan later went to the Secret Realm left behind by Ma Hao.

As for what this had to do with Zhou Yan?

The reason why the "Feasts" could escape those timelines and return to the real world after reaching the Nascent Soul Stage.

Was because after reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, they could use their Nascent Soul Stage selves as an anchor point to connect to the real world through that anchor.

But if they died at the Nascent Soul Stage on that timeline, they would still need to become Nascent Souls again on other timelines; otherwise, they would still struggle in the endless Reincarnation of timelines.

But it was not easy to reach the Nascent Soul Stage; every one of those timelines was incredibly cruel, and living a single day in those worlds was an immense torture.

By the time they finally achieved the Nascent Soul Stage, their spirits had already been tortured to the brink of collapse.

After possessing an anchor, they certainly gained a brief respite, allowing them to rest for a short time in the real world to maintain their consciousness from collapsing.

But the Nascent Soul Stage did not mean the end; the final outcome of every world line was basically destruction.

And the anchor they had struggled so hard to obtain would also disappear with the destruction of the world line.

If they did not hide, they had a high probability of dying in that world, but if they hid, they would still die once the world line ended.

All they could wait for was to be tortured until they lost the ability to think, or to achieve the Body Integration Stage and complete their experiment.

It was also because of this that, despite the extremely large number of children, only a few dozen survived to the end.

And among them, only one became a Soul Transformation on another timeline.

Therefore, Zhou Yan, the real-world anchor they could observe, appeared incredibly important. Once they made contact with him, they basically no longer needed to passively travel to other timelines.

Being able to stay in the real world for a long time and truly transform that cursed power into a tangible Divine Ability was a great salvation for them.

Moreover, according to Shi Suiyan, during her travels through timelines, she had already roughly deduced Ma Hao's goal after his resurrection.

Regardless of the reason, Ma Hao would definitely obtain "Time" and make it continue thinking.

Then, Shi Suiyan, the excellent vessel who could break free from control and had grown to this point, along with Zhou Yan, the excellent anchor, were the final cornerstones for him to push forward the Feast of Time plan.

And in the Secret Realm, the ones who assisted Ma Hao in escaping were the most powerful faction within the Truth Cult; it was hard to predict what methods they would employ.

As the saying goes, one can guard against a thief for a thousand days, but one is bound to slip up eventually.

And Zhou Yan and the others could not hide in the North forever; one day, they would need to face the outside world directly. This was what Shi Suiyan truly wanted to warn him about.

However, Zhou Yan did not think that much; he simply stood up silently and bowed to Shi Suiyan, leaving her somewhat confused.

"I can't sit on the pressure-endurance throne anymore; you are now the legendary pressure-endurance king."