Second Time

Final Chapter - Answers

Some time later, Shao Yue stirred awake. Cai Fei had been lightly dozing beside her, but sensing Shao Yue's awakening, she too opened her eyes.

"How do you feel?" Cai Fei asked.

"Full," Shao Yue complained, bringing a hand to her temple.

A huge amount of information had been forced into her memories. She now knew the names of the major factions in the universe, their territories, and notable members. She had information on the higher realms and the capabilities of cultivators within those realms. All the myriad Dao were indexed in her mind along with many other things that would be common knowledge to people from the universe at large.

Her dantian and meridians also felt full of energy. She had gone from the early First Stage to the late Third Stage. She wasn't used to having so much qi available to use, nearly triple her previous amount.

The man in green appeared in the room. "That's the effect of the heaven's blessing."

Shao Yue looked at his face, then frowned, checking the new information in her mind. "Might you be Humanity's Pillar, Renzhu?"

"Indeed." He bowed slightly. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Shao Yue waved her hand while getting up. "I don't deserve your bow."

"You will in the future, but this isn't the place to talk. Come with me. Your Dao Companion can come, too."

Their surroundings changed in an instant. They appeared in front of a door within a lavish palace. Renzhu opened the door, then the trio stepped inside. Once the door closed, the walls lit up with complex array patterns, sealing them from prying eyes and ears.

Cai Fei glanced at the arrays, but couldn't understand anything. They were far, far beyond her level.

The room was relatively simple. It had a table and some chairs with a tea set. Renzhu sat down, while Shao Yue opted to remain standing out of respect. Cai Fei followed Shao Yue's lead.

"I'm sure you have many questions," Renzhu said.

"My main question is why my world was created," Shao Yue said. "Though I can guess it was meant to train a time cultivator, I don't know why."

"The heaven's blessing has told you about the immortals, right?"

"Mysterious beings in the plane above that control this plane's laws," Shao Yue recited.

"Indeed. Now, you two have to make a Dao oath to never divulge what you're about to hear."

Shao Yue did so, and Cai Fei followed suit.

"The immortal in charge of time has died," Renzhu said flatly.

"Died?" Cai Fei repeated. "Aren't they an immortal?"

"Immortals will never naturally die, but they can be killed, although it's extremely difficult even for other immortals," Renzhu explained.

"What impacts does this have?" Shao Yue asked.

"The laws that govern time will weaken, then fade completely. Currently, the law is that time only travels forward. When that law fades, time might flow backwards, left, right, up, down, anywhere. The river of time could branch, or become an ocean instead. The past can become the future, the future can become the present."

Shao Yue frowned, struggling to imagine what life would be like under such conditions. "I assume there's an enemy in this situation. What's their goal with this?"

"Destabilization. They want to sow chaos in our plane, weakening the laws as a whole so they can descend and harvest it."

"That's bad. Now, I assume I fit into this somehow?"