C1671 Book of Time

Seated serenely on the Ebon Meditation Mat, the strikingly handsome youth clad in black, Tan Xiaotian, observed Yu Yuan with a keen interest.

In the remote valley of Skyreach Peak, Yu Yuan had joined the council as a Lunar Spirit, while Tan Xiaotian was merely present in the form of a clone. At that time, his curiosity about Yu Yuan was piqued, but only slightly.

Tan Xiaotian was somewhat familiar with the numerous tales surrounding Yu Yuan, yet he hadn't paid them much heed.

Years of battling across the Star River had seen him face formidable opponents like Reid, Sabonis, and Cardo.

Thus, in his view, Yu Yuan's exploits in the Everlands were trivial.

He regarded Yu Yuan as a lucky junior from the Boulderdawn sect, favored by fortune.

Nothing more.

Having been lured and confined by the Origin Deity, he remained composed, not particularly concerned with his current so-called predicament.

Throughout his life, he had faced and overcome far worse situations on multiple occasions.

Each time, hadn't he emerged unscathed?

The fact that the Origin Deity could not kill him, resorting instead to sealing him away, signified that even the Origin Deity found Tan Xiaotian's power troublesome.

The Demon Lord, brimming with confidence in his mastery of dark forces, did not fear the Origin Deity.

"I can lead you out."

Yu Yuan was unfazed by the moniker "little pest." He calmly gazed at the charismatic man in black and said, "I'm not eager to leave just yet. I'm interested in seeing what decisions the Abyssal Leviathan and the others will make when confronted with the Abyssal Greater Basilisk and the Voidweaver."

The Abyssal Leviathan and the Abyssal Greater Basilisk were ancient friends, having forged a profound bond in times long past.

Having faced similar fates, they had once trusted each other implicitly, and perhaps they had even fought together.

Otherwise, the Abyssal Leviathan wouldn't have ventured to the fringes of the cosmos to seek out his old ally upon realizing the Dark Phoenix's impending threat.

Nor would the Abyssal Greater Basilisk have expended so much effort to express his reluctant decision.

Would the fragile alliance he had formed with the Abyssal Leviathan crumble due to the persuasive appearance of the Abyssal Greater Basilisk?

Should the Abyssal Leviathan, like the Abyssal Greater Basilisk, choose to side with the Origin Deity, what earth-shattering transformations would occur in the outside world?

Yet, the combined might of Taixu and Youyu would likely falter against the onslaught of the Abyssal Greater Basilisk and the Voidweaver.

Of course, with his presence alongside the Demon Lord Tan Xiaotian, the tide would surely turn.

Hence, he did not hasten his return. Instead, he chose to wait and watch, eager to discern the Abyssal Leviathan's decision at the critical moment and determine its reliability.

"Just to be clear, whether or not you take me with you, Youyu and I will never see eye to eye," Tan Xiaotian declared upfront. "I'm aware that Youyu's ascension to God of Ghosts was no small thanks to your support. Back at Skyreach Peak, it was evident you two shared a close bond. But don't think that because you help me escape, I'll hesitate to strike at Youyu."

"Let's keep things separate," Yu Yuan retorted with a snort.

"I'm not the one who's desperate here; you are."

With a carefree smile, Tan Xiaotian pulled out a bronze mirror, arranging it to tidy the hair that fell across his forehead. He casually swept the unruly strands behind his ear, continuing nonchalantly, "Those battling the Abyssal Greater Basilisk outside—Taixu, Youyu, Xuanli—they have nothing to do with me."

"Their fates are of no concern to me; as long as I survive, that's all that matters."

"Being trapped here for years, centuries, even millennia, is inconsequential to me. I possess eternal life; what significance does time hold? If I can't escape, it's Han Miaoyuan who should be worried. Without me instigating wars and stirring the Star River into chaos, how would new deities emerge in the Everlands?"

Tan Xiaotian was the epitome of indifference.

"You won't be able to kill Youyu, who's obtained the soul stone, and frankly, I couldn't care less about your quarrel," Yu Yuan shook his head dismissively. "As long as you're prepared to confront the Origin Deity, I'm willing to take you along and make our departure together."

"An Origin Deity? Heh, depends on my mood," Tan Xiaotian chuckled with a sinister laugh.

Yu Yuan was taken aback.

...

"With the Hex Stone, cleave open the heavens."

In the outside world, a butterfly clutching a weighty tome gazed upon the Dragon Slaying Stage beneath Taixu's feet, her eyes shimmering with a kaleidoscope of light.

A nostalgic expression crossed her face.

Moments later, her eyes hardened with determination, "It's mine!"

Whoosh!

She flipped through the ancient book, page by page, as leaping bolts of lightning transformed into intricate symbols, engulfing the space around her.

From the shadowy caverns of the Alien Planet, space magic surged forth, funneling into the book she held.

Under the watchful eyes of all, the dancing lightning morphed into enigmatic insects.

From within these insects, the power of time began to seep out.

"The Book of Time!"

Taixu, the God-King, felt a shift in his expression as he acutely noticed the passage of time slowing down.

"The Book of Time!"

Youyu and Xuanli called out together.

In their era, before their demise, the Chronowyrm roamed the extraterrestrial realms, a constant thorn in the side of the cosmic races.

Legend had it that the Chronowyrm scoured the Star River in search of a particular book.

This book was known as the Book of Time!

Alas, the Chronowyrm spent his entire existence in pursuit of the Book of Time, never finding it before his fall in the Everlands, never obtaining the artifact that could have granted him a new breakthrough.

Youyu and Xuanli, who had known Huangyin and Xuanying, the progenitors of the Terra Fiend, since those ancient times, understood how much the Chronowyrm, who had reigned over the Seven-Colored Lake for eons, coveted the Book of Time. He had claimed that with the Book of Time in his grasp, he could achieve anything.

To everyone's surprise, this enigmatic tome had ended up in the hands of the Voidweaver.

As the wriggling insects emerged, time's flow slackened. The Voidweaver, in her Benin guise, fixed her vibrant eyes upon Taixu's feet.

Without sparing Taixu another glance, she simply commanded, "Come here."

*Crack! Crack!*

Within the Dragon Slaying Stage's little world, where the Chronowyrm's remains lay, segments of the dragon's corpse exuded a prismatic radiance.

Ripples emanated in concentric circles from the silver ground beneath the dragon corpses, seemingly influenced by the Voidweaver and the Book of Time.

Simultaneously, Zhong Chichen, deep within the Domain Channel of the Everlands, continued to gather space magic from various Star Rivers and fractured space rifts.

"The Book of Time!" A look of incredulity shone in Zhong Chichen's eyes. "Haha! The Book of Time I've sought for tens of thousands of years has finally surfaced in this era! I've discovered that the Book of Time lies within the Ashlands, concealed by the exalted elder spinosaurus! Excellent, no matter who has unearthed the Book of Time, now that it has emerged—"

"It belongs to me!"

"With that in mind, I shall take a gamble and expedite the construction of the God Throne!"

Whoosh!

The Dragon Slaying Stage beneath Taixu's feet, manipulated by the Voidweaver, began moving towards Benin at a considerable pace.

The Abyssal Leviathan hesitated briefly, then extended a hand, gently touching a corner of the Dragon Slaying Stage. The stage, shrouded in a pearly, murky glow, came to an abrupt halt due to his intervention.

At that moment, the elder of the Silverscale Tribe, in the guise of an old Abyssal Greater Basilisk, expressed his annoyance, "Leviathan, I've made it clear—I have no desire to battle you. My demands are simple: do not meddle in this fight, just observe."

"Others may be fair game, but leave the Dragon Slaying Stage untouched," the Abyssal Leviathan declared.

"What Dragon Slaying Stage?! That is my World-Sundering Stone! Abyssal Leviathan, you, a human Taiyin, wrested the World-Sundering Stone from my grasp. It rightfully belongs to me!" The Voidweaver seethed with rage.

"Could you not embellish your own story?" The Abyssal Leviathan scoffed contemptuously. "The intelligent life of this era, as well as those from the past, are unaware of this stone's true provenance. They've all been led to believe it's merely a cocoon you've shed. But do you honestly think your fabrications could deceive me? It's not as if you could simply extract a Hex Stone from this celestial body, infuse it with your lifeblood, and claim it as your own."

As a fellow cosmic giant beast, the Abyssal Leviathan disclosed a startling revelation.

The World-Sundering Stone was not, in fact, a cocoon shed by the Voidweaver but merely a Hex Stone that she had refined with her own lifeblood.

"If you're going to fabricate a lie, at least craft it with more attention to detail. And why name it the World-Sundering Stone? You are the Voidweaver; if it truly were the cocoon you shed, if it truly were the divine stone refined with the essence of a giant beast, it should be called the Void God Stone, not the World-Sundering Stone!"

"The soul stone refined by the Mirage of the Mind is called the soul stone, and the one I refined is named the Voidstone."

"Eiwrone is the name of the star beneath your feet!"

"It's called Eiwrone!"

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